North America

Published on January 5th, 2013 | by iDidGo Blog Team

19

San Francisco, a City by the Bay

1. Tour the city by cable car

A few dollars in San Fran can buy you a roller coaster ride of the city. San Francisco’s cable cars are a cute relic of a time before buses and cars – and they give a great retro-style tour of the city’s hills, and neighbourhoods: Union Square, Chinatown, Fisherman’s Wharf and the other districts.

Catch one going up the precipitous Nob Hill, and for extra thrills, hang off the running boards, Doris Day-style.

2. Escape to Alcatraz

Pay your respects to one of the world’s most infamous prisons. The ominous buildings are no longer in use (its last inmate left in 1963), but thanks to Hollywood films, such as ‘Birdman from Alcatraz’ in 1962, and ‘Escape from Alcatraz’ in 1979, Alcatraz remains a popular attraction, luring over a million visitors a year. The audio tour, which features interviews with former inmates and guards, is powerful, chilling and evocative.

3. Take in an incredible view

If there’s one classic San Francisco view – in a city with a multitude – it is the vista across the Bay from Pacific Heights and the northern waterfront. What sets this view apart from all the others is the presence of the iconic Golden Gate Bridge.

4. Soak in art for cheap

San Francisco’s Museum of Modern Art is second only to New York’s in size and the collection includes works by artists as varied as René Magritte, Jeff Koons, Piet Mondrian (characteristically geometric) and Marcel Duchamp (a urinal). However, the special exhibits are the real draw.

Get it all for less on a Thursday night when museums go easy on the pocket. Admission to San Francisco MOMA is half price between 6-8.45pm, and theAsian Art Museum – a soaring beaux-art building that houses 17,000 Asian art treasures – offers reduced admission after 5pm (February and September only).

5. Line up for studs and trannies

San Francisco is the beating gay heart of America and its hedonistic gender-benders throw good parties. Try omnisexual techno rave Endup or drag venues such as Asia SF, a restaurant and lounge where sexy ‘gender illusionists’ run the bar. Stud club prides itself on being open to partygoers of all stripes and hosts the best drag in town at the hair raising Trannyshack. For a taste of old-school drag catch glittery weekend performances by the grandé dames of Hot Boxxx at Aunt Charlie’s Lounge. June’s month-long Gay Pride, the largest gay carnival in the world, is the highlight of the year.

6. Hit a nostalgic note

Some accuse San Franciscans of being mired in musical nostalgia – fixated on 1950s Beat bohemia or stuck in a Summer of Love flashback. Perhaps they have a point, but in a city with a musical history this extraordinary, it would be harsh to criticise a music-lover for wanting to explore the iconic, still-raging hotspots where it all happened.

The town’s grandest beauty is the Great American Music Hall. Constructed in 1907, this erstwhile bordello has maintained its baroque, gilded beauty well. Further east on Geary is the Fillmore, once a jazz-era big-band venue that went by the moniker the Majestic Ballroom, it saw memorable shows by the likes of the Who, Eric Clapton and Santana. Opposite, The Boom Boom Room was named by John Lee Hooker who held court here until his death in 2001. Further south in Downtown stands the ex-movie palace the Warfield, where Louis Armstrong once shared the bill with the talkies. And finally, towards Fisherman’s Wharf, Bimbo’s 365 Club sets the scene for early ’50s supper-club glamour with a parquet dancefloor, leather booths and kitsch-cool girl-in-a-fishbowl theme.

7. Dig into organic cuisine

Demand for seasonal food and sustainable agriculture kicked off back in the 1970s and it has fuelled an array of Organic treasure-troves. Traci Des Jardins of Jardinière oversees the menu at Acme Chop House, and her commitment to sustainability and organically raised meat sets it apart from most steakhouses. In the drinks department, the chic and intimate Fish & Farm has an all-organic cocktail list, while Millennium has one of the best all-organic wine lists in the US and puts out an admirable vegetarian and vegan menu too.

8. Feel the ‘Beat’

To get up to speed on the Beats and their legacy, check out the Beat Museum (540 Broadway, at Columbus Avenue, 399 9626,www.thebeatmuseum.org) before heading over to what was both the head and the heart of the Beat movement, City Lights bookshop. The legacy of Beat anti-authoritarianism lives on in this publishing company and bookshop, co-founded by poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti in 1953. Be sure to head upstairs to the Poetry Annex, where books by the Beats sit beside contemporary small-press works and the photocopied ravings of ’shroom-addled hippies, raging punks and DIY indie voices. Readings here are real events. Step across Jack Kerouac Alley just next door to Vesuvio, which welcomes mad poets and tourists in equal measure, much as it did when Kerouac and crew drank here in the 1950s. Tosca was another favourite watering hole of the Beats, and today attracts actors and filmmakers.

9. Toast with designer tipples

Mushroom Martini anyone? Chefs at top SF restaurants have been making a name for themselves by drawing on top-shelf spirits and seasonal produce to create some mixologie masterpieces. Expect harrissa, lemongrass, infused sugars and chrysanthemum blossoms in your cocktails. Try absinthe and all manner of exotic tipples at Absinthe; Vietnamese-fusion cocktails atSlanted Door; a simply head-spinning array of boutique beers and single malts in Alembic; or all-organic cocktails at Fish & Farm.

10. Enjoy a world record musical

Be teased, amused and shocked by Beach Blanket Babylon, the longest running musical revue in theatrical history. It sells its formulaic blend of songs, puns and outrageous headgear with such irresistible conviction that it has become an institution. Poking fun at current political figures and celebrities, it’s an irreverent queer take on the straight world that still plays to full a house most nights.

Tags: #San Francisco, best attractions in San Francisco, top 10, where to go in San Francisco

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iDidGo Blog Team DidGo is dedicated to providing travel content that is relevant to our community.

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