Yeah, parking sucks unless you get where you're going to early! Parking meters, so bring a lot of change!

 

Funnie, if you head up using 101. I recommend stopping by Cracked Crab to eat at Pismo Beach, good seafood. Once your in SF, the first thing you can do is hang out in downtown. Park at 5th St. and Mission Garage and do some walking up towards Union Square. You will pass by a mall and tons of other stores. You can also take the Cable Car on Powell St. (which will be where you are already at) and get on the Hyde Street line/route. This will take you down to end of the line at Beach St. There you will find Ghirardelli Square, with Fishermans Warf and Pier 39 just a nice walk away. Hope that helps give you some ideas.

 

I always recommend San Tung. haha

You can go to pho garden and try the pho challenge.

Or you can comeover and get your LEDs done.

 

Santa Barbara is a nice stop, with shops, restaurants, bars on State street. Splash Cafe in Pismo Beach has the best clam chowder on the planet. Also Firestones in San Luis Obispo has awesome tri tip sandwiches. If you are going through Santa Ynez/Solvang, you might want to get Some delicious wine infused cupcakes at "Enjoy."

 

hey sb350. thanks for the food places on the way up. I already have paula's pancake's and Enjoy to check out in Solvang. There isn't too many things out there to check out, but will definitely try out the "best" clam chowder on the planet. I haven't had the best, so I want to see what that's all about. It better wow my pants off =)

Rush350 - thanks. will do what you recommended the day I arrive in SF.

Sffd103 - I was researching parking in SF and some places want to charge $5.50 an hr for parking. that is insane. Also I called a few hotels in Japantown and they want $40/ per day for parking (in n out of parking privileges). If I were to pay those prices, I better have my car hand washed, cleaned inside out every hour and I should get a voucher for dinner or something!! hahaha But seriously, I'm going to bring lots of change for meter parking. 2 rolls of quarters should cover 3 days?

 

Not enough..

If you hang out in the downtown areas, meter is the same as parking lot fees. Or you can park it at a flatrate parking lot and bus it. Muni goes everywhere.

 

Parking in the lot will cost just as much as parking at the meter. I think in downtown, it's like $3.50 per hour at the meter with a 1-2 hour limit before you need to trek back to your parking spot. Your 2 rolls won't last you very long. Metered parking sucks to and you get hella people walking by your car or just chilling next to your car. If you want to be thrifty, the Muni will get you anywhere you want for $2 for 2 way ride per person. It's $5 for the cable car. You can get a citypass also if you are planning to stay for a week. It allows you unlimited rides on Muni and cable car. I love the Muni. It gets you all around the city and there are plenty of buses.

I only drive down to downtown because my girl has her Macy's card that gets free 3 hour parking .

 

yikes... the parking rates at ucla is even better than SF!! there is something wrong here. I guess i'll have to split the trip up and organize it where part of the time I take the Muni / cable car and sometimes drive around in the car when suitable.

Is there a time when the Muni / cable car stops running or is it 24/7?

 

Also, make sure you drive the speed limit on the 101 through King City. CHP sets up speed traps all through that area. I make the drive from Santa Barbara to the Bay area often because my wifes family lives up there.

Let me know what you think of the clam chowder at Splash. Get it in a bread bowl.

 

Yea, garage parking will be your best best around downtown and Embarcadero area, I dont even bother looking for street/metered parking. The parking rates for the hotels in SF are about correct ($40-60 a day valet) depending on the hotel. A cheaper alternative is too stay at hotels near SFO. Less classier hotels but cheaper everything. Plus it will only be a 10 minute drive to downtown from SFO.

 

Hey funnie, guess you're coming to my neck of the woods now.

How lowered is your car? You might want to consider raising your coils a bit if you're dumped because driving a lowered car in San Francisco SUCKS.

As for places to check out up here, if you want to go ***** out Michael Mina's in SF is nice but expect to pay $200 pp. The lobster pot pie there is amazing. The Boiling Crab in San Jose is also pretty cool, and will only run $30ish pp. They sit you down at a table, put wax paper over it, give you a bib, and dump your seafood on the table.

Seems that people covered most of the touristy stuff to do in the area. If you're into wine, there's obviously Napa/Sonoma a little North of SF. Let me know if you're interested and I can recommend some wineries. First one that comes to mind is Castello di Amorosa/Sattui Castle (Google it).

 

hey what up brian! everyone recommends boilng crab. There are a few locations here and I'm going to pass on that. My GF is the alcoholic between the both of us so I'll check out Castello di Amorosa/ Sattui Castle.

SB350- A good clam chowder always comes in a bread bowl =)

 

Anchor Steam brewery offers free tour with beer on the weekdays. Just call to reserve.
http://www.anchorbrewing.com/about_us/tourinfo.htm

As for the Muni hours, they each have their own schedule. You're going to have to check the Muni website for your specific line. They will come less often later in the night, but the popular bus lines run pretty late.

 

funnie boiling crab in SJ on capitol so i can check out your IS

 

Ah, I didn't even realize they (TBC) were a chain.

If you're coming up with your girlfriend you guys will love Sattui Castle. Make sure you book a tour in advance because they can get busy (although less so during this time of the year I imagine).

PS: If you want good clam chowder, check out Old Fisherman's Grotto in Monterey. If you tell them you found them on Yelp, you get a free cup of clam chowder with each entree.