All the threads about SF/San Jose have been dead for more than 90 days.

I'll be landing in San Jose Wednesday and heading to San Francisco Friday afternoon to spend the weekend there enjoying some great food and drink while catching some of the city I hope.

Some of the things I want to do: check out the bridge, the exploratorium science museum, fisherman's wharf.
Possible other things : Muir woods, any other can't miss ideas?

Thursday I'd like to rent a car and drive to Sequoia National Park and check out some giant trees.
How realistic is that? Would I have time to go from San Jose to Sequoia NP and back and still have time to see enough of the park to make it worth it? Any other suggestions for things to do before we head to SF?

9/21/2008 5:56:34 PM

Drive south to Monterey, take the 101 or whatever it is along the coast for a while, drive north a bit and see a vineyard or two.

Don't fall trap to Chinatown. It's all crap and the Chinese food we had was no better than what you can get here and is more expensive.

That's all I've got for now.

9/21/2008 6:05:12 PM

Definitely check out Sequoia Nat'l Park if you get a chance. Prolly will be a whole day trip though.
Alcatraz is worth a visit if you haven't been before.
Skip on the Winchester Mansion, it's weird, but not all that interesting.
I agree with urge, Chinatown is kind of meh. When I was there all the restuarant workers were coming out and trying to push their place on us.

9/21/2008 6:15:54 PM

Quote :

"Definitely check out Sequoia Nat'l Park if you get a chance. Prolly will be a whole day trip though."

google maps says it's 4.5 hours away from San Jose. Think we'd still have enough time to get there and see enough of the park to make it worth it?

9/21/2008 6:38:05 PM

you can make it to yosemite in 3 hours if you leave the bay area early enough, i've done it before

9/21/2008 6:54:45 PM

If you've not ever seen it in person, then I'd say go for it. 9 hours of driving...I think you could get at least 2 hours in the park if you wake up early enough.

It's an experience like seeing the Grand Canyon for the first time. You have to see the trees for yourself to experience how incredible they can be.

9/21/2008 6:58:44 PM

yosemite is closer and better

9/21/2008 7:03:48 PM

alcatraz

napa valley

9/21/2008 7:04:31 PM

Excellent, thanks for the info.

Yosemite is closer but I figured there would be so much to see there that we still wouldn't have time to take it all in. What are the don't miss things in Yosemite?

9/21/2008 7:08:27 PM

honestly ive been to yosemite a few times, but the first time i did, i left the bay area at about 5am and got to yosemite village by 8am. i had to be back in the bay area by 5pm so i left at 2 and beat traffic.

i'd say do muir woods and yosemite to have the both of best worlds, sequoia is just too far imo unless you wanna check out fresno

i live in the east bay so pm me if you have any questions about the city or anything

9/21/2008 7:12:39 PM

don't forget to get married while out there

9/21/2008 7:14:20 PM

You seem to like the forest. If you like the beach, like I said, check out Pebble Beach down near Monterey.

9/21/2008 7:17:57 PM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TGLjWPZ9wM

9/21/2008 7:18:59 PM

stinson beach is very nice too

9/21/2008 7:23:08 PM

Sequoia Nat'l Park is awesome but go to Yosemite. It is closer and you can still see giant Sequoia. Yosemite has 3 Sequoia groves, one just inside the HW120 entrance. However, the best Sequoia grove in YNP is at the south entrance near Fish Camp.

Forget Napa, go to Russian River near Sonoma for wine tasting. Even better, try one of the 49 wineries in my backyard (the Livermore Valley).

Two weeks ago I was just at Point Lobos near Monterey. Pretty awesome area for nice short hikes with amazing views of wildlife and the shore.

9/22/2008 1:13:10 AM

You should go visit my uncle at Agilent.

9/22/2008 4:39:29 AM

Get a reservation to tour the Anchor Brewery in SF. It's free and they serve you about 6 beers afterwards.

9/22/2008 2:59:06 PM

i'm jealous i went to san jose for a week by myself and was so stressed from work i avoided going to san fran

i finally went on a thursday nite for a few hours and had dinner

at least i got to see a decent amount of the city from the car

9/22/2008 3:44:02 PM

I'm a bigger fan of Sonoma as well, mainly because I like downtown Sonoma better than Napa...

They are so close to each other, though, that you can easily hit up wineries in both on a short day trip, obviously...

And the Livermore Valley wineries are much cheaper and a lot give free wine tastings. My sister is getting married at Wente in April and that is a pretty nice winery...

I second Stinson again... It's a really cool, but super small, beach community. I always eat at a place that has an outdoor seating area and live beach music... small, but nice...

Quote :

"i live in the east bay so pm me if you have any questions about the city or anything"

Where in the East Bay do you live? Just curious...

[Edited on September 22, 2008 at 4:47 PM. Reason : I live in Walnut Creek...]

9/22/2008 4:46:48 PM

If you decide to go to Alcatraz, you have to get tickets like at least a week in advance. I didn't know this when I went a year ago and wasn't able to go

[Edited on September 22, 2008 at 5:17 PM. Reason : .]

9/22/2008 5:16:56 PM

Quote :

"Don't fall trap to Chinatown. It's all crap and the Chinese food we had was no better than what you can get here and is more expensive. "

This is the truth!

Half Moon Bay
The Cliff House
Coit Tower
Telegraph Hill
The Cannery
Ghirardelli Square
Pallace of Fine Arts
The Planetarium
Lombard Street
Finocchio's (if you're into that sort of thing)
Tommy's Joint (if it's still there)
Haight-Ashbury

9/23/2008 1:29:25 PM

just moved from lake merritt in oakland to concord/pleasant hill

so far i like oakland better

9/23/2008 10:29:50 PM

Sequia Nat'l Park is beautiful. If you want to make the drive to Yosemite its totally worth it. I could spend a week out there no problem. If youre at fisherman's warf in SF look for this guy that crouches bedind a bundle of tree branches on the sidewalk. He scares people as they walk by and its hilarious how people can just walk by and not notice him. I'm pretty sure hes on youtube as well (obviously its only funny in person). We also had a good time just driving up and down the coast and stopping at beaches here and there.

9/26/2008 2:39:33 PM

^http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cbBdydQlrk

9/26/2008 3:27:59 PM