Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Japanese Tea Garden in San Francisco
Visit the Japanese Tea Garden in San Francisco for a romantic walk and tea. The garden is in the heart of Golden Gate Park. It is the oldest public Japanese garden in the U.S. Or, you can join them for a Japanese tea ceremony every Wednesday by appointment.
Monday, January 16, 2012
Ice skating at Union Square in San Francisco
Today, January 16th, is the last day to ice skate at Union Square. The hours today were 10:00AM to 11:30PM (so there are still a few hours to skate)! The website is unionsquareicerink.com. Ninety minute sessions start every even hour.
We went ice skating there today. Lots of couples were skating -- but of course ice skating is only a romantic activity if both parties know how to skate! This is especially a great place to visit during the holiday season. Though I have to say visiting today, a few weeks after the holidays, was nice; not quite as packed with people.
Union Square is a great place to shop, eat, and stay! Here are a few of my top ten favorites besides ice skating. I'll write about some of these in more detail in future posts.
* Lunch at the Rotunda in Neiman Marcus, visit opentable.com for reservations
* Stay at the Westin St. Francis
* Visit the Clock Bar (in the St. Francis) for cocktails (very modern; adults only)
* Have a adult dinner at the Bourbon Steak restaurant (Michael Mina's new restaurant) (not child friendly, very dark as well as quiet)
* Visit the Oak Restaurant for dinner (including with children). They have yummy mac and cheese, french onion soup, awesome crab chowder, as well as cheese cake.
* Children love riding the elevator to the 32nd floor. Could be romantic for a couple too (though you wouldn't ride it up and down three times like a 3-year-old might).
* Shopping at Victoria Secret inside the St. Francis.
* Visit the annual tree trimming after Thanksgiving.
* Visit cafe inside Union Square for a rich hot chocolate.
* Shop at Tiffany's.
* Dancing at the Starlite Room at the top of the Sir Francis Drake Hotel.
P.S. If you want some romantic ideas of things to do in San Francisco, watch The Bachelor episode for tonight, January 16th. They are in San Francisco and staying in one of my favorite hotels, The Fairmont.
You can watch this episode on Hulu.com starting tomorrow. Last Monday, they visited Sonoma in the wine country.
Note - my husband and I agree that climbing to the top of the Bay Bridge is NOT a romantic idea. That was a Bachelor FAIL! Fun to watch...
We went ice skating there today. Lots of couples were skating -- but of course ice skating is only a romantic activity if both parties know how to skate! This is especially a great place to visit during the holiday season. Though I have to say visiting today, a few weeks after the holidays, was nice; not quite as packed with people.
Union Square is a great place to shop, eat, and stay! Here are a few of my top ten favorites besides ice skating. I'll write about some of these in more detail in future posts.
* Lunch at the Rotunda in Neiman Marcus, visit opentable.com for reservations
* Stay at the Westin St. Francis
* Visit the Clock Bar (in the St. Francis) for cocktails (very modern; adults only)
* Have a adult dinner at the Bourbon Steak restaurant (Michael Mina's new restaurant) (not child friendly, very dark as well as quiet)
* Visit the Oak Restaurant for dinner (including with children). They have yummy mac and cheese, french onion soup, awesome crab chowder, as well as cheese cake.
* Children love riding the elevator to the 32nd floor. Could be romantic for a couple too (though you wouldn't ride it up and down three times like a 3-year-old might).
* Shopping at Victoria Secret inside the St. Francis.
* Visit the annual tree trimming after Thanksgiving.
* Visit cafe inside Union Square for a rich hot chocolate.
* Shop at Tiffany's.
* Dancing at the Starlite Room at the top of the Sir Francis Drake Hotel.
P.S. If you want some romantic ideas of things to do in San Francisco, watch The Bachelor episode for tonight, January 16th. They are in San Francisco and staying in one of my favorite hotels, The Fairmont.
You can watch this episode on Hulu.com starting tomorrow. Last Monday, they visited Sonoma in the wine country.
Note - my husband and I agree that climbing to the top of the Bay Bridge is NOT a romantic idea. That was a Bachelor FAIL! Fun to watch...
Sunday, January 8, 2012
San Francisco's North Beach
Tourists visiting San Francisco tend to gravitate toward three areas for hotel accommodations:
(1) Union Square;
(2) Nob Hill;
(3) Fisherman's Wharf.
We suggest an alternative -- especially for young couples who want to really experience San Francisco: try North Beach!
North Beach is one of the most exciting neighborhoods in San Francisco. It was once a primarily Italian neighborhood, and it still has a "Little Italy" sort of flavor -- lots of Italian restaurants and Italian cafes. Tour buses pass through North Beach constantly. But, it seems like few tourists take the time to really stop and walk around. And they just don't typically stay there because the neighborhood doesn't have large hotels.
But, North Beach DOES have hotels. We recommend the Hotel Boheme. The hotel is at 444 Columbus Avenue, which is right in the heart of North Beach.
The small entrance looks like a door to an apartment. The neighborhood has an amazing night-life, people are walking around constantly, and so they keep the door locked 24/7 for security. You seriously would not even know it was a door to a hotel unless you were looking for it. The entrance is literally right next to Calzone, an Italian restaurant with a big neon sign and tables on the street (decent food; really more about atmosphere though). Steps lead up to a 2nd floor landing, where the hotel makes complimentary drinks (think sherry or port) available for guests. The front desk is down a short hall.
Rooms are on the 2nd and 3rd floor. You can ask for a quiet room, which face inward; the interior rooms are built close together around an outdoor shaft that gives daylight to the rooms (can't call it a courtyard because it is too small). Or, you can get a room that faces right out onto busy Columbus Avenue and get the full North Beach experience; people-watching, night-life -- you are right in the very thick of everything here.
The clean rooms themselves are pretty small. They include queen-size beds. They have a small television. They are decorated with pictures from the Beat era -- North Beach is where Beat was born.
The small size of the rooms doesn't matter. You are NOT staying in North Beach to stay in your room. You're staying in North Beach to be a part of the City. Take part in the nightlife. Visit some of the epic night-spots in the neighborhood. Visit Cafe Trieste, which is probably the best cafe in San Francisco. Head down to the birthplace of Beat -- City Lights Bookstore. Beat authors used to stay at the hotel in the 50s, when it was more of a boarding house. The Hotel Boheme is right in the middle of everything.
Here's a view of the Hotel Boheme from across the street. You can see the name at the top of the building. If you're walking past the hotel, you probably wouldn't notice that it was a hotel at all:
Photo of Alan Ginsberg, Neal Cassady, and others, hanging in the bathroom of our room:
Lampshade by the bed:
Hallway leading to the front desk:
(1) Union Square;
(2) Nob Hill;
(3) Fisherman's Wharf.
We suggest an alternative -- especially for young couples who want to really experience San Francisco: try North Beach!
North Beach is one of the most exciting neighborhoods in San Francisco. It was once a primarily Italian neighborhood, and it still has a "Little Italy" sort of flavor -- lots of Italian restaurants and Italian cafes. Tour buses pass through North Beach constantly. But, it seems like few tourists take the time to really stop and walk around. And they just don't typically stay there because the neighborhood doesn't have large hotels.
But, North Beach DOES have hotels. We recommend the Hotel Boheme. The hotel is at 444 Columbus Avenue, which is right in the heart of North Beach.
The small entrance looks like a door to an apartment. The neighborhood has an amazing night-life, people are walking around constantly, and so they keep the door locked 24/7 for security. You seriously would not even know it was a door to a hotel unless you were looking for it. The entrance is literally right next to Calzone, an Italian restaurant with a big neon sign and tables on the street (decent food; really more about atmosphere though). Steps lead up to a 2nd floor landing, where the hotel makes complimentary drinks (think sherry or port) available for guests. The front desk is down a short hall.
Rooms are on the 2nd and 3rd floor. You can ask for a quiet room, which face inward; the interior rooms are built close together around an outdoor shaft that gives daylight to the rooms (can't call it a courtyard because it is too small). Or, you can get a room that faces right out onto busy Columbus Avenue and get the full North Beach experience; people-watching, night-life -- you are right in the very thick of everything here.
The clean rooms themselves are pretty small. They include queen-size beds. They have a small television. They are decorated with pictures from the Beat era -- North Beach is where Beat was born.
The small size of the rooms doesn't matter. You are NOT staying in North Beach to stay in your room. You're staying in North Beach to be a part of the City. Take part in the nightlife. Visit some of the epic night-spots in the neighborhood. Visit Cafe Trieste, which is probably the best cafe in San Francisco. Head down to the birthplace of Beat -- City Lights Bookstore. Beat authors used to stay at the hotel in the 50s, when it was more of a boarding house. The Hotel Boheme is right in the middle of everything.
Here's a view of the Hotel Boheme from across the street. You can see the name at the top of the building. If you're walking past the hotel, you probably wouldn't notice that it was a hotel at all:
Hallway leading to the front desk:
Stairs leading to 3rd floor (we stayed over New Year's Eve, explaining the balloons):
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)