| Population | 776,000 |
| Language spoken | English |
| Currency | USD |
| Average temperature | January: 49°; July: 63°; October: 61° |
| High season | May to August |
Underneath its foggy cover, San Francisco hosts plenty of hotspots that will keep you entertained. From the Golden Gate Bridge to the Farmer's Market, find out how to best spend three days in Frisco.
Day 1: Food & jazz
The City by the Bay maintains distinct flavors in each of its colorful neighborhoods, perhaps more so than any other city in the country. The Mission district is a great place to start your stroll, particularly along Valencia Street. Here you'll find delicious and cheap taquerias, luscious Latinas, bright murals, and vintage clothing.While its area is not as large as it was in the past, the Italian-flavored North Beach district still offers up a wide variety of cafés, interesting water holes, and a generally good-looking crowd -- especially on Friday and Saturday nights. If the pickings on the street aren't generous enough, additional viewing can be had in the notorious yet historic strip bars that cluster in the area.
Whatever's on the agenda, steer clear of the touristy Fisherman's Wharf with its shrimp cocktail shops, arcade games and T-shirt shops. If you want that same ocean smell but with top-flight food and top-tier sights, visit the Ferry Building. On Saturday mornings, the building hosts a Farmer's Market, where you can find an incredible array of eats including organic cheese, dried kiwi fruit, flavored olive oil, and baked breads.
If you're with your woman, grab some seats at the U-shaped oyster bar in the Hog Island Oyster Company, then get romantic by sampling some Sweetwaters and looking over the gorgeous bay.
Samples abound in the outdoor market, and some vendors might even get insulted if you don't try some of their product. As they should -- after all, there are worse ways to strike up a conversation with some lovely San Franciscans than over a piece of organic Brie cheese.
Keep cultured on your trip with a visit to the Legion of Honor. This notable museum sits in Lincoln Park, and makes for both an educational and romantic getaway, surrounded as it is by lush grass and trees and looking out onto Golden Gate Bridge.
Throughout the year, the museum offers a variety of special exhibits, but the spectacular permanent collection makes for ample viewing in itself. Paintings, sculptures and even a 4,500-pipe organ are all on display here, along with the fine collection of women that the museum usually draws. You might remember watching Jimmy Stewart desperately chasing Kim Novak through this museum in Vertigo .
Keep the refined routine going by heading to one of the city's jazz joints from here. While the Bay Area's best jazz is probably across the bay at Yoshi's (in Oakland), Club Jazz Nouveau makes a classy alternative. This new addition to the jazz circuit sits in the Cannery and offers up a variety of Latin jazz, traditional, blues, and whatever else the musicians' eclectic hearts wish.
Most jazz clubs are either overpriced or offer just plain bad cuisine, but here the Cajun style rates well above the usual club fare. The crowd tends to be older, but that doesn't mean the energy suffers.
Day 2: Spas & gender swaps
Depending on the weather (always an issue in San Francisco), a trip to Golden Gate Park can make for a great morning outing. It would actually be easy to spend a few days in this mammoth park, but even a couple of morning hours will be enough to take in a view that many visitors don't see. Take a female companion to Strybing Arboretum and Botanical Gardens, where you can quietly wander the dirt paths through silver trees, Angel's Trumpets and reflecting ponds. The Gardens offer numerous spots for private picnics or even just a cup of tea. The Japanese Tea Garden contains 4 acres of pagodas, ponds and paths.From here you could continue walking through the park, but it's another thing to paddle. Speckles Lake makes a great place to get some quality time on the water (as well as exercise) with your sweetie. You won't be alone boating around the lake: a plethora of ducks and sunbathing turtles will be sharing real estate with you.
Didn't someone say that vacations were a time to relax? By the time you make it out of the park, those legs might need some R&R. Sneak into Kabuki Spa in the middle of Japantown. The entrance is easy to miss, which makes the spa seem almost like a secret. Once you enter, the city just seems to fade away. If you want to go with the lady, make sure to visit on a Tuesday, as that's the only co-ed day.
The Kabuki Spa offers traditional Japanese showers, a sauna, steam room, and soaking pools of various temperatures and degrees of silence. There's even a gong that people occasionally tap when they feel that others are disrespecting the normal tranquility. For spa newbies, the staff offers suggestions about what pool or room to enter first, as there is a method to enjoying the relaxation. Those who haven't tried a Shiatsu massage should take advantage -- you'll be sure to leave a different person than when you entered.
In addition to relaxation and rejuvenation, spas tend to rouse up an appetite, so step over to the Asia SF restaurant in the SoMa district. This establishment is characterized by its frosted windows, eclectic crowd, and some mighty tasty Asian fusion cuisine, but is renowned for its servers.
Why is that? Here, the wait staff is comprised of "gender illusionists," a group also referred to as "cross dressers." After all, this is San Francisco. These dancers strut, glide and shake to various tunes, all of which get the crowd pumped. If you're comfortable enough with your masculinity, you might even want to hop on the bar. Order the wickedly tasty banana split for you and your girl, then call it a day.
Day 3: Barry, Beach Blanket Babylon
The city may be proud of its Golden Gate, Coit Tower and cable cars, but San Franciscans also love their ballpark. Now called SBC Park, the home of the Giants is a great place to spend an afternoon, whether you like baseball or not.During day games you'll see lots of honeys here, who make their way to the park to soak up the sun and check out the bay where Barry Bonds has hit more than one ball into the famous Splash Zone.
A final night's splash could only be spent in what has become a 30-year tradition -- Beach Blanket Babylon. This musical spoof show pulls no punches as it takes jabs at people and events, both local and far away. Political figures, celebrities and sports stars; none escape unscathed from the wild vaudeville action.
In addition to its cutting comedy, this show is famous for its hats. These head toppers make the 10-gallon jobs in Texas look small by comparison, but there's more to them than just size. The outrageous headgear sometimes steals the show, sometimes adorned with electronics, product placements and even scale model buildings. Watching the finale as a petite actress arrives on stage with a huge model of San Francisco landmarks on her head will definitely puts an exclamation point on your San Francisco visit.
tips for the trip
Resources:
http://sanfrancisco.areaconnect.com
www.cityrating.com
www.sfvisitor.org
www.sfgate.com
San Francisco Travel Guide
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