Going to the Bay area (CA), what should I do?

Bathhouse ruins,

Muir woods,

body boarding

Find someone who lives there, has for a while and ask for a place they like that isn’t touristy

I answered a similar question here. Lots of cool things to do that are not standard tourist fare. When is the DMB concert again? I haven’t seen him since my days in NYC… ;-)

This Fri, Sat and Sun.

I recently had a chance to spend some time in San Mateo. It has an adorable downtown filled with interesting shops and lots of restaurants. Definitely worth a wander. I found a new mystery bookstore (M is for Mystery on 3rd Ave.), always a pleasure for me.

I also totally second Muir Woods, one of my favorite places in the world (Cathedral Grove). My favorite time to go is early Sunday morning after eggs benedict and champagne at the Alta Mira in Sausalito.

This week the temp is in the triple digits inland so I would drive up Highway 1 north. There are small towns, farms, artists’ enclaves along the coast along with great beaches and nature trails and not many tourists after labor day. Also hit the farmers market at the Ferry Building if you are going to be in the City.

In SF:

The best Japanese food I’ve ever had is at Mifune, in Japantown (Japan Center). While you’re there, I think it’s fun to look around Japan Center, there are lots of shops with Japanese stuff (from food to furniture and decor), plus the plaza has an interesting building/sculpture thing.

They just re-did the Academy of Sciences to be green, apparently it’s something to behold. They had a famous architect design it, the features that most stood out to me were the “hilly” green roof and indoor rainforest. There’s also a planetarium if you like to get your cosmo-geek on, like I do.

The Mission District is an eclectic place with interesting shops and such. I like pirates and have a weird sense of humor, so I found the pirate store to be really fun for a quick browse (be sure to poke around in the drawers and cabinets).

If you like history, you could check out the Presidio (historic buildings in a Eucalyptus forest) and then Fort Point, which you can walk around in and see what life was like for soldiers in the 1700’s. It’s also just underneath the Golden Gate Bridge, which is kind of cool.

Outside of SF:

If you’re going to be going to Berkeley for the concert, I think University Ave. and the area near the university are fun to walk around. There’s a huge outdoor flea market not too far away from there, too.

Sausalito is across the Bay in Marin.. you can drive or take the ferry from Fisherman’s Wharf. It’s a cute little town with little shops and restaurants.

You can also take ferries to Alcatraz (I liked the audio tour) and Angel Island, both historic sites.

There are the Marin Headlands on the other side of the GG Bridge from Sausalito, if you like nature. A lovely drive, if you don’t like hiking. Plenty of trails through different kinds of habitat, lots of birds and wildlife. If you go far enough north, you’ll eventually reach a beach we used to go to all the time when I was a kid. Said beach will be less crowded and more pristine than those on the SF side.

Actually, you may just want to explore Marin, if you haven’t been. There are cute towns with shops and restaurants (Mill Valley and Sausalito), as well as TONS of outdoorsy stuff (Mt. Tamalpais, Marin Headlands/GG National Rec. Area, Muir Beach).

If you’ve never been to Cheeseboard Pizza in Berkeley, it’s a must.

the Cheeseboard is a great place.

also, Top Dog (anarchist hot dog stand) just off of Telegraph is great. not too far from UC Berkeley.

The flea market referred to is at one of the BART stations. worth going to.

lots of used record/CD stores on Telegraph.

you gotta stop by Peet’s coffee. there’s several locations in the east bay.

@revatman—does being anarchist mean the dogs are vegan? I have always wanted to get a vegan dog from a stand. I am not vegan but I don’t go near “real” dogs. Scary! I was vegetarian too many years for that!