Clarity in the Fog: Visit San Francisco Like a Local

In some ways, living permanently somewhere and running a travel (and interior design) blog can be a bit of an obstacle. Inherently, you travel less when you’re not a fashionable Instagram nomad. But, it also allows you to become an expert in your home cities. You know that Google doc or forwarded email you dig out when you have guests? Well, here’s mine for San Francisco- a place I thought I’d only be a month-long tourist… three years ago.

That Day You Have to Do

Start with one of SF’s famous cable cars, specifically, the Powell/Hyde line that runs from Market Street to the Bay. It will cost you $7, but how else is the city supposed to keep historic transportation running?

Arrive at Fisherman’s Wharf, where you’re dropped off in the middle of all things tourist. Warm up from your cable car ride, and kickstart your enthusiasm for San Francisco, with an Irish coffee from the Buena Vista Cafe, which boasts having brought the beverage to the US. It opens at 9am, and the barista-bartenders can make double digit glasses of it in a flashy, applause-inducing lineup. Ghiradelli Square, home to both chocolate tasting and a plaza with SF-themed knick-knack stores, is also right there.

Continue east for a quick walk to Pier 39, SF’s boardwalk pier overflowing with flashy, arcade-like storefronts, your more typical souvenirs, and of course, the very endearing, but also smelly, sea lions. In June and July, when tourists often expect to see the docks teeming with them, most sea lions clear out for breeding. You can read more about them here.

Next, take the Embarcadero street car (not a cable car) along the waterfront to the Ferry Building. It’s got to be time for lunch now, and Hog Island Oyster Co. is your obvious destination. You may have to wait in line for a little bit, but the clam chowder paired with a Sonoma Sauvignon Blanc is guaranteed worth it. Also try the oysters Rockefeller, or any other variation of oysters. Take some time to peruse the shops along the main inside hall, and perhaps grab some dessert from Humphry Slocombe. Do save your coffee for Philz, located a short walk outside the Ferry Building down Market Street, and opt for the iced mint mojito. Or, wander slightly further and have a robotic arm make your coffee at Cafe X. This is the heart of tech, after all.

After a little break from the day’s adventures, shift gears from tourist to insider with a night out in Hayes Valley. Put your name in at still-new and trendy Italian restaurant A Mano, and then go next door to Anina or Brass Tacks for a drink and people watching while you wait. If you’re open to some opulence, make a reservation at The Riddler, a champagne bar nearby. After dinner, opt for creative ice creams at Salt & Straw or a Greek yoghurt baklava at Souvla.

Everything Else

Now that you’ve spanned a full range of the San Francisco experience, it’s time for you to pick and choose what’s interesting to you. My suggestions include:

• Walk Grant Street from Broadway to Bush Street in Chinatown, stopping in to watch fortune cookies get made at Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory, nom on some dim sum, or buy an amusing souvenir or two.
• Walk or drive the famous, super curvy Lombard Street.
• Climb Coit Tower for 360 degree views.
• Take in all of San Francisco from one of the Twin Peaks scenic overlooks.
• Visit and walk as much of the Golden Gate Bridge as you like, starting at the Visitor Center, and learn about what it took to make it (and how thick those supporting cables really are).
• Stroll through the Palace of Fine Arts to the Marina, and gaze over the Bay (and the fit people running along the waterfront) toward the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz. The Marina real estate is worth a few glances, too.
• Take the ferry to Sausalito, enjoying the entirety of the San Francisco skyline during the journey. Get lunch on the deck at Scoma’s.
• Enjoy a Mission burrito in the Mission District – take it to go and eat it in Dolores Park.
• Wander down Chestnut Street in the Marina for some idle shopping and delicious restaurant options.
• Sample the busy North Beach scene, from park lounging to Little Italy eats, to fun bars mixed in between strip clubs.
• Explore the Castro, making sure to eye the creations at Hot Cookie.
• Stop by the Painted Ladies, famous through Full House, and enjoy both their unique architecture and the views of San Francisco beyond.
• Visit Ocean Beach or Baker’s Beach and dip your toes in the Pacific.
• Hike Land’s End for a combination of exercise and views.

The Things Locals Know You Don’t Know

This could be a very long list, so my goal here is just to demonstrate the breadth of categories of knowledge that aren’t immediately apparent.

1. If you want to visit the famous Alcatraz prison, you need to book weeks, even months, in advance.
2. Summer is San Francisco’s coldest season. September and October are our warmest months. Pack a jacket, or be one of those people who didn’t and are now wearing an “I love SF” hoodie.
3. Related: San Francisco is home to microclimates. When it’s warm and sunny in FiDi it might be cloudy and rainy in the Richmond while the fog is hanging over the Golden Gate Bridge- all within a 7 by 7 mile square.
4. Also related: the top deck on the Hop On, Hop Off buses can be freezing on any day, particularly when driving over the Golden Gate Bridge. Hoods/beanies are helpful, hats fly away.
5. Avoid booking a hotel in the Tenderloin. They are budget-friendly for a reason. The Hilton for example, which visitors usually rely on to be in a decent area as a brand, is fine in one direction, questionable in the other.
6. The hills are not a joke. Going from point A to point B might be might more arduous than a Google map view shows.
7. The ferries serve alcohol. Important information for weekend daydrinking purposes.
8. San Francisco is not a dressy place. Dresses and sport coats are rarely seen in the evening.
9. However, going up to wine country is an occasion and people dress accordingly.
10. Bars close fairly early compared to NYC, LA, or DC, and clubs are not a thing. If someone suggests Bootie or Temple, proceed with caution.
11. That man walking down Market with the questionable grooming and wearing a faded hoodie and flip flops may well be an IPO millionaire.
12. We like to stand in lines. It could be for craft coffee, the hottest brunch spot, really good ramen, or purple rice.
13. The fog is named Karl.

San Franciscans, what did I miss? Visitors, what did you like? Leave a comment below or DM me @anchoredadrift on Instagram.