Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: San Francisco Bound !

This is topic San Francisco Bound ! in forum Film-Yak at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Gerard S. Cohen (Member # 994) on 07-25-2004, 07:45 PM:

My wife and I are flying to San Francisco July 28th for a 12 day vacation, leaving our adult daughter to care for our two Siamese cats, house and garden.

I've only been to SF once, about 40 years ago, when I drove a Thunderbird from NJ to SF for delivery, and flew home. This will be a touristy trip, as we'll be staying at the York Hotel near Union Square and the theater district, and taking motor coach tours to Yosemite, Muir Woods, Redwoods, Wine Country, etc.
on days alternating with exploring the city on foot and cable car. My wife has hardly been anywhere in the US, and it would be great to see and swim in the Pacific!

The guide book recommends the Castro Theatre as one of the few remaining cinema palaces, and I'd like to visit it, especially should the rain make a harbor sail unlikely.

From SF we plan to fly to San Luis Obispo, to stay with friends who live 12 minutes away, at Pismo/Shell Beach, right on the bay, for about three days. (They're an interesting couple who recently were instrumental in rescuing a strip of coast from developers and turning it into Dinosaur Park.) Then we'll fly back to SF and home to New York City.

We'd be happy to receive any tips or comments from F-T members who know the San Francisco or SLO areas.

Gerard & Mura

Posted by Dan Lyons (Member # 1454) on 07-25-2004, 09:15 PM:

Sounds like a great trip to me! [thumbsup]

Hope you like walking up and down steep hills. [Wink]

danny

Posted by Paul Mayer (Member # 355) on 07-25-2004, 10:11 PM:

From Pismo Beach you're only about 55 miles from Hearst Castle. A great place to check out if you've never been before.

"Rosebud..."

Posted by Phil Hill (Member # 371) on 07-25-2004, 10:21 PM:

Make sure you visit the Tenderloin district and the Castro theatre. While located in a predominately gay area of San Francisco, it is a great old theatre that was refurbished and is really a cool place.

And, of course it goes without saying... Fisherman's Warf is ***THE*** place for great seafood and entertainment!

And as Paul suggested, do visit Hearst castle and watch the 870 show in their theatre... well worth it!

>>> Phil

Posted by Michael Schaffer (Member # 1204) on 07-25-2004, 10:46 PM:

quote: Gerard S. Cohen
it would be great to see and swim in the Pacific

But not in SF. The water is really cold and there are sharks!
In the harbor, there is a WWII submarine. It is very interesting.You can go into it and bump your head. They have removed the steep ladders and made access easy. Even old people like Phil can visit it.
If they take you to Muir woods, you will probably be going through Marin County which is really a fairy-tale scenery and where Mr Lucas works on the next horrible chapter of the continuing Star Wars insult.
In Napa Valley, there are many wineries, but the most interesting for you to visit would probably be Coppola's. There is a small museum with props from his movies and his oscars. Look it up in the list of wineries available at the tourist info points. You won't find it. It is listed under Niebaum-Coppola.

Definitely visit Hearst Castle. But make sure you arrive early and make reservations for one of the tours. They are usually booked out. Google it, there is a website with all the info.
I didn't like the LF presentation there. It is a documentary with next to no historical footage. All you see is actors running around in costumes. It is included in the tour price though.

Only a few miles north of the park is a beach where hundreds of California sea lions hang out. Bring a spear and mustard.

Just north from there, the most spectacular stretch of the PCH begins where you drive on roads hundreds of meters (or yards) above the ocean. It takes about 1 1/2-2 hours to go from there to Monterey which is nice too. There is a big bay. I think you can swim there.

Posted by Carl Martin (Member # 1146) on 07-26-2004, 04:56 AM:

quote: Gerard S. Cohen
our two Siamese cats, house and garden

what lovely names!

yes, the castro is really the only movie palace left in sf. in oakland there's the paramount but it shows films infrequently. they have tours, though.

carl

Posted by William Hooper (Member # 71) on 07-26-2004, 06:35 AM:

The Grand Lake is in Oakland, they've also got a Wurlitzer that's played Friday & Saturdays.

Posted by Eric Hooper (Member # 1730) on 07-26-2004, 12:43 PM:

Movie theatres you MUST visit while here in SF:

CASTRO THEATRE

METRO THEATRE

CORONET THEATRE

THE PARAMOUNT in Oakland as mentioned above

In San Luis Obispo, you MUST visit THE FREMONT!!! You will not be disappointed.

Posted by Clint Koch (Member # 1179) on 07-26-2004, 03:57 PM:

The Freemont in SLO is a must.

Posted by Gerard S. Cohen (Member # 994) on 07-26-2004, 04:34 PM:

[our two Siamese cats, house and garden ]
----------------------------------------------------------------
what lovely names!
................................................................
Actually, they're named Moshe & Sarah!

Wow! Thanks for the tips. Looks like I'll need more time to take in all those great theatres. My wife wasn't planning on my making it a "busman's holiday," but she does enjoy cinema, and having grown up in a country where the theatres were neither A/C'd in summer nor properly ventilated in winter, I think she'd like to visit those you suggest.

We had planned to skip San Simeon, but your comments have us reconsidering. Perhaps our hosts will join us on a trip there.

A neighbor just brought us an April N Y Times Travel Section on the Sonoma Coast, Berkeley and Oakland. If we had more time, I'm sure we could lose ourselves in Northern California for a couple of months and have a real ball!

[ 07-27-2004, 10:55 AM: Message edited by: Gerard S. Cohen ]