Visiting SF Bay area - need suggestions

[TheOffice]

The Admiral and I will be in the Bay area October 23-29. We know we want to do a bike tour in Napa or Sonoma. Getting info from Wine Country Bikes, but have not booked anything.

Also need recommendations on hotels in SF (prefer smaller places over Marriotts), restaurants, and of course, sailing. Are their any sailboat rentals? Any weeknight races that time of year?

Thanks.

Joel

[Tim Ford]

Amble on down to Berkeley YC early Friday evening. This has worked for me twice. One time it was pre-arranged, the other time there was a guy with a Bird boat who was single-handing. Both times were a blast, big air and fun courses.

A 6 of decent craft beer in cans will get you on most boats. I was surprised how laid-back the club and marina are, a lot of character boats and a lot of characters!

Avoid Berkeley Pier restaurant...especially the crab cakes....ugh.

[BeauV]

Joel,

Wow, there is a ton of stuff to do.....

For sailing, Try Modern Sailing in Sausalito, they have a good solid charter fleet. ALX!!! have you seen this, Maybe a boat ride??? Our own Alx has a J-30 right on the water front at Pier-39. Great place to start from. Let's torture him into taking you sailing.

In fact, expect to spend a 1/4 day walking around that little village. The main town marina is a fun place to walk around. Great Mexican food at Salsalito (sic). Fabulous high-end food at Sushi Ran (the best sushi in CA by multiple surveys, but not cheap).

Plan on heading out to the Marin Headlands to see what the coast looks like, and if you want "funky" you can drop in on the town of Bolinas. Crazy-town but funny.

As to hotels, I need more info. There are zillions of places, but they are all pretty expensive. Some have water views, some are in interesting neighborhoods, some are in dangerous neighborhoods. One of my favorites is in Pacific Heights. Which is a very high-end residential neighborhood which doesn't have anything to do but is very very quiet. Let me know more about what you're looking for.

Get a Clipper Card if you're spending time in the city, you can hop on-n-off of the busses and subways etc... and not worry about parking. Parking is a BIG hassle.

There is a ton more, but I need more guidance on style and budget. The SF Bay Area isn't one of the top four tourist destinations for nothing.

Cheers,

B

[TheOffice]

Beau,

Hawaii looks awesome!

Plans are coming together. Arrive Monday. Tour SF Monday. Tuesday head to Sequoia and then Napa. Bike ride Wednesday/Thursday. Friday make our way through Sausilito back to SF. Saturday in SF, fly home Sunday a.m.

Will be spending our anniversary in wine country. (Bike riding on anniversary?) Convinced wife that 2 days of biking was enough. Looking for sub $300 a night hotels in SF, know I need to spend more in Napa or Sonoma. I'll be putting Trivago to the test!

[BeauV]

Joel,

By Sequoia, I hope you mean a place like Muir Woods in Marin, it's a pretty long drive to Sequoia Nat. Park

If you haven't found it already, try "Hotel Tonight", it's an iPhone ap. (They were one of my customers at my last gig) They can give you a very cool snap-shot of hotels that are available right now, and in the future. I have seen them beat many of the web sites, like Kayak and Truvio.

I'm happy to provide local neighborhood advice, for example "lower Nob Hill" is not ok.

Have fun!

B