You Must Go To: Alcatraz

If you're going to San Francisco there are a few things on the beaten path you should do: Golden Gate Bridge, Fisherman's Wharf, ride a street car. Make sure when you go Alcatraz is your #1. In history and popular culture there are few prisons as famous as Alcatraz. It is the unescapable fortress that hosted some of America's worst criminals and now for a very nice price ($30, not a life sentence) you can walk through the corridors of The Rock. If you like history, architecture, photography, culture, crime, or oxygen you must go here.

There are a lot of amazing things about the island prison and it starts on land. When walking along the piers, it is  not that far at all. If you have a moderate zoom lens on your camera you can actually get a spectacular shot of the place.

When you get to your departure pier, the people around you are going to be buzzing. I felt the excitement of everyone around me and it made me even more ecstatic. When you depart on your ferry you begin to realize just how hard it would be to swim to land. San Francisco has a very moderate climate that stays pretty constant throughout the year but it's water and the wind coming off of it never warm up. So as you approach the island and get a view of the Golden Gate Bridge, Salsalito, and the Bay Bridge you realize how hard it must have been to actually escape from Alcatraz.

When you get there you are orientated as to where to go, there are restrooms, a gift shop, a movie hall, and maps of the prison. Besides being the most famous incarceration station in America it was a civil war fort and home to a Native American protest that lasted months. There are guided tours with Park Rangers (always recommended) and an audio tour you take as you walk through the cells and halls of the prison. Whether you have a phone, point and shoot, or DSLR camera you will get some amazing shots.

Once you go outside you get an amazing view of the city skyline and the exterior of the prison. This is a place that I will put on my top 50 places to visit in the U.S. It is historically and culturally relevant in the best ways and it is a very unique place. It is not the biggest prison or the most infamous but how many times can you walk through a place that held Al Capone? What other prisons give such a beautiful view of a city that is just out of reach? Where else can you go in a cell Sean Connery and Nicolas Cage were in? It's is a great way to start or end any San Francisco adventure and if you do go, the daytime is great, but the night tour is even better so plan ahead and definitely keep Alcatraz on your list of things to do.

P.S.

If you want to get a feel for the prison, I highly recommend the film The Rock. It is a classic and going to Alcatraz and seeing how they used the prison in the film made my inner child the happiest in the world.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClOQJAB0uD0

P.P.S.

I forgot how awesome 90's previews were. Don't let the voiceover or Nicolas Cage deter you, its a great film.

Books got me drunk/Eating in San Francisco

Books got me really, really drunk. Somehow my travel/inspiration blog has turned into me getting really drunk in amazing cities. Should I just change the name of the blog to Drunk in Amazing Cities? We will see what happens when I do DC-NYC-PHX-LV-LA-AUS, but hopefully I can pull things together. On the positive side my journey to San Francisco down to L.A. and back home was amazing. It was full of ups and downs but in the end it was an incredible journey that gave me what any good journey always should: answers.

Now onto good food in San Francisco and how leather and paper bound books alike got me hammered.


San Francisco might be the food heaven of the west coast. I'm not knocking San Diego which is steeped in lovely mexican inspired dishes amongst many other treats, and L.A. which honestly I don't like so ok, I'm going to knock L.A. but San Francisco has a lot and it would take a lifetime to get through. There is this amazing mixture of latin, asian, organic, and seafood that makes every street an option.

Before I dig into where I went though there is an area I highly recommend and that is Valencia street. This is a short metro ride away from the CBD and once you emerge from the depths of the tunnels you see a vibrant, lively, and colorful area that oozes San Francisco. You walk through beautiful graffiti, little shops, and those classic San Francisco houses you see in movies and T.V. Then when you hit Valencia street, there are tons of places to eat, drink and indulge. I was lucky enough to indulge at a place called Dandelion Chocolate (http://www.yelp.it/biz/dandelion-chocolate-san-francisco) it has amazing chocolates, coffees, and other treats that are perfect for a saturday afternoon. Valencia street is a great place to go because you get an authentic experience, great food, and it's not too far from anywhere else in the city that you might want to check out.

Onto my recommendations:

I. Breakfast

Farm:Table (http://www.yelp.com/biz/farm-table-san-francisco#query:farmtable)

This cute little hole in the wall is the best breakfast I had in San Francisco. When you walk there you will see two tiny tables outside and one table inside. The menu is written in chalk on the walls and people in the kitchen work away brewing coffee and making breakie. It does not cost a lot, tastes great, and is the perfect way to start your day so definitely check it out. Be warned, it is closed on Mondays.

II. Dinner

Pisco/Destino (http://www.yelp.com/biz/destino-san-francisco)

This place absolutely knocked it out of the park. The restaurant portion, Destino, is elegantly designed and has a great laid back atmosphere. They have a really good menu of tapas sized plates and my friend and I were filled up after some scallops and a plate of pork belly and steak. What really sets the place apart is it's really good drink menu. I do not like drinking or alcohol but the drinks are mixed so well that I could not even tell they were alcoholic. Their desserts are also very nice and I recommend the mousse. If you are going to go I say dress nice and have a lot of time to spare because it is a restaurant you could spend hours in with someone lovely. A+

P.S.

To finish my meal at this lovely establishment I had a Fernet Branca. If you have seen The Dark Knight Rises you will remember a scene where Alfred recounts drinking this on the Arno river in Florence, Italy. I tried it and it was absolutely terrible. I don't know what Alfred was thinking, maybe he is just a bolder man than I.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwxuWbx_jCA




Honorable Mention:

Upcider

This is a nice hidden gem in the Tenderloin part of the CBD. It has really good plates to share amongst which I shared calamari, salmon sliders, lamb flatbread, and some really good zucchini plus if you want a nice selection of ciders this is the place to go.


III. Dessert

Ok so this is a tie but depending on where you are that could determine where you go. If you travel to the previously mentioned Valencia street, then no doubt you have to try Dandelion Chocolate. Why?

A Samoan smore? A cookie with Nutella baked into it? And much, much more.  This place is really good.

But if you are downtown and went to upcider or pisco, you can walk or cab to ENO.

ENO

This place caught my eye as my companion and I walked together through the chilly SF air. It had a fire place, cheese, chocolate, and wine. We decided after going to upcider to check it out and it was great. The service is really good (we did not have bad service at all in 4 days), it is a little pricey but the chocolates, cheeses, and wines are all really great in taste and quality plus the atmosphere is wonderful.

http://www.yelp.com/biz/eno-wine-bar-san-francisco


IV. Drinks

Here we go. Books + I = @^#%$!

Pisco, Upcider, and Eno are all great places to get different kinds of drinks. But putting my detective skills to use I found another speakeasy. This was in the heart of the CBD on the corner of O'Farrell and Jones. Above the place is a sign that reads "Anti-Saloon League" referring to the movement that brought prohibition into play in the 20's. There is a plain door and a button. You press it and out pops a dapper flapper girl straight from the Great Gatsby. She asks "Password?"

I say "Books,"

She says go around the corner, which we did and after being identified we got to go into a dimly lit library. A few hours later after some expertly made and fairly priced concoctions it was time to go home.

Now, if you would like drinks before this place opens, right down the street there is another bar called Tradition. We had to wait here before we could get into the speakeasy and it was great. Everything was top notch and I would definitely say go here before the speakeasy.

http://www.yelp.com/biz/tradition-san-francisco#query:Bourbon%20%26%20Branch

If you are ever in San Francisco definitely give these places a try.

Chapter 2 of this journey will be things to do in San Fran, Santa Monica, and L.A.

Enjoy and Cheers!