On Tuesday taos lodging specials we drove from Antioch to San Mateo, California. The freeways around the Bay Area were crazy to us, seven lanes is not normal in Oregon and the other drivers were pretty impatient. With me as his co-pilot, Matt steered our chariot through many close calls and got us safely to Ben and Louise s driveway in San Mateo. Eleanor s parents let us park in their driveway (and sleep on a real bed in their guest room!) during our time in the Bay and we are very grateful that we didn t have to maneuver taos lodging specials the Dolphin around the hills of San Francisco.
Our plan for San Francisco was to take the Caltrain into the city Wednesday morning, spend the night at a cheap hotel, and take the train back to San Mateo Thursday night. Friday we took the train into the city again, this time with our bikes.
Wednesday morning we checked into Hotel Astoria, near Chinatown. I was a little bit wary of this place from the reviews online, but for $69 a night and a location right next to the Chinatown Gate, it was the best deal in town. It turns out I had no reason to worry. It wasn t the Hilton – the mattress was stiff and the front desk people were curt, but it was clean, safe and even had cable tv. If you are looking for a cheap hotel in San Francisco I would definitely recommend Hotel Astoria. We could have stayed in a hostel (I love the Green Tortoise hostel!) taos lodging specials but we would have paid more for a smaller room that didn t have a private taos lodging specials bathroom. The advantage to a hostel would have been that we could have cooked our own food in the communal kitchen and met other backpackers.
We spent Wednesday afternoon exploring Chinatown, since our hotel was so close. With an area of 24 square blocks, San Francisco has the largest Chinatown in North America. It s interesting that the Chinatown we see today is a neighborhood designed in a fantasy Chinese style, rebuilt after the 1906 earthquake specifically to attract tourists. Being in Chinatown really feels like you are in a different city. The sidewalks taos lodging specials are jammed with locals chatting in Chinese, duck carcasses hanging in the windows, and store after store full of exotic fruits and herbs. The main row of produce stands that seemed less touristy was on Stockton street, between Columbus and Broadway.
San Francisco is a diverse city and the different neighborhoods really contrast with each other. The transition from chinese produce stands to Italian meat markets and pasta restaurants in North Beach (Little Italy) is immediate and very noticeable. At night, this is my favorite part of the city, with little Christmas lights strung taos lodging specials up over the streets and tiny cafés everywhere. taos lodging specials The restaurant The Stinking Rose has a great storefront sign.
Pier 39 is a huge tourist area in San Francisco, and you can find all the typical attractions taos lodging specials here: wax museum, Ripley taos lodging specials s, aquarium, souvenir stands. It s fun just to walk around and people watch, but the best free entertainment here are the sea lions that live on the docks. When we were there, the biggest sea lion kept pestering one of the female lions to mate with him. He would push her into the water, she would jump out, he would have trouble getting back up onto the dock and make funny noises, repeat. We were riveted by this epic drama for at least 30 minutes.
We recently watched the movie Milk , about San Francisco s first gay politician, Harvey Milk, who was assassinated alongside taos lodging specials Mayor Mosconi in the seventies. Most of the movie was filmed in the Castro district of San Francisco, so it was interesting to see the place in real life, especially the Castro Theater which has a really cool marquee. This is the famously gay neighborhood in San Francisco, so there were a ton of gay bars and stores catering to men s fashion. I m neither gay nor a man, so I think any other website devoted to the topic will do a better job of covering the Castro than me. However, I do declare this the best neighborhood to see awesome dogs. My favorite part of walking around the Castro was seeing this guy with his beautiful gigantic dog. They were both elderly and struggling to walk up the hill, but they finally made it.
Thursday morning we headed to Union Square downtown to check out some of the photography galleries. 49 Geary Street is a five story building filled with different types of galleries and it s really a mixed bag. The Koch Gallery had a lot of interesting photography on display. Some of the other galleries were not great…that s putting it lightly. Still, it s all free entertainment in an expensive city.
The corner of Haight and Ashbury was the epicenter of the summer of love in the sixties, but now there is just a Ben and Jerry s and some guys asking for change. Haight street is an interesting mix of hippie coffee shops, costume stores, vintage clothing and record stores. taos lodging specials Murals are scattered taos lodging specials up and down the street. At the west end of the street near Golden taos lodging specials Gate Park, there is Amoeba music, a gigantic record store that s great for browsing. There is a small bookstore on Haight (between Central and Masonic Avenues) called Bound Together. They have an interesting selection taos lodging specials of books about social issues and art, a good $2 sales rack, and they donate books to prisoners.
Riding over the Golden Gate Bridge is both highly irritating and fascinating. Pedestrians are absolutely oblivious and hard to avoid, one caused Matt to swerve into the side of the bridge. Because taos lodging specials of all the rental options, there are a ton of other cyclists on the bridge. Still, taos lodging specials being suspended above the bay is spectacular and you should do it if you get the chance. On a clear day, you have a great view of the entire city and you can see how tall the bridge really is. When we rode, we were completely shrouded in fog and all we could see was the water below, it was really eery. If you are riding over the bridge, make sure to wear warm clothes because it gets very windy and cold.
Golden Gate Park is 20% bigger than New York s Central Park, and it has a herd of bison. When I heard about the bison, I knew we had to see them. They were just okay, but definitely taos lodging specials not the best part of the park. I thought they would be bigger. The park is huge and there is a lot to explore, by bike or by car.
We brought our bikes into the city just to ride around these areas, but there are plenty taos lodging specials of places to rent bikes if you are visiting the city (Blazing Saddles is a good one). Save your legs and take the bus between destinations. It s easy to put your bike on the muni and each bus can hold two bikes in front. Bikes are not allowed on the streetcars or light rail.
We were looking for a cheap dinner in North Beach and the Thai food here was delicious and inexpensive. It is a chain but this location taos lodging specials is the only one with a bar on one side. I loved the sign on the door: Please, do not call us sports bar . We are Thai restaurant allowed to have TVs.
Indian food is my favorite taos lodging specials food of all time and this was the best chicken tikka masala ever. There are a lot of indian food places around this area but I don t know how they would be better tasting/more affordable than this.
I LOOOOOOVE SAN FRANCISCO!!!! That dog is beautiful and Haight and Ashbury was my favorite!!!!!!! And I also liked renting the bikes from Blazing Saddles and riding across the bridge even though it made my butt and legs hurt so bad I couldn t function the next day.
We are Cassandra and Matt, and we live in our 1986 Toyota Dolphin. We created this blog to share photography from our trip, interesting tidbits about RV life, and tips for cheap travel. I'm a graphic designer and Matt writes code, we are freelancing as we make our way across America.
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