Southbaymom

Check out the Sausalito Film Festival, held in mid-August. This year, the dates are August 13-15th. The films selected are carefully screened by the committee and those that make the cut are said to, “appeal to our naturally rebellious nature and passion for cultural understanding.” You’ve got to admire a neighborhood that cleared its own path toward a collective identity and community spirit. This film festival was built from within. It’s no mere PSA campaign or TV commercial montage of images calculated to draw in tourist dollars.

Every community wants to develop and support its identity. While I love garlic as much as the next person, The Gilroy Garlic Festival, two hours south of Sausalito, is community spirit run amuck. Likewise, it seems now every neighborhood in the South Bay has a weekend carved out for its own Art and Wine Festival. Yet, go to any two or three of these and aside from a few local differences, you will see the same vendors, wines, jewelry, paintings of bears, women’s scarf clothing, kiddie attractions. It would be much more convenient if the company behind these festivals would put a calendar on the web showing which Bay Area community they plan to descend next. It’s like a circus. It is a circus.

Back to Sausalito. In addition to the Film Festival (just a three weeks from now), there’s a lot to see, not the least of which is the view of the city, the bridge, and they bay, dotted with sailboats and catamarans. And in my humble opinion, the best restaurant to view the scene from is Horizons on Bridgeway, which is the main drag in Sausalito. They have brunch every day and make a superb spicy bloody Caesar with at least a serving of veggies sticking out. For brunch, I love the Chesapeake, which is like eggs benedict except crab cakes replace the ham. And on the crab theme, they have their own version of a tuna melt, a crab melt, on lemon pepper brioche. If you’ve never had brioche, it’s a wonderful buttery, tender, substantial bread, and whoever thought to make a savory version to pair with this crab melt should win the Nobel prize. All lunch and brunch entrees are around fifteen dollars.

A stroll down Bridgeway on a sunny Sunday, a delicious brunch and delectable view, and a stint people-watching from one of the benches in the park strips: this would be a beautiful day anywhere, but in Sausalito, it is the tip of the iceberg. There’s so much more: houseboats, hilly hikes, and artists-aplenty. This is a place that need not waste money on a “please come again” sign.

As a southbay teacher, I sign up for every conferemce offered at a Union Square hotel (The Drake, for e.g.). I don't care if the conference topic is science lab technique for the new millenium (I am an English and ESL teacher). Sit in the square for a coffee at midday and take in the daytime view of the square: shoppers, buffering themselves with Macy's and Nieman's bags filled with bourgeois booty, rub auras with regal homeless types staking out there turf on the cement benches.

Our fave outing, as I mention in another review, is to park in the square, hop the trolley on the route bast the trolley car museum, and finally to jump off at Hyde and Jackson for the most amazingly affordable, fresh, romantic down to earth meal at Hyde Street Fish (next door to Hyde Street Bistro - which can get confusing if you don't know what you're looking for).

After dinner, step right onto the sidewalk outside the restaurant and catch the trolley back to Union Square, where you can appreaciate the night light displays, or share a cheesecake at the ever-crowded Cheesecake Factort atop the Macy's establishment.

I recommend the banana cream cheesecake with a side of hot fudge, warmed, for delicious dipping.

Other favorites include:
1) Fantastic sheet music store where we found out wedding music: (The Music Center, on 2nd between O'Farrell and Geary). Wide selection and helpful staff. We ended up getting sheet music for a Carpenters' song, but read the Mission Review of the marsh Theater to understand why.
2) Trolley car museum (as mentioned above). It's on Mason and Washington, open 10-6, and Free. I loved this tour - it was eeriely cool to see these thick rusted cables churn, moving the trolley cars of the city with seemingly herculean strength,
3) The Clift Hotel (bar needs reservations for a table, large Alice In Wonderland chair in the lobby that makes you wish you were Shaquille O'Neal - maybe then you could sit in it). 495 Geary Street.
4) The traditional deli on the same street as The Clift, with yummy standbys. (Davids Deli on Geary, between the Clift and Union Square). By yummy standbys, I mean white vinyl swivel chairs at the u-shaped bar and dessert cases filled with glossy real (or wax?) slices of cake and cheesecake. Definitely worth trying the latkes and pastrami. A great easily spotted locale with it's distinctively bright orange and blue signage. Not great, but always there, always open. And the feel of it is so old school, almost like the eerie dim lighting of a scene from The Shining.
5) of course Foleys.... start with a well-poured pint and return much later for an irish coffee or jameson's.

There is much to do in Union Square. At the very least, start with a well-planned day of retail therapy, holiday shopping, dinner, and cocktails.

People working in the financial district will often walk down to Walton Park (on Front Street between Pacific and Jackson) or Bierman Park (corner of Washington and Drumm) to read a book and eat their lunch. The Embarcadero has something that other parts of the city don’t have in the early afternoon: sunshine.

If it wasn’t already taken, Embarcadero could appropriate the moniker “The Strip”, due to its long lanky shape, which dangles like a thread from Pier 39 down to AT&T Park. But it’s not nearly as exciting as the Strip in LA. Four glacial-sized silver buildings make up The Embarcadero Center. The first time I strolled the city toward them, I was impressed by their size and thought I was in for something exciting. Dental offices, chiropractors, a smattering of doctors and opticians, and EC leasing agents. And all the retailers any San Jose or, dare I say, Fresno (my hometown so I am allowed to diss) mall would have: Williams Sonoma, Ann Taylor, Banana Republic, and some restaurants with bold and promising names.

But Embarcadero’s problem is that its ‘barq’ is bigger than its bite. San Franciscans love the smaller and more unassuming places, they want the California feeling of discovering a hidden gem, like the state motto, “Eureka, I Found it.”

I do appreciate about the E that when we have to be in SF for a wedding, staying at the Hyatt Embarcadero is a great staycation. Their brunch and breakfasts are great. Their rooms have great views of the city or the bay, and they will keep on bringing you pillows until not another one would fit in the room.

Also, with the four pillars of the Embarcadero Center around the corner, it is always reassuring to know I can get stockings, coffee, a dress for the day after, a sweater if the weather changes, or even a last minute gift at Williams Sonoma.

Where others have charm, the Embarcadero, less of a neighborhood and more of a street, has convenience. And when in crisis, convenience is nothing I would turn up my nose at. Beside, it’s conveniently located to all the other great sections of the city. You can walk to almost anywhere on the western half of the city from there.

Mission Bay: that crescent-shaped slice of land that has, up until the turn of the century, been largely ignored. Then, it seemed that when the economy was still booming, residential developers, businesses, and city planners woke up and noticed Mission Bay, this unpopulated, undeveloped swath of cheap land. This place put city planners to the test and so far, most new residents of the MB seem to be giving them high marks.
Mission Bay is green. There’s actually flat land on which to plant grass, and they have. But like most new trends, Mission Bay needed a trendsetter, a popular kid or a big fish to lead the way, to say that Mission Bay was okay. That big Fish was UCSF Medical Center. The medical monolith broke ground on a massive complex including three hospitals, a stem cell research center, and massive acres of green, community-themed centers for fitness, for kids, even a restaurant. With a few minor delays, everything is slated to be completed in 2014. But that’s not all.
The city set aside 30% of Mission Bay’s residential development for low income housing. This is the largest percentage anywhere in a city where people pay an extra 50-100k for a parking spot. Although lots of seniors and low income families have moved into brand-new apartment homes, and they have plenty of parks, green bike paths, there is a newness to the place that seems very unSan Francisco. Namely, the first floor commercial of some of the new residential buildings are filling up with chains like Starbucks, Panera Bread, and Subway.
At the south end of Mission Bay is a denser micro-neighborhood – Dogpatch – that counteracts this homogenization with a growing menagerie of shops and cafes. A couple months ago, Pfizer, the world’s largest drug company, backed out of their 10 year lease for a major commercial building, Mission Bay and its supporters held their breath. But then an up and coming online gaming company, Zynga, stepped in. An up-and-comer to rescue this up and coming neighborhood. If you can, get in on this neighborhood before its parking places are in the tens of thousands.

Start at Farleys. It's a cafe on the corner of Missouri and Texas. What's lovable about it is that it gives you a sense of this neighborhood as a central hub and gathering place. But there's also a lovely egalitarian feel to this neighborhood, which is sort of positioned as a thought bubble, somewhat isolated from the city itself. You can view the fog shroud from Potrero, which makes you feel a bit isolated, elevated, and dare I say, deified?

There are two outdoor locales worth visiting in this hamlet. The Potrero Rec Center is huge, welcoming, and multifaceted. Free meeting rooms for local events are available if the public is welcome and not profit is made. Potrero del Sol park is the other.

When I first came here, the big deal was the Anchor Brewing Company. If you want to do the one and a half hour tour, consider booking your reservation on their website about 2-4 weeks in advance. You get some tastes at the end and the tour is a lot of fun if you are a fan of the microbrew. We had Anchor Steam at our wedding reception, so going there was the icing on the cake (pun intended).

For food, try the prepared foods at Harvest Urban Market on 8th or the tortas as Casa Sanchez Deli on 24th. Super filling if you did one too many tastes at Anchor Brewing.

On your drive in or out of this enclave, drive by, park, and gawk at Defenestration on 6th and Howard. It's the perfect place and, well, the only place, to see furniture leaping confidently out of windows. 'Nuff said.

I have been to the mission a dozen times for as many reasons. It is a vibrant and ever changing neighborhood that consistently outsmarts those who try to peg it.

My friend Brendan lived in a rent controlled place on Harrison and lamented that he couldn’t afford to move. This from a man who managed one bar in Sunnyvale and tended bar two nights a week in SF, a job where his tips outpaced his management wage for the Sunnyvale job. That’s the city. You’ve got to spend a lot to make a lot.
Night life in the mission is something I felt best about when I was with a local, like Brendan, or our friend Darin, a gay Irish computer programmer who moved from County Clare. Absinthe and Elbow Room were two of our favorites. Many long-time residents of The Mission lament the passing of bygone-bars, places where bikers, dogs, and even Wisconsin grandmothers would be welcomed. While these bars, with free nachos and cheap drinks, may be dwindling, the supportive and congenial attitude toward the individual and his/her creative struggle is alive and well.

We love the Marsh theater, where we used to trek to every year for our favorite Christmas tradition: The Carpenters’ Christmas, a two-actor revisioning of what Richard and Karen did on TV in their heyday. All the great songs, impeccable singing, and the complete transport through time. They actors who returned to the Marsh to make thousands happy each holiday eventually called it quits. And the Marsh on Valencia has a lot to keep us coming back. They are true believers in arts education and I am certainly signing up my storytelling, pink-wearing, princess-loving son, a four year old who can recite most of Snow White and Sleeping Beauty verbatim, for their summer theater storytelling camp for 4-6 year olds. Often the link between art and education is tenuous in the theater arts, but it’s such a pillar of the Marsh Mission. Our next group date night, we want to take in Dan Hoyle’s new show, “The Real Americans.” His model for performance is to craft a show of many voices in a narrative on a common theme. He is an in the trenches researcher who collects oral histories. His recent show, his third of fourth I think, was sparked by a Sarah Palin comment about who the “Real Americans” are. There are lots of great, multiethnic and cheap eats near the Marsh, and (by SF standards) abundant parking.

The Mission is ever more a place of conflicting pulls….. people who were punk before punk was cool…old standbys versus new entrepreneurs… performance art versus marketable art….. But the level of acceptance in a place that has more Spanish speaking inhabitants than any other SF neighborhood persists. That’s why the mission is loveable, despite its dark corners at night scariness.
The perfect symphony of art, language, and food comes in the place called Pancho Villas. Over fifty years of amazing cooking and barely raised prices mean we can get two meals (dinner plates with rice, beans, tortillas, and salad), a horchata, and a beer for around $25. This restaurant is frequented by locals and displays a rotating exhibition of wall art by local artists.

The mission is a stray dog that you can’t leave behind at the pound. It’s been kicked and put down, so it might be a little nippy, but once you trust it and it trusts you, you will find it’s smart, edgy, and capable of a lot more tricks and talents than you ever gave it credit for at first glance.

The first time I went to this pocket of the city, I thought I had taken a wrong turn. Valencia is a bit trafficky and back then I was a midtwenties single girl with a printed google map, no cell phone, and no GPS. And it really is a small pocket of the city, a beautiful slice between Haight to the north and Noe Valley to the south. I love the influence of Latino cultures in the neighborhood, in the cafes, and in the music wafting from cars and bodegas when you stroll the industrial blocks of Valencia midday.

My maiden voyage was to Hairplay Salon, on the corner of Dolores and 29th. There's a grassy median in the middle of Dolores, which makes this residential part of the neighborhood an enticing option if we ever move to the city. Don't even get me started on Dolores Park, with soccer, dogs, and soccer dogs on the flatter part and hillside city views on the slope. Our dog, Gershwin is one such soccer dog. He actually dribbles and shoots with his nose and front paws.

In return trips to Hairplay, I made it a habit to visit the church. No, not Mission Dolores, which is a very cool old adobe built so long ago that it has the honor of being the oldest standing building in the city. Rather, the church I was talking about is Mitchell's Ice Cream on the corner of 29th and San Jose. I should get just one scoop, but usually get two, depending on whether I am feeling fruity or chocolatey.

Did you know that vanilla is the most popular ice cream flavor, in a study conducted recently? This surprised me because vanilla is often a go-to term for things boring and bland. But there is nothing bland about Mitchell's Vanilla Custard ice cream. All of those egg yolks make for custardy deliciousness that never crosses the line into the realm of "too eggy." I pair this scoop with the Lemon Chiffon. Heaven.

Almost as heavenly is a double scoop blend of Mexican chocolate (chocolate and cinnamon, need I say more?) and Butterscotch Marble. I dare you to try to finish every bite of these two scoops. You will stop between bites to say, "Oh, this is so rich. I can't eat it all." But, don't worry, you will. You must.

A couple other things about this neighborhood. Theatre and literature. We started going to shows at the Marsh on Valencia Street when it was about 12 years old. It opened in 89 and its name refers to marshlands themselves. Apparently, a marsh is do moist and warm that it is fertile ground for lots of species to thrive. Makes me think mostly of large nests of mosquitoes. Anyway, such "fecundity" in the SF performing arts is what the Marsh theater hopes to foster.

Loving the Carpenters (my friend Tony who lives in the Castro sang "For All We Know" at my wedding), we made it a habit to see the Carpenters' Christmas, with two unbelievably believable impersonators performing what a live special with Karen and her nameless brother (okay, it's Richard) must have been like. We went every year. Until it stopped. Then we went through withdrawals. But there's a show there now, Dan Hoyle's The Real Americans, that I hope to get to before summer's over and I have to go back to teaching. I guess the Marsh really is a fecund place because they also offer theater workshops for kids ages 2-18.

Finally, the literature. After reading Dave Egger's big-break hit A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genuis", I subscribed to McSweeney's literary anthology and wracked up about seven of their tomes on my shelf before I just went for the online archives. The writing is current, funny, assumes an intelligent readership, and (I hate this word) irreverent. Eggers started 826 Valencia, a place for kids to write, read, be creative, take classes. They offer a lot of what they do in Spanish too. I've been by 826 Valencia several times, and am amazed that such a long-sighted soulfully profitable venture not only persists, but thrives.

Most of the good stuff is in the upper corner of Nob Hill at Polk and Washington, and at the south end near Union Square on Mason between O'Farrell to the south and Sutter to the north.

The higher on the hill you are, the ritzier the shops and pricier the restaurants, with a couple exceptions. I have repeated my favorite day in nob hill half a dozen times. Here it is:

After a 16 mile Sunday morning run, my then boyfriend asked me to hike with in Castle Rock state park. At the outlook point where you can see the ocean beyond the trees, he proposed and I accepted.

Then, we drove to Union Square, parked underground, and rode the trolley car past the Trolley Car Museum to Hyde and Jackson, where our favorite restaurant is. Hyde Street Fish, owned by Vietnamese family, has four amazing must-haves:

1) the clam chowder
2) the crab cake appetizer
3) the fish cooked in parchment paper in a heavenly broth of fresh herbs, lemon, wine, tender potatoes, and julienned vegetables. (en papillote)
4) the velvety smooth, crunchy topped, vanilla bean dotted creme brulee.

Reasonable corkage fees, but they have an amazing wine selection. Make a reservation.

After dinner, grab the trolley car back to Union Square.

This makes a great night whether you just got proposed to or not.

I also went to the Grace Cathedral for an art history class assignment. Since then, I've been to Florence and seen the original Ghiberti bronze doors. The SF copy is pretty good. Also, you can see people walking the labyrinth in the foyer. I liked doing this, but pick a not so busy time because it's a little hard to be contemplative with people mulling about.

A decade ago, the city and Asian food shops (mostly Chinese shops selling live animals like turtles for use in cooking Chinese delicacies) were locked in a conflict that pitted Western Ethics against Eastern cultural norms. The ban on live animal sales in food markets passed but it's always really bugged me. First, it's part of Chinatowns allure. Second, if the state's concern was nonnative species being released, shouldn't they have banned their import by pet stores? Who is more likely to get released into the wild: the pet frog or the food frog? Seems a little fishy to me.

I respect Chinatown and love to visit because of its history, vivacity, and, since I teach English and read voraciously, its strong presence as a setting in some of my favorite literature: The Joyluck Club, Gus Lee's memoir China Boy to name a couple.

When taking my kids, I mulled over past trips and realized that taking a stroller was not an option. I put my daughter in our Kelty backpack carrier and my husband ended up with our son on his shoulders. Bustling is the word. On a busy Saturday, you sort of feel like flotsam floating in a sea of people, moving with the tide.

Sights I love: roasted ducks in window displays, trays of mooncakes stacked up in bakeries, closet-sized shops chock-full of everything a shameless tourist could want: cameras, batteries, SF clothing, replicas of Chinese houses or temples, little jade animals, and the ever-undulating see of people, some with bamboo hats and some carrying baskets of produce on top of their heads, rows of veggies and ingredients at the market on Stockton (Saturday afternoons).

Smells I Don't So Much Care for: wafts of cooking oil, garbage (not a big deal for the most part, but just on alleys or after the Mid-Autumn Festival or New Years, when it's been really busy), and the scent of plastic goods (baskets, shoes, toys) freshly unwrapped from plastic packaging after traveling from China.

Smells I love: Waverly Street (Character in The Joyluck Club was named for this street). Lots of cooking aromas. Deliciousness for the nose. The inside of any herb shop, like Tran's Trading Company on Washington Street, and the buttery baking smells of egg tarts coming out of the Golden Gate Bakery (long lines here).

Sights to note: (There are a lot). I just want to focus on one of my favorite places to hang out: Tien Hau temple on Waverly. Every floor looks different - it's a quixotic mix of anachronistic decor elements. My kids liked it when I took them, though staying quiet was a challenge. It's free to get in, but we usually donate five dollars or so.

Tasty Tidbits: This is a tough one because I am not a huge fan of Chinese food. I like a mooncake or two (or wife cake with lotus paste). There's the famous egg tart at GBC people drool over and once we got a two beef curry pies for lunch. Those beef pies are probably what midwestern bierocks dream of being.

If you've read the other reviews, most of them mention this, so I won't dwell on the colorful row of seven houses on Steiner Street that look out on Alamo Square Park, which is actually one of my favorite stroller parks. Frisbees, dogs, and rarely a scary inebriated individual in sight.

If you like to keep your day life and your night life separate, living near Alamo Square in the Western Addition is a choice that makes sense. My friend Kathi, a realtor at Alain Pinel did an open house on Steiner last year. Market circumstances taken into consideration, the 2/1 ended up selling for about 670k, which is fairly median for a condo in the city, or a 3/2 detached house in the south bay. Of course, I can't throw a frisbee in the park while looking at the houses featured in the opening of an 80s sitcom that made John Stamos seem cool, I can throw a frisbee in my good-sized backyard when we get home from daytripping to SF.

Haight changes with age. My age, that is. In high school, trips to the city were all about how much adult-free time my friends and I could successfully plead for in order to walk the Haight, smell the smells, and gawk at the scruffy "hot guys". In college, the search was on for second hand clothes and the cheapest possible food. A burrito place fit the bill twenty years ago, but it probably didn't meet the health code and despite the hippy vibe and longtime popularity of a vegetarian diet, the new Mexican in Haight Ashbury is arguably a better fit for Haight than the places of old.

Lots of vegetarian, totally sustainable operations, and the same cheap eats are the magic blend at Napolito's. I am a masa freak. Okay, there. I've said it. Polenta, grits, masa, anything with ground up corn and Napolitos grinds their own organic corn for the best masa ever. The tamale I love (it has a crazy long name) is only four or five bucks and the empanada is my second fave. Napolito's is on Broderick and Oak, a block east of the Panhandle.

As for shopping, there are more expensive boutiques and fewer second hand places. And I am more in the home decor phase than the buy-someone-else's jeans phase. Hence, I would encourage you to check out Xapno's on Haight and Prairie Collective on Divisadero. Beautifully unique gifty items, clothes, flowers, pillows, picture games, handmade candles.

Walking the streets, Haight retains its old charm, which isn't so charming to some. But I think if you have an open heart, refrain from judgment, and treat people with unmitigated politeness, you will find that they will do the same. I am glad the the powers that be backed off of their recent attempt to pass a law preventing people from laying and sitting on the streets. Haight is for everyone. That's its history and its present.

I have had at least three different types of food days in SF's Outer Sunset, and none of them were sunny. The three big streets that cut it into sections are Noriega, Taraval, and Sunset at the south end. In the top third, on Judah, there are a few shops, restaurants, but we can't pull ourselves away from the magnetic pull of Outerlands. If you're out with a vegetarian, this is a good option. They do things here with a cast iron skillet that are so good it should be a crime. Dutch baby pancakes (sweet with apples or savory with bacon), awesome grilled cheese, and the fried egg sandwich. We actually bought a cast iron skillet. We had hoped that the large green rectangle on the map labeled West Sunset Playground would actually be green in real life. A school, lots of asphalt, dirty sand, and some metal playstructures. We just kept driving and headed to the zoo. The SF Zoo is at the southern tip of this area. We renew our family membership annually for $95 and when a nanny joined our family part time, we got her a student membership, which is only $60. Even if you're paying, it's nice that three and under kids are free (This is not the case at the Childrens Discovery Museum down in my neck of the woods). There's a playgroup we went to once - it's on Tuesdays - for my daughter. It cost five dollars extra, but we got to see a lemur up close and it was a nice break to see her interact with other kids inside for a little while. But with my husband and older son, all four of us that is, we can have just as good a time at Fort Funston, walking around, hiking, watching the waves, or heading over to Lake Merced. Most of the time, though, if we are not wearing three or four sweaters, our foray into the outdoors of outer sunset are less than ten minutes long.

Imagine living in Cole Valley. Never heard of this SF enclave? Okay, imagine having Golden Gate Park as your backyard? I love the newly opened Botanical Gardens. Without even going in, the kids and I enjoy playing on the hillside shrubbery clock outside the greenhouse and studying the names of the Dahlias outside. Some of my former students shared an apartment after graduating from MVHS in the south bay. It was off Parnassus and Belvedere. Most people associate or even lump Cole Valley in with Haight Ashbury. While Cole Valley doesn't seem have much to distinguish it, it's a nice little pocket of a neighborhood within short strolls of Buena Vista park, the Haight, and Golden Gate Park. My former students said they "frequently" studied on a picnic blanket in park. Last time I visited them, they made me pay for every essay I ever made them write by draging me up the 600 or so feet of Tank Hill. There's a water tank there and lots of eucalyptus leaves (nice herbal smell). If I were to to move my family (I have a 2 and a 4 year old), Cole Valley would be near the top of my list. October is great month in this slice of the city, with the street festival and then the Halloween parade (for kids....everyone is sufficiently attired and sober, unless you count a gaggle of kindergarteners in Buzz Lightyear costumes, high on sugar, screaming "To Infinity and Beyond!". For a date night, my husband and I drop the kids off at our mannies' house near the panhandle and endure the painful wait at Grandeho's Kamekyo (on Cole between Carl and Parnassus) for some of the freshest and most inventive sushi we've had.

My place for pleasant walking and perilous driving. Witness Lombard Street for its curves and Filbert for its steeper than steep descent. I’ve had a few scary moments cresting the peak of Filbert in a friends old VW Beetle. No thanks. I’ll stick to something safer, like sky diving. Drivers new to this area are encouraged to come in an automatic transmission car. As for the streets themselves, get used to doubling back, circling, and detouring to circumnavigate all of the one way streets. When my friend Sharon moved here after law school, she rented an apartment in Russian Hill. When I’d visit her, we had our daytime routine and late night routine. Daytime was lunch after a late night out. One taco, Nick’s way, at Nick’s Crispy Tacos was always enough to soak up my hangover. Walking the parks (especially repeat ascents up the Vallejo steps) was our choice method for working off a few bites of taco. Russian Hill’s best attribute is its central location and hilltop elevation. There’s a 1000-2000 dollar difference between RH apartments that don’t have a view and those that do. Sharon’s was, well, the affordable variety, but all we had to do to feast our eyes on a porterhouse-sized chunk of the city was step outside her door and tread not even half a block to the corner.

What can I do in the financial district? Mostly, I like to walk there in the middle of the day. Sun-loving California girl that I am, I sometimes shy away from downtown. I always feel like I am in the shadow of some failing super bank’s megastructure. The one place in here I will walk in shade or over hot coals for is the century-old Tadich Grill. It’s delicious, no nonsense, beautiful. All the servers look and act like the type of kind witty grandpa everyone wishes for. They have a beautiful interior with a dark wood bar, green glass library lamps, and subway tile floors. Get anything. It’s all amazing. I usually start with the Crab louie salad and the seafood sauté. If not the seafood sauté, I get the poached halibut. This place is so classic, they don’t have a website. Walking the streets of the Financial District, I usually grab a sandwich at Café Algiers, which I pine for from a distance. Get there at 11 to get in line. Get there late and most of their fresh made daily ingredients and bread choices will be gone. I usually get a sandwich to go and walk down Beale Street, turn right on Howard if it’s daytime and you’d rather be left alone, or take Mission or Market I you want to bump into people. My final destination (and I can spend hours here) is the Ferry Building. I think it was completed in 2007, though I’m not sure. There are things here that I cannot find anywhere else and things I’ve never heard of before. Far West Fungi is a favorite stop. I love to make mushroom risotto and have tried some new mushroom varieties and recipes provided by the shop’s owners. I could spend hours reading and sitting in Herman Plaza outside the Ferry Building, popping back in for sustenance and caffeine every so often. A blissfully lazy and epicurean afternoon.

Distasteful, overfed, smelly, loud, and ill-mannered. Who knew that the seals and tourists had so much in common? If you want a French clown doll, a romanticized whale painting, or a thong that says San Francisco, you have come to the right place. The chocolate, seafood, views, and shopping are supposed to be better all around here. Even though I don’t live in SF, I still understand that the tourist dollars keep people employed and these days that’s a good thing. The Wharf is largely flat and in its offerings, homogenized. If this makes it a more accessible San Francisco for individuals from, say, Wisconsin, that’s a good thing. Go on a weekday if you must go. My two favorite days spent here, of the dozen or so times I have been here, include the time I went on the Alcatraz tour and the second time I went on the Alcatraz tour. The first time, I listened to the audio self-guided tour. The current cost is $26. If you don’t want to listen to the audio, you can get a refund for that part of your ticket price (it’s included). The second time I went, still a day tour – though I’ve heard the night tour is phenomenal, I chose to listen to my own soundtrack of Fugazi, Bauhaus, Muse, and the like. You get tickets for the boat ride out there at Pier 33 (Look for the so-so performance artists). The walk itself in and around the Wharf is brisk with salty sea air. I love to run here when I am staying with friends for the weekend. The people watching is great and I can always catch a good pastry at DeLise (a combination of the owners’ names) on Powell. If I’ve run far enough, I will get two treats. Although they change their menu a little seasonally, I can usually count on finding the bacon maple scone and lavender madelines. Flaky buttery happiness.

My dog Gershwin’s first love was a similarly neutered and bred Labrador pound puppy: Jack. They were tempestuous in the early stages of their relationship. My dear friends T and D adopted Jack after previous pet Boo (as in Boo Radley) died and Jem and Scout (as in Finch), joined their family. Yes, T is an English teaching colleague of mine. Every year, we get together for twice annual parties at their house. With kids, we now try to make it a day trip. T and I have a former student whose grandfather won an Oscar and brings it to their own red carpet when they have their Oscar party in March. The second of three times T and D got married, I carted up a three tiered wedding cake decorated with dark red Ecuadorian roses. The smooth rolling hills through golden gate park didn’t disrupt the cake. On our way home, we take Clement out to Point Lobos and the shore and it’s something of a roller coaster experience, when you crest a hill and see nothing but space, sky, and then blue water ahead of you. It’s a cold and narrow beach you’ll turn left onto if you are headed back to the south bay. I can’t plug a lot of restaurants or clubs in this area, though we did have a good time at the small and unassuming Gaslight and Shadows Antiques on Clement. Mostly residential, lovely parks and dog parks. Friends, beach, sunset. Oops. This is starting to sound like a haiku.

North Beach is, in my view, for tourists, horny people, and singles; perhaps you fit into more than one of these categories. I took my parents here when my boyfriend and I lived in Hayes Valley. We had the obligatory meal at The Stinking Rose, which I later had to repeat with the boyfriend’s parents. Strangely enough, the roasted garlic bulb with baked brie is actually better at a pub we went to near Ghirardelli Square. The region has done a fairly decent job of keeping the strip clubs off of Columbus Ave. One evening here in particular that I recall was Fleet Week, when naval ships dock in SF. What a great night to people watch and, if you are out with a couple of single friends, to be reminded of how beautiful you are, even if you’re not feeling it. I ventured into a tame Broadway strip club of the peep show variety with the Hayes Valley boyfriend. While what the parties on both sides of the class did was R rather than X rated, the downsides included shuffling for small bills to feed into the slot, enduring the wicked awful smell, and trying not to touch any of the walls in the small booths where a dance floor of sorts can be viewed. All I can say is, I have no curiosity left about what the world, portrayed in Madonna’s Open Your Heart video, is really like. What’s best about North Beach, in my view, are the views. The rolling streets open up vistas of the Transamerica building and Coit Tower, which tops Telegraph Hill. You can hike up the kill, then take the elevator to the top of the tower when it’s open. You can work off your margherita pizza by climbing the Filbert steps Telegraph Hill. English teacher and pun-nerd (punnerd?) that I am, I was sure that I would eventually hear about North Beach’s tendency to celebrate “coitus”, obviating a gesture to the very phallic and aptly named tower. But this is the kind of joke I, a not funny person, would get the guts to attempt after the powerful vapors of alcohol has spirited away my eloquence. Bottom line about North Beach: sex and food. One of my favorite Literature professors at Claremont McKenna College, in a class called European Modernist Fiction, began our study of Joseph Conrad by stating, “Every pleasure in life comes down to three things: eating, defecating, and sometimes, to a lesser degree, sex.” North Beach, you’re 2 for 3. Not bad. And thank God SF is only 7 square miles.... because try to get a taxi after midnight and you will be hoofing it to your abode.

About ten years ago, I scoured this region with a friend who wanted to find a place of his own after his roommate got a bit unpredictable, to put it diplomatically. My friend ended up in the Castro, but my memories of quiet little Noe Valley bring me back with the fam. Even the name is cute. After finding parking, which can take months, there are lots of places for retail therapy and some of them aren't corporate. Two spots I like to shop on 24th are Peek A Boutique and See Jane Run. The first is a kids consignment place I like because I can sometimes find shoes and jackets that are new with tags. See Jane Run has a fantastic catalogue I receive, but being there to try on their bras and yoga tops is obviously better than ordering online. My friend Stephanie and I made a trip to See Jane Run and the Noe Valley Baking Co. after the Nike Womens Half-Marathon five years ago. This place has fresh coffee and scones that exude the butter in them. Another thing I like about Noe Valley is that it's sunny here more often than in other SF locales with taller buildings. I do feel a little bit like an intruder there these days, though, because wealthier families with pure bred dogs and children in Phil and Ted's strollers seem to have multiplied. But as long as shops like the cheese place and the Global Exchange stay around, Noe Valley will retain its charm. If they have it, try the cheese shop's Stilton. Take it to a party with some fresh figs and unsalted roasted almonds. Yum!

When we are getting close to this neighborhood, I always think of Dr. Seuss. BV Park is the nucleus and crown jewel of this area and you can see it long before you arrive. Sticking up above the house tops is an unruly tuft of trees that mark the top of this hilly park. Our black lab mix, Gershwin, loves this park. When he was two, we often took him up for dog playdates with my teaching colleague, Tony, his husband Dan, and their black lab mix, Jack. Buena Vista, to me, is mostly a residential neighborhood. We love to walk the super steep blocks: great exercise for dogs and their people. And the park keeps getting better and better. Tony said they have a strong local association that has privately raised most of the park renovation funds through homeowners' donations. On weekend afternoons, you can sense a little of this vibe. People we pass actually make eye contact and say hello. And if you encounter another dog owner, the dogs are always given wide berth to sniff and greet. If we lived in the city, Buena Vista would be one of the first places I would consider moving to.

Three words. Cha Cha Cha. They make the best Sangria and you can get small plates of tapas to soak up the amazing alcohol punch, wich costs 5 bucks a glass, 25 for a pitcher. Well worth it. If you are eating, get the cajun shrimp or the fried new potatoes. It's not the potatoes that are so luscious, but the poblano pepper aioli that comes with them. On a few slow Sunday mornings, Zunis on market street was our favorite place for a bloody Caesar ( bloody Mary with clam juice added and super spicy), and eggs florentine. Great upstairs window views, airy and with the rumble of the muni going by. I hate to dwell on food and drink, but there's so much in this neighborhood, it keeps me coming back again and again. I lived there for two summers with a friend and fellow foodie. It's been a while since I visited Germany, but Zeitgeist on Valencia is the closest thing to a traditional biergarten I have found in this area. Huge beer garden for mellow hanging cut, great beer selection, and awesome burgers. Don't expect servers to be solicitous with you here, but the expect the beer to be frothy, smooth, and so fresh. My last recommendation for this hood Is a seemingly spare but pricey shopping recommendation, but, hey, you do get what you pay for and this place is worth a splurge. I'm talking about Hideo Wakamatsu on Valencia. Save up and buy a 500 dollar bag that will last you a lifetime and weather any trend. Then, make yourself feel better with a follow up trip to Community Thrift Store at 632 Valencia. I made the pilgrimage there after the July 4th holiday, because I had received an email notification that the entire store was half off already decent thrift store prices. I got some clothes for the kids and a sundress. One thing I like about this second hand shop is they are a consortium of sorts, with over 200 partner charities whose members donate to create a rich assortment of finds and treasures. After my next visit, I will post more. There's much to do here.

For me, this neighborhood dredges up all the nostalgia of someone who's never lived here. The Tenderloin of my imagination was carved out of Geoffrey Eugenedes prose in Middlesex, one of my favorite This American Life episodes about two sisters who run away from home and end up in the Tenderloin, and my own daytime meanderings when I was checking out Carver Elementary after applying to the San Francisco unified school district. None of these second hand narratives or first hand trips were very positive. But... We love Peruvian food and I teach with a woman who is Peruvian. We went to Fina Estampa at her recommendation. come to find out, this place isn't wholly Peruvian. I still come back for the paella, though, and it's enough for our whole family (two preschoolers, husband, and me) and the kids love the bread. Back when an Irish sport called hurling (no, not that kind) drew me up to various pitches in the city, I ended up at Hilltop Park. Probably the bright spot for me in this neighborhood, the circular field makes for a good walking loop during the daytime. We had a fun date night there in April when one of our high school throwback favorites, The Church, played at Great American Music Hall. We looked online for a bar to hit afterwards and stayed at Edinburg Castle til near closing time. Not for the ambiance mind you. For the easy going unpretentiousness of it, the casual bartenders, and cheap drinks. A little scary leaving though.

One of my favorite neighborhoods because we've been to a number of house parties (My friends Patrick and Joel have an amazing loft with with a westward-facing floor-to ceiling window) here, south of Market may not appear to be a haven for pedestrian SFnewbies. It's been really industrial for a long time, with lots of scaffolding, temporary sidewalks, and under construction signs and detours. The first sighting of the big box Costco is a little bit disappointing. But the new AT&T Park's closeness has changed that, somewhat. As a mom of two, there are lots of reasons to love SOMA. Prior to children, I took my then boyfriend to a rock climbing/dance performance at a south of market performance space. We crossed the border to the mission to go to Charanga (on Mission) for Cuban food. Decent, yummy, great simmered sauces, but looks sketchy when you go in. I used to like the Metreon for their kidzibit on the top level, but Westfield developers have turned it into the space into a well marketed mostly empty shell. But there's a lot more the family likes to do outdoors here, whether it's walking along the Embarcadero, getting a scoop of ice cream at Mitchells, or exploring Yerba Buena gardens. For shopping, I have picked up a couple of unique things for my kids' rooms at Ma Maison, though they mostly have home decor, table settings, etc...Easy to get to from the south bay, as the cal train terminates there.

southwest ofthe Presidio, most of the action In this neighborhood, in our numerous visits, is on the iconic Fillmore St, several blocks away. One of our Fillmore favorites is Harrys Bar, where my friend Brendan used to work. Great Irish coffees, generous pours on their cocktails. This neighborhood has a lot of the upscale boutiques (Betsey Johnson, Jurlique, L'Occitane), but when we day trip to the city, the two places my "sister-in-spending",Carla, and I love are TheNest, a totally unique place to pick up a gift or home accent. And who doesn't love shoes? Please visit Gimme Shoes. On Fillmore, look for the sleek silver awning and yummy purses hanging from the wall like roasted ducks, over rows and rows of shoes, illuminated perfectly with track lighting. This store has been round since I was in elementary school and I am 37. In high school, when we tripped up to the city from Fresno for nerdy debate competitons, Gimme Shoes was like our teengirl Mecca. I actually bought a pair of Phillip Lim shoes here to wear on my honeymoon, but now that I am a married mom of two and a teacher, I am returned to the status of shoe pilgrim. This place approaches its passion for footwear with artistry. They select their inventory with care and creativity, which makes them special and unique. If you buy a pair of shoes and save enough pocket change to grab a snack, go to Dosas and get the paneer dosa and a curry bloody mary. But if you are in the mood for bready and chewy instead of light and crispy, get an uttapam instead. Yummy chutneys and spiced yogurt come with any on their menu. Fillmore Street has great nightlife, clubs, concerts, and blues joint, like The Fly on Divisadero. Popular, it's a busy part of the neighborhood and at times a little to see-and-be-seen for my taste.

My favorite visit toTwin Peaks was with my husband, then boyfriend. Enjoying the vistas after finishing the Bay to Breakers 12k in April, a little earlier that day, I was so glad that the peaks offered one of those glorious 25-cent pay-to potty portable toilets that have sliding doors reminiscent of old Star Trek episodes. Fortunately, we had the twenty five cents. Five of us waited patiently in line as a couple entered and came out of the sliding potty door a painful ten minutes later. Legs crossed and doing the potty dance, I awaited the next patron's exit. Meanwhile, those of us in line noticed a guy, a nonEnglishspeaking tourist, doing his own version of the dance and maneuvering closer to the automatic doors. Someone behind me pointed out that we were all waiting, but having traveled internationally, I know that being "in line" is not religiously followedl elsewhere like it is stateside. The lady ahead of me started to exit as the door slid open, and the closest I've ever been to a brawl ensued. Yelling and pushing, I stepped in and pushed him out of the way. He bullied the lady after me, but I felt l'd won the battle, if not the war. Other visits toTwin Peaks involved dinner parties at a friend's house. Their living room has floor to ceiling windows and an amazing view of the city at sunset and sunrise. We love staying with friends overnight in this hill- on-the-city because it's so close to golden gate park,where we like to walk, bike, and gawk at the dahlias outside the reconstructed arboretum. We also love the scrumptious palaak paneer at New Ganges restaurant on Frederick Street. They do take out which is great because if you time it right, you can pick up your food (their ambiance isn't stellar) and have a Twin Peaks summer sunset picnic (in the car if it's too windy on the hill). It's worth it.

Although this might sound ridiculous, one of my favorite things about West Portal is the parking. Yes, there is parking and it's free and plentiful, compared to other SF areas. My friends and I have parked here and taken the Muni into the city to have dinner and see a show at the Orpheum. But I have also spent some relaxing afternoons in West Portal. Walking yup and down West Portal Avenue reminds me a little of walking in downtown Redwood City or Burlingame before the big upscale retail chais invaded. I love Growing Up Toys, where I usually go for my nephews' birthday gifts, if I am in the city. This toy store is on West Portal and they have a great variety of non plastic, educational, but still fun and zany toys. Sundays here are pedestrian parades, with lots of strollers and dogs. I would also like to put in a personal plug for the small but very reasonable and helpful Quinn Travel. When a friend's mother was I'll and I needed to travel to Ireland on very short notice, it was worth a drive from San Jose to West Portal. I had such a great experience with them and the round trip airfare they arranged was reasonable, given the last minute nature of my plans. Now that I've got kids, West Portal is our occasional stop for brunch on a Saturday, followed by a stroll through the gorgeous residential streets and a visit to the flower market. I happened upon a diamond in the rough, Manor Coffee Shop, which is right below QuinnTravel. Great comfort food, but they still didn't take credit cards the last time we went. My husband gets the corned beef hash and my son and split the Belgian waffle. Yum. Cheap, no nonsense good food.