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What would you do if you were 3 weeks in California
Posted by ronploeg • 1/06/09 • Subscribe to this Discussion [RSS] • Report This Topic
Topics: California, Creative, holiday, ideas, travel
What would you do when you would arrive on the airport of San Francisco. Nothing arranged just arrive and totally blank when it comes to ideas. Just some words in mind: San Francisco, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, swim and some camping. What would you advice me. I would love to hear what you would do if it would happen to you.
User Comments
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Depends on the time of year and your budget.-
...and what part of California! -
The time of the year july...arriving the day before the 4th of july. The place at least San Francisco, Los Angelos and Las Vegas. I have only 3 weeks
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Well, I actually LIVE in California, so I'm not sure what I would do in your situation, but Las Vegas is a must; maybe Disneyland; Universal Studios (I realize these last two are in SOUTHERN California, but it sounds like you aren't against traveling there.
Currently, it's a little chilly here, so only go camping if you can handle the cold. During the day the temperatures are pleasant though.
You could go to the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose (not too far from San Fransisco). Visit Hurst Castle or go to some museums (The J. Paul Getty museum in L.A. is a favorite of mine).
I don't know... there's lot's of stuff to do here.-
Rosicrucian Museum in San Jose is actually more interesting than Winchester Mystery house. There's lots to do in the Bay Area (lived there 30 years) but time of year and budget are very germane to the choices.
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Dearest Dead Rooster,
Las Vegas is in Nevada and too far to drive from SF.
XO from a former Valley Girl -
LOL I know where Vegas is...
The OP mentioned Vegas and indicated a willingness to travel there.
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cool, so dead rooster, they can crash on your couch, and then go site seeing.
Ps I love then new picture of you.. (woo-hoo)-
Heck, I've got a whole guest bedroom! (but, I warn you, my big orange cat has pretty much claimed it as his own).
Thanks for the compliment, Amy!
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I wouldn't go. I have no interest in visiting California again.
There's nothing there that interests me at all.
It's over populated, polluted and the traffic is insane.-
You need to come out here to wine country; clean air; no traffic; friendly people and hot air balloons.
...oh, yeah, and wine. LOL -
There are good places. SF and LA are not the best when it comes to traffic and crowds but that's what most people see or know from TV. It's like judging New York based upon what NYC is like.
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I would visit the National Parks and Forests of Kings Canyon and Sequoia. Then I would head up to Yosemite National Park, Muir Woods National Monument and Mono Lake. From Mono Lake I'd head north along the Kit Carson River to Tahoe. One could easily spend 3 weeks exploring and discovering along this route regardless of the time of year. Enjoy your trip! -
Enjoy the sun!!!!!! its freezing in here!!!!!!!!!!! -
Definitely Muir Woods and the sequoias. Tahoe is beautiful, if you've got chains this time of year. Check out the Exploratorium in Golden Gate Park and do some tourist things, if you don't get out there often. I know it's a cliche, but even when we visited every few months it was fun to wander the wharves and the cheesy shops in Ghiradelli Square, to ride the cable cars and browse decrepit Tower Records. Take a drive around Napa and down to Carmel and Monterey, go see some otters. Forget Vegas and LA, enjoy NoCal! -
Chase all the hollywood stars! -
Go visit my in-laws in Hollywood, and Sacramento!-
Yeah, Sacra-tomato! Ever been to the Jelly Belly factory?
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From San Francisco, get on BART (I think it connects the airport by now) and take it to Embarcadero station. Get off and begin to walk up Market Street.
Notice the strange mixture of opulence and misery. Notice the homeless and the endless pigeons. Pass LA Girls and think about how a third of San Francisco street names were actually named after prostitutes.
Continue on to Hayes street. Notice the Queen Anne residential architecture, and the decadent elegance everywhere you go, and how here and there is the faint smell of frankincense or the stench of marijuana. Continue to the south of Haight Ashbury and think about how the optimism of flower children ended in a mad dash to riches when the "generation of love" became greater hypocrites than their parents.
Continue to Golden Gate Park. Stop here and there to take in the sights...people playing ball. Homeless resting or washing themselves at the public latrines. Stop at Stowe Lake and visit that hill with the cross on it. Say hello to buffalo.
Eventually you will find an old windmill at Ocean Beach. Turn right, and follow the coastline trails past where the Cliff House is. Do you see the foundations of the great baths in another age now dashed every minute by waves? Smell the wildflowers that grow on the cliff side as you follow the path, on up to lands end, Baker Beach, and toward the Golden Gate.
Before you reach the bridge there's a vista where you can look out over the strait and out to sea. This is one of the most fabled places in America, a portal through many sought opportunity, and others found emptiness. The Chinese even have a song telling of loved ones who never returned home: "Dear one, do not go up to Old Gold Mountain."
If you wish you can walk the bridge. Or you can return to the city, find lodging, or get something to eat. Be forewarned: money goes fast in San Francisco.
Talk to the people. Get the pulse of their unique ideas, feel their pain, joy, and desperation. You will find that this place will never leave your thoughts, whether you find in them a greater impression of beauty, or an impression of degradation. And you will see in all of them a reflection of yourself to which you will turn again and again and again.
Welcome to California. Whether you will love it or hate it, a part of you will never leave, even if you physically must. -
I'd spend the whole three weeks thinking How the hell did I get here?!-
Or....what have I done to deserve this
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Laguna Beach - perhaps the most beautiful beach town in the world (many world travelers agree). Former hippie colony turned artist colony, turned grown up but still quaint. Pageant of the Masters...live art.
Lakers game - the most storied basketball franchise in the NBA. Celebrity hangout.
Drive PCH (Pacific Coast Highway) from Santa Monica to San Francisco...with stops in Big Sur, Carmel, and Monterey.
San Diego - best climate in the world, with a daytrip to Tijuana.-
Those are some great ideas!
...except Tijuana -- unfortunately it's gotten real weird down there in the last year or so. Lot's of muggings and stuff. I'd stay out of there. -
We went to TJ when I was little, living in the burbs of San Diego and it was no big deal but I've heard there's been drug violence and such the last few years. I wouldn't go there...
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OK good points....stay in San Diego and do the dining and Balboa Park where there are museums, art galleries, and stages.
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I wouldn't leave San Francisco for more than a week. As a ex bay area resident I would probably spend the whole thing in san francisco, there is more than enough to occupy 3 weeks of nothing better to do. Day or two trips down the coast to monterey/santa cruz area wouldn't be bad. Tahoe is another day or two trip if the pass is open (i recommend going california 120 through the valley into mountains when the weather is good). You could see a lot in three weeks but I would say pick no more than 3 things you want to do and spend enough time doing them so you get a richer experience rather than trying to cram it all in. -
I'd take a tour from top to bottom stopping anywhere that was interesting. When I hit LA I would jump on a cruise ship and take a 3 day cruise. I love the missions with my favorite being San Juan Capistrano. Once I came back up from San Diego I would make my way there. I would then probably head towards Needles and hit up Laughlin and Vegas. On the way back I would hit Joshua Tree (depending on the temp) then a few of the amusement parks. Being out of CA for nearly 17 yrs I like to do the typical tourist spots like Hollywood, Olvera Street in LA. I am sure I could think of plenty more but that is where I would do. Take in the typical and not so typical locations.-
Thats a good advice. For that reason I wanted to do some days camping in july hoping to be more among local. You can't imagine how boring it is to be 3 weeks in hotels. I like to see some real things and not just tourist places, but I also think its good to see some famous places. It might be the only time I can visit California. We never know what life will bring.
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Attend as many exclusive, Hollywood vaginal extravaganza parties as physically possible. Or at least try...-
Dude, those perverted parties that you love are about 400 miles south of San Francisco. Not an easy drive...
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Actually, San Francisco has a lot of those parties themselves...sometimes even in public places like the Folsom Street Fair.
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eeeew!
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He has three weeks - he can cover a lot of ground in that time. So, he's not limited to the Bay area.
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I do not mind to drive a couple of hundred miles as long as it worth it. I bring my 16 and 14 year old son to Calfornia....preverted parties?? hmmm maybe its good for them to improve their skills but I wonder if I have the energy It suppose to be holiday..however it makes me think. But when I wake up from the perverted dream I decide to skip it Other suggestions?
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I would probably find a decent hotel immediately, so I could shower, eat maybe, and have a base to work from.-
I am still searching for a suitable hotel which wouldn't be too expensive. I heard we are all in a financial crisis and I didn't win a lottery
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I spent my first 30 years in southern California, Ventura county specifically. My honeymoon was a drive north on the 101, across to Monterey and then back home via the Coast Hwy. Right now my brother-in-law lives in SF and my mother-in-law lives in Napa. I also have friends in Palo Alto, just south of SF...
The Napa Valley has all kinds of wine-themed activities, music festivals, quaint and luxurious non-chain restaurants, hot-air ballooning, and if you like Jelly Beans, the Jelly Belly factory in Fairfield. There's also a small "old faithful" geyser in, I think, Calistoga.
In SF there's, of course, Fisherman's Wharf, Pier 39, and a restaurant at the end where you can watch sea lions out on the docks. Muir Woods is right there, too.
If you are in a small car, you have to drive down Lombard Street (that windy street that's in movies). Hint - you will approach it from the other side of the hill. Take a parallel street as high as you can, then take a cross stree just before the peak, then turn onto Lombard Street for the peak and going up and over. Everyone else gets on at the bottom of the hill and there's backed up traffic. The interesections are light controlled so you'll be able to cut in from a cross street.
Just north of SF is Vallejo is a 6 Flags park, if you're in the mood for a roller coaster, water park, sealife park. Gotta drive the Golden Gate bridge but it's usually pretty trafficky because of the amount of cars plus having to stop to pay a toll.
South is Bodega Bay (The Birds movie), Half Moon Bay, Monterey, Big Sur with the giant rock out in the ocean, Carmel (high end boutique shops) and Carmel Valley (beautiful ride in a deciduous forest!) Drive down the coast highway for a lovely view of the ocean and cliffs.
Don't ever say "Frisco" - that's what outsiders say. Always pronounce the entire word.
When we go out that way, we always use the Sacramento airport. Flights and rental cars are usually cheaper than the SF ones. Also - getting out of the airport and onto the highway is super easy in Sacramento.-
"Don't ever say "Frisco" - that's what outsiders say. Always pronounce the entire word."
That reminds me of an editorial in SF Weekly where the commentator chided people for prefixing freeway numbers with the definite article: "The 5," "The 580," "The 280."
According to that writer, only Southern California people are so crude. REAL bay area people, according to her, NEVER use the definite article: "5," "580," "280."
Many in San Francisco and everyone from SoCal was convinced that week that SF Weekly seriously needed to get a life. -
Thanks for the helpfull and usefull tips great advices. I wanna rent a big car so it won't be small. In europe we always hear that things are so big in the USA. I was dissapointed in the car sizes. So I want big..lol
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When we lived in the area, SF was simply "The City". I can't remember having to refer to it once we were actually there, as people assume that you're looking for directions within the city rather than to someplace in another town.
I also heartily second the recommendation to pay a visit to Cliff House and en nearby beach/observation points. It's such a beautiful area. (sob sob) I miss the ocean.
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ADD: Once you hit LA, pick up a copy of LA Weekly and the LA Times Entertainment section. On any given weekend, there are more things to do in LA than one can imagine.
Los Angeles remains the most eclectic city with domestic and international influences to rival any.
What makes it different than some metro areas is that it is so spread out and there are pockets of the mundane, the sketchy, and the trecherous. Try and get acquainted with what areas you need to avoid or at least not run out of gas in.
ADD 2: Do Venice Beach on a weekend if you are into people watching.-
LA Weekly is great to whet your appetite for that people watching. Most people I know pick up a copy to get a load of all those escort ads in the back section (if you pardon the pun).
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thanks
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Go crazy. I had to go to California for a funeral and... the people are WAY too damn friendly and sociable. I spend most of the time we were in public controlling the impulse to break peoples' collar bones and yell "Fuck off!" because they got way too damn close, and everyone looked like a thief or a thug.
Give me the dank impersonal rudeness of Florida any day.-
Why, Kobra! We gave the country flower children! This is the birthplace of the summer of love! Even our gangbangers have some of that joyful streak left in them.
Have a flower. -
Eat halberd! *K'thunk!*
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HAHAHAHAHAHA!
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San Francisco:
do a free (volunteer organized) walking tour of the old victorians in Pacific Heights.
visit the "new" Chinatown in the Richmond District for good and less expensive Chinese food
eat Mexican food almost anywhere in the Mission District
stroll the Botanical Gardens in Golden Gate Park
have drinks at Tommy's Joynt on Van Ness Ave.
bar hopping in North Beach, the Haight, the Mission, and South of Market
P.S. if you're still interested in escorts, just check out eros-guide.com. I'm an escort and a pro domme and that's where I put my ads ;-) -
I'd break into the movies become the new Meryl Streep adopt twenty eight and a half Cambodian kids and then run for Governor before making my big armed push for the presidency.
Or I'd just amble about Napa valley drinking wine for three weeks.
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