Alcatraz Island

1. Alcatraz is an island that has been used as harbor fortification, a facility for military detention and a maximum security federal penitentiary. Alcatraz Island has a rich history and housed many of the United States most notorious criminals, including Al Capone and “Machine Gun” Kelly. The natural locale of Alcatraz makes it an amazing place to visit – it’s easily viewed from around San Francisco, and is a quick boat ride away. Now a National Park it’s an incredible and educational place to visit.

A waterfall is just some of what you will see!

2. Golden Gate Park is one of the world’s most famous urban parks. Families can visit the serene Japanese Tea Garden, the oldest Japanese garden in the United States, with its Zen gardens, the famous Drum Bridge, and tea house. Stow Lake is a fun attraction on warm days, as families can rent rowboats and pedal boats and cruises the lake at their own speed. A visit to Golden Gate Park wouldn’t be complete without a visit to the Bison Paddock, where you can visit a herd of bison that has been kept in the park since 1891.

3. The Exploratorium is a unique science-cum-art museum that kids (and adults!) love. There are many participatory wonders that you can discover with your family at The Exploratorium, including The Science of Music, The Science of Cooking, even Skateboard Science. These exhibits teach valuable information on living things, the material world, the mind, human culture, the earth and more.

Who doesn't love boats?

4. San Francisco Maritime National Park lets you visit and climb aboard some of the more famous vessels in U.S. Maritime history, including the USS Pampanito, a WWII Balao class submarine, the Balclutha, a 300-foot long three masted sailing ship from the 1880s; the C A Thayer, a three-masted schooner from the 1890s; plus seven more ships both big and small to explore.

Sea lions basking in the sun!

5. Sea Lions At Pier 39 will give you an up close and personal view of a throng of cute but loud sea lions. Their numbers fluctuate – at times there might be as few as a dozen, at other times there have been over 1,500. They are fun to watch, and kids can stare at them for hours. Pier 39 is a fairly touristy location, so it usually isn’t too hard to pry kids away from the sea lions.

6. Chabot Space & Science Center is a center that focuses on space sciences and astronomy. There are visitor shows and programs held for families to discover the secrets of our universe and the Milky Way. The Planetarium and MegaDome Theater are always big hits.

Enjoy the lush greens of the 4-story rainforest

7. The California Academy Of Sciences is one of the largest museums of natural history in the world. Founded in 1853, the CAS currently houses a large number of historical exhibits along with the Steinhart Aquarium, Morrison Planetarium, and Kimball Natural History Museum. The four-story living rainforest display is an amazing display of fish, plants, animals and birds, and is one of the highlights of any trip.

8. Chinatown is the oldest Chinatown in North America and the largest Chinese community outside Asia. It’s also a major tourist attraction, drawing more visitors annually than the Golden Gate Bridge. There are always interesting events taking place, whether something large like a parade or festival, or one of the more mundane snapshots of daily life (life shopping in a traditional Chinese market)

The largest Chinatown outside of Asia!

that can be fascinating to the uninitiated. It is a place that you cannot afford to miss when in San Francisco.

This post was written by Randall Pinkston of Neotravel.com, who specializes in travel deals, airfare sales, vacation discounts and Budget Rental Car coupons.

images by: Manue@PrettyKiku, Ricky Romero, Jerry Downs, iriskh, wallyg, clickykbd and albertobastos

1. Omnivore Books on Food (3885A Cesar Chavez Street)

Omnivore Books on Food storefront

A trip to Omnivore Books on Food is the perfect destination for anyone who is a cookbook collector, is a general fan of cookbooks, or just loves all things cooking. The store includes new, collectable, and antiquarian books on both food and drink. You’ll find anything and everything from early 19th century guides for starting a kitchen garden to what you need to know about your 21st-century apartment kitchen. If you can’t find what you need browsing their varied, interesting shelves, don’t be afraid to talk with one of their staff members. Many of them are knowledgeable and friendly. Don’t forget to see what’s on their events calendar. While you’re in town, you may be able to catch a tasting, author talk, or pot luck.

2. Discovery Street Tours (various locations)

These walking, street tours are science-themed. They provide an urban study of the science in your food, under your feet, and in every part of your daily life. The tour includes eating a variety of delectable goodies, participating in hands-on activities, and meeting like-minded people who are active, curious, and maybe just a little bit out of the ordinary. Foodies should consider one or more of the following tours: “The Science of Bread and Cheese,” “The Science of Tea,” and “Fermented Favorites: The Science of Cheese and Wine.” These tours will give you the opportunity to learn captivating food science while getting some exercise and touring a variety of San Francisco neighborhoods.

3. The Cheese School of San Francisco (2155 Powell St., 2nd floor)

Cheese sampling at the Cheese School of San Francisco

San Francisco’s Cheese School is a must-stop destination for all cheese lovers visiting San Francisco. The school is located in the historic, gorgeous North Beach neighborhood. Their web site offers schedules for cheesemaking classes, cheese tastings, open houses, cooking-with-cheese demonstrations, cheese movie nights, and occasional cheesemaker dinners. Additionally, they have intensive three-day programs for professional-level cheesemakers, which are held twice a year. If this is not for you, consider a one-night class such as “Mountain Cheeses,” “How to Stretch Mozzarella,” and “Vermont Beer and Cheese,” all of which provide an informative, delicious night out in San Francisco.

4. TCHO Chocolate Factory (Pier 17, at Green Street, on the Embarcadero)

Some delicious TCHO chocolate

The TCHO was founded by a former Space Shuttle technologist and is known for its dark chocolate. They make excellent milk chocolate as well. Their web site provides anything and everything that you could possibly want to know about chocolate science, history, and politics. When you are filled up on chocolate facts, head on over to the Factory at Pier 17 right on the water for a free tour. The views are stunning so don’t forget your camera. The tour will include a presentation and factory tour from their very entertaining and knowledgeable staff. The tour also includes a comprehensive, guided tasting of artisan chocolate that is out of this world.

5. Brenda’s French Soul Food (652 Polk Street)

Breakfast at Brenda’s French Soul Food

Chef Brenda (with the very appropriate last name Buenviaje) is a New Orleans native. She specializes in cooking with Creole and Southern influence and technique rooted in French cooking. You don’t want to miss her famous cream biscuits that are buttery, fluffy layers way beyond anything that you could imagine. The beignet flight is one not to skip either. It includes plain, apple, chocolate, and crayfish (if you can believe that) beignets. The destination is close to the downtown San Francisco area and is creative and delicious with generous portions that are still reasonably priced. What’s not to like here?

This post was written by Charlie of the Five Star Property Management Team who specializes in San Francisco single-family, multi-family and HOA management, as well as spreading the word about all of the great things about San Francisco.

images by:Kanaka Menehune, Ms. HC, pkingDesign, Laughing Squid & Caroline on Crack

There’s much to be said for serving as your own tour guide. Let’s say, for instance, that you’d like to plan a budget-friendly trip to the bay area. It’s not exactly a notoriously cheap destination, but you’ve found a great hotel deal in San Francisco and you’d like to explore the area outside the city as well. You could sign up for a day trip into Napa Valley from San Francisco, taking all the guesswork out of it and letting someone else take care of all the details. You’d probably have fun, and you wouldn’t get lost – but since doing a self-guided tour of California wine country is so easy, why not give it a go?

Driving in San Francisco may not be any fun, but driving through wine country certainly is – and with a few tools you can make it even more enjoyable. You can use GPS to plot out a route through the most famous vineyards and other sights with helpful apps. You can even follow a prescribed route – but by doing a self-guided tour, you’re free to stop along the way if you see something interesting, or skip something on the tour route if it doesn’t appeal to you. Not only that, as any road trip aficionado will tell you, the potential for getting lost is half the fun.

Once you’ve tackled wine country, there’s no reason you can’t design a self-guided tour back in San Francisco before heading home, too. Even if you didn’t plan ahead, you can easily download a smartphone app or look up an itinerary online for a walking tour.Doing a DIY tour can be very relaxed and save you quite a bit of cash as well.

By the way, if you’re planning a wine country tour that includes lots of wine tasting and there’s no designated driver, you should stick to a guided tour where someone else is doing all the driving – but if your tour is more about the sights and food than the vino, by all means take control and be your own guide.

- by Jessica from BootsnAll

photo by star5112

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iTunes Festival London 2011 - July 1-31, London

Featuring 31 consecutive nights of brilliant live music, iTunes Festival will showcase both established and emerging artists. Each performance will be recorded and made available for download on iTunes. Tickets for the iTunes Festival are free but you have to apply for tickets! There will be about 60 artists performing, including Paul Simon, ADELE, Foo Fighters and Duran Duran.

 

 

Berlin Festival 2011 – September 9-10, Berlin

Berlin is a city like no other; especially known for its underground music scene, its definitely a city worth visiting just for its musical influence alone. Berlin Festival takes place just days after Berlin Music Week (September 7-11), making this week one of the best times to visit this vibrant city. Berlin Festival 2011 will feature a Boy George DJ Set, The Drums, Suede, Beirut, Mogwai, Battles, Hercules and Love Affair, Deus, Santigold, A-Trak, Yelle, Diplo and many other unique acts.

 

 

Fête de la Musique – June 21, Paris

Allowing for the expression of all types of music, Fête de la Musique is completely different from most music festivals. It is open to both emerging and professional musicians, and all musicians are asked to perform for free as the event itself is free to the public.

 

 

Make Music New York (MMNY) – June 21, New York

Now in its fifth year, Make Music New York is a unique festival filled to the brim with free concerts, taking place in public spaces throughout the five boroughs of New York City. All taking place on the first day of summer, June 21, MMNY takes place simultaneously with similar festivities in over 460 cities across the world. The lineup hasn’t been announced yet but it should be any day now. In past years, the lineup has ranged from hip hop to opera, Latin jazz to punk rock, all performed on the streets, sidewalks, stoops, plazas, parks and gardens of New York.

 

 

Pitchfork Music Festival – July 15,16,17, Chicago

This three-day event showcases over 40 of independent music’s best bands and artists. It is one of the few music festivals that keeps ticket prices reasonably low. Among the many artists you will see Animal Collective, DJ Shadow, Toro Y Moi, TV on the Radio. Activities include a Record Fair, presented by the Chicago Independent Radio Project, Coterie handmade goods, FLATSTOCK poster show series and Rock for kids.

 

 

Lollapalooza – August 5-7, Chicago

Whereas the Pitchfork festival focuses on independent music, Lollapalooza is a destination for music lovers all over the world. It just so happens that this year is the 20th Anniversary of the Festival and festival-goers can look forward to a full and exciting lineup. Artists include: Eminem, Foo Fighters, Coldplay, Muse, Deadmau5, Cee Lo Green, Girl Talk, Kid Cudi and so many more. As always, the festival will take place in historic Grant Park, between the iconic Chicago skyline and the shores of Lake Michigan. FYI – if you have kids 10 and under, they get in free to Lolla when accompanied by a ticket holding adult.

 

 

Outside Lands Music & Arts Festival – August 12-14, San Francisco

Taking place in San Francisco’s historic Golden Gate Park, Outside Lands invites guests to celebrate not only the best in music, but also food, wine and art. From singer-songwriters to DJs, jazz acts and cutting edge rock bands, all major music movements are celebrated alongside a host of local musicians, food vendors and visual artists representing SF’s vibrant cultural community. This green-conscious event will feature artists like Arcade Fire, Black Keys, The Shins, MGMT, Girl Talk, Erykah Badu, The Roots, Major Lazer, OK GO. Other attractions will include tastes of the Bay Area, many wine offerings, festival market place, and the eco lands area, powered entirely by solar energy.

 

 

Osheaga – July 29th to 31st, Montreal

There’s no better city to enjoy an outdoor music festival than Montreal. The summer is when Montreal shines the most and the energy of the city is always outstanding, especially during the outdoor festivals. There are no shortage of them in Montreal and Osheaga is one stellar festival not to be missed. Last years addition with Arcade Fire performing during the fireworks was spectacular. Osheaga acts this year include The Tragically Hip, Cypress hill, Eminem, Elvis Costello & The Imposters, The Flaming Lips, Death Cab for Cutie, Kid Cudie, City & Colour, Broken Social Scene, Lupe Fiasco, Bright Eyes, Ratatat, Bran Van 3000, Crystal Castles, MSYRKRFT, The Joy Formidable, Sam Roberts Band, Jamie xx, Manchester Ochestra, Malajube and a host of other amazing bands. And don’t miss out on Osheaga in the City, which features acts outside the days of the festival. The lineup will be announced in the coming month.

 

 

Glastonbury Festival – June 22 to 26th, Glastonbury

The lineup is endless and Glastonbury’s following is so large that they are already sold out of tickets. If you were planning to attend, we hope you already grabbed your tickets. The festival began the day after Jimi Hendrix died in 1970 and so marked one of the best festivals. In 2011, this festival is still going strong and with so many stages, we couldn’t possibly list all the bands. Some stellar acts include U2, Coldplay, Paul Simon, Queens of the Stone Age, The Naked & Famous, The Streets, Lykke Li, Wu Tang Clan, Beyonce and so many more that my eyes are watering looking at the lineup.

 

 

Sonar – June 16-18, Barcelona

Taking place in Barcelona, Sonar will be showcasing famous artists and DJ’s like M.I.A., Underworld, Janelle Monae, Steve Aoki and many more. To add to the already full lineup, there will be some interesting showcases by Ninja Tune, BBC Radio and others.

 

And one extra…Piknic Electronik – WEEKLY, Montreal and soon Barcelona!

This unique weekly event helps you get the most out Montreal’s summer weather, while enjoying an incomparable view of the city and quality electronic music. They highlight the many talents of both the local and international electronic scenes, featuring classic acts as well as audacious newcomers. The Barcelona version appears to be next on their list of cities!

What music festivals will you be attending this summer? Add yours to the comments.

Download a city guide to get you around during festival season!

Image sources: Anirudh Koul, stevenboegborn, tom-jenkins, tkaravou, toombsday, jaywei80, Jason Bryant for Glastonbury Festival, SPACEBAR.ca [Simon], scannerfm_flickr, zenra, bumpershine, tammylo

For starters, avoid the opening rush. Instead of lining up at 4am, look for stores that offer midnight-madness sales. Often, less people are aware that these sales are happening (since they only occur at certain stores) so you may get the same great deals with a lot less hassle (plus, you should be wide awake following your post-tryptophan afternoon nap). By skipping the opening bell you may forego some door-buster deals, but you’ll also avoid a lot of stress (and chances are you can do without the crappy printer they’re giving away for free).

You can also make your life a lot easier by being discerning when it comes to choosing which stores you will visit. This pertains not only to the chains you decide to patronize, but the area you frequent. High-end shopping centers in heavily populated areas are likely to receive the lion’s share of visitors, as are big-name retailers like Best Buy, Apple stores, and large outlet malls. So consider giving your consumer dollars to local businesses that offer the same items. Call ahead of time to see if they’re willing to price match the chain stores and you may be able to get the same low prices with a lot less stress.

Finally, you can get more done by employing some help. You’ve no doubt heard of people paying others to hold their place in line (outside a store) starting at 2 or 3am so they can show up just before the doors open and avoid a wait. However, this is probably a waste of funds that could be put to better use on sale items. Instead, ask some friends or relatives to come along. You can bring a thermos full of coffee and camp out in front of a store, then spread out once you get inside to get all of your shopping done quickly (before the lines get too long).

Of course, there’s always online shopping to consider. With Cyber Monday following fast on the heels of Black Friday, you can opt to avoid physical shopping altogether. And even though many companies designate Monday for the beginning of their biggest online sales, some of them actually post lower prices starting on Friday to boost sales and get the jump on their competition. So if you really want to make the most of the biggest shopping day of the year, do a little research ahead of time to find out who’s offering what and how you can save a lot with the least amount of hassle.

If you need help navigating your way around the city while shopping, download one of mTrip’s US iPhone Travel Guides.

~ Sarah Danielson writes for RAC Breakdown offering the best in breakdown cover and car insurance guides.

Drop-in on a Parade

Watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade is one of the universal Thanksgiving Day traditions. Kids always marvel at the massive balloons that portray their favorite cartoon characters and the acts from popular television shows. While the parade looks fun on television, attending could become a cherished family memory. While the kids might love seeing the Spiderman balloon now, the parade’s magic will last forever.

So, let the grandparents entertain their friends this year and take off for New York.

If New York still seems to out of reach, then consider taking in a parade at a closer or more affordable location. Chicago has a holiday parade on Thanksgiving morning that offers a show to rival the more famous Macy’s event. The parade is an unforgiveable experience featuring giant marching bands, inflatables, dancers and more.

Look at Off the Beaten Track Locations

Vacationers often target iconic locations that come with outrageous price tags. Rather than splurge on New York or Paris, travelers might find plenty of big city fun, friendly accommodations, and great deals in mid-sized cities that often get overlooked.

San Francisco has enough squares and boulevards to rival Paris. The Thanksgiving trip to San Francisco can be a chance to break away from the norm. Instead of the traditional turkey, consider dining out in some of the exotic city restaurants and pubs to enjoy a lobster (instead of a turkey) just for a change.

If dinner is not the most important part of the holiday for you and you are looking for some special events, consider going to Washington to witness the famous Presidential Turkey Pardon ceremony where the President formally pardons a turkey and spares it from ending up on the Thanksgiving table.

Volunteer for Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is the best time to volunteer to help the homeless. Every city has plenty of charitable organizations that need volunteers to prepare and serve the food. If you’d like to help, here are some organizations to contact:

• Washington: SOME (So Others May Eat)
• Chicago: The Night Ministry
• New York: godslovewedeliver.org
• San Francisco: Glide Memorial

Travel affordably:

Thanksgiving should be enjoyed. Ignore conventions and start a new tradition of having fun.

Is the trip too expensive? Consider:

• Web-based budgeting programs
• Emergency loans
• Saving tips

to help you on the road to enjoying your trip memories.

This is a guest post by Annie

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JM Barrie’s tale is set to take place in an iconic venue, perfect for showcasing such a creative and classic production. San Francisco’s threesixty Theatre will host the US premiere after its successful premier in London. The San Francisco production is sure to be a success too, bringing in locals and tourists alike.

Dates: April 27 – July 4, 2010
Tuesday & Thursday @ 7 PM
Wednesday @ 1 PM
Friday @ 7.30 PM
Saturday @ 2 PM & 7:30 PM
Sunday @ 1 PM & 5 PM

Tickets: $30 – $85

Purchase tickets and get more info online at Peter Pan The Show.

threesixty Theatre

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Photo Source: amandabhslater at http://www.flickr.com/photos/pikerslanefarm/