Telegraph Avenue on the OAKLAND SIDE could be scary and could be a vibe its a gamble 50/50 lol…read more The good: Nice variety of restaurants to choose from and bars My favorite are Cholita Linda Tall Boy The Avenue 51 & Tel Bake Sale Betty The cons lots a vagrants and sketchy stuff going on at all times, parking is a gamble your car may or may not get broken into

I came here for a street fest before Christmas and it was OK. It wasn't as good as it had been…read morebefore the pandemic. They had a ton of food trucks, which isn't really needed because it's Telegraph Ave in Berkeley, near the college, so they have plenty of food. Also, there were a couple of categories of gifts that were overrepresented - soap makers, clothing, and crystals. Gone were the days when I would go from stand to stand and feel pulled by the newness of all that was sold. But now, it just seemed a bit - meh. I don't know if I would return, because there doesn't seem to be a reason to do so.

This house is incredible with an amazing history. Truly gorgeous and fun to share with people who…read morehaven't seen it before.

"You see that mansion up there on the hill? They say Charles Manson lived there, in the top room…read moreof the house." That was my first introduction to The Westerfeld House from the drugged out property manager who used to manage my apartment building - and he was wrong (surprise!) But there is a tie to the Manson Family: One of its members lived there until he moved to Spawn Ranch. And rumor is Charles Manson did visit a few times. Tom Wolfe even wrote about The Westerfeld House in The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test calling it, "A great old shambling Gothic house, a freaking decayed giant known as 'The Russian Embassy.'" (I'm curious if one of my mom's law school friends crashed there because she was one of Ken Kesey's Merry Pranksters. It IS a small little world in which we live.) Built by a wealthy chocolatier then sold to the architect of the Palace Hotel, the Westerfeld House was built in 1889 for the then-grand sum of just under $10,000 ($27M in today's money) and is now a designated Landmark and privately owned. It housed a nightclub called "Dark Eyes" in the late 1920s just before the stock market crash then it was divided up into a boarding house in the '40s. In the '60s, Joplin and Big Brother & The Holding Company and the Grateful Dead used to hang out at The Westerfeld House. In the 1970s the founder of the church of Satan lived there (his pet lion left some deep claw marks in the ornate door frames and molding around the house). Longtime and current owner, Jim Siegel, apparently had Buddhist monks bless the house because of its provenance. I've gotten a chuckle over the years that its owner sometimes hangs hand-painted protest signs as window coverings: When Alamo Square became a huge tourist destination (it took a long time to be "discovered", surprisingly) it seemed like all the tour bus companies discovered it at once: There were eight or more busses every 5-8 minutes buzzing the park and blaring Tony Bennett's "I Left My Heart.." And Siegel hung signs that read "Get off the damn bus, walk around and SEE the city!" In so many ways, The Westerfeld House is so very representative of San Francisco! Look for the house on Fulton at Scott that looks a bit like the Addams Family mansion and you're there.

Moving in a new neigborhood is always exiting and provides a new outlook into your tastes and…read moredislikes... So here is what I was able to find by just walking around :-) In honor of the fashionistas on this site... this one's for you! SO LAST YEAR GOTTA HAVE IT 94123 94107 Marina Safeway Whole Foods Market Chrissy Field South Park/ Yerba Buena Gardens Frisson Fringale Marina Green Overtime Pizza Orgasmica Goat Hill Pizza Johnny Rockets Hotel Utah View of Golden Gate View of AT&T (Go Giants!) Manolos Campers Bar None The Gallery Lounge Starbucks Philz Coffee Fillmore Matrix 111 Minna Three Seasons Bong Su La Barca Tres Agaves Fort Mason SFMOMA Union St Fair Folsom St. Fair Roommate No Roommate :-) No Reviews Write More Reviews! PS- Need I say more? ;-)

Appears there is allot of history in these houses. Recommended taking a look at them. You can tell…read morethe winter, spring, summer, and fall houses apart.

Hate the fact that my great grandpa hand carved the workings on the outside of the "winter" one…read more They lived there for years till he passes years ago and they had to sell the house my grandpa and his twin inherited the money. Scott passed a few weeks ago and it's hard to think when he was a kid he ran in that house. And he had Dobermans they were beautiful. But now it's all just a attraction. I wish they didn't sell.

Aside from the food court as you probably always go, next time on your way to the food court you…read moreshould check out the murals along the walls of the old post office. Theses murals is the last WPA project made in San Francisco. The murals titled "The History of California" was painted by Anton Refregier, a Russian American who started painting these murals before WWII but he didn't finish until after the War in 1948, partly because there wasn't enough funding, but mostly because the change of political climate. Many felt his works showed too much socialism and too violent and brutal, consider they were inside a post office that was still in business; Richard Nixon actually was trying to destroy these murals at one point because of all these reasons. The fact is that these murals simply told the reality of different incidences, such as native Americans being in their independent mind and behavior and being proud; the San Francisco Fire of 1906; or the Chinese workers building railroads, just to name a few. The style of the murals is distinctive and nothing like the early WPA murals style, such as the murals inside Coit Tower, but it is part of the mural history of San Francisco, and a treasure that is hiding inside an old post office building, which is now owned by Salesforce.

This bandshell was constructed back in the 1900s and was a gift to the city from sugar magnate…read moreClaus Spreckels because his son, Aldolph B. Spreckels was then the President of the San Francisco Park Commission. After completion, it was then dedicated as "a gift to the people of California on Admission Day, September 9, 1900, in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the state's admission to the Union."--Wikipedia. Today, we still enjoy free music here on most Sundays. Many bands (some famous, some about to be) played here. My little pup likes to play catch in the nearby grassy area while some families brought along picnic baskets with food and drinks to enjoy. We also saw folks celebrating their birthdays with families and friends. A wonderful public place.

Spreckels Temple of Music (also known as the Golden Gate Bandshell) is located at the west end of…read morethe Music Concourse at Golden Gate Park. Around this area, you will find beautiful statues, fountains, the Skywheel (ferris wheel), and the Cal Academy of Sciences not too far away, as well as plenty of grassy fields for picnicking.  This magnificent temple is designed with fine architectural details and covered in sandstone, and was renovated several times following earthquake damage in the past. It provides an ideal setting for music performances, with the words "Lift Every Voice" boldly displayed at its crown (installed in late 2021). Free bandshell concerts are held throughout the spring and summer multiple days per week (and sometimes concerts with a fee throughout the year) with a wide range of music genres to satisfy diverse audiences and preferences. The free live music festivals are pretty low key I would say, with families and couples of all ages coming to relax, dance, and enjoy the instrumentals and vocals of remarkable music bands. They typically do Soul/Jazz/R&B Happy Hour on Friday evenings, so I was able to catch Alpha-Rhythm Kings do their thing on stage last week, and they did not disappoint. They created such a fun environment for visitors to spend quality time with loved ones and be entertained by the passionate and skilled musicianship on stage, whether enjoying conversation/leisure time at their seats or moving their bodies on the "dance floor" (the space directly in front of the stage).  The benches across from the stage are spread out nicely, and plenty of trees offer shade to guests on a sunny afternoon. Great lighting and sound on stage as well, though the colored lights are barely noticeable since it's still daylight out there during summer evenings, even by the time the some concerts end. And free street parking was actually quite easy to find nearby about a block away on a Friday. The atmosphere in the plaza is carefree and easygoing, with everybody just having a good time, greenery all around, and the Spreckels Temple of Music, of course, the centerpiece and backdrop of this awesome ongoing event at Golden Gate Park. There is no guarantee there will be food around on any given day, though I have seen food tents near the ferris wheel area in the past, so I recommend you bring your own food if you want to picnic while enjoying the concert.

Ever been at that corner of 17th and Castro and disregarded the red crosswalk light only to be…read morefacing possibly imminent death from a car careening off of Upper Market Street? Don't lie to me...that was you, the driver, wasn't it? ...WASN'T IT? Well, you have one less opportunity to gloat over the casualties in your path and save your karma for another day like when you speed past a senior citizen in a walker to secure the handicapped seat on the F-line streetcar for yourself. That's because the Castro neighborhood has installed a pedestrian plaza in the last-half-block of 17th Street before it fans out to the congested Market/Castro intersection. Such a great idea and apparently the first of four planned for the city. There are movable barrel-shaped planters and concrete slabs for sitting and checking your iPhone text messages, I guess. There are even cafe tables if you want to socialize with fellow pedestrians who have narrowly escaped death from those careless drivers. The plaza has just a 60-day trial run, but if people love it like I do, then it will stay. Support it ...love it. Let's all get European and have the opportunity to enjoy ramblas (like Barcelona) and broader sidewalks. We deserve it.

I often see community members sitting in the Plaza, sipping coffee, eating lunch and socializing…read more Chairs and tables go out at 11am most days (barring rain) The Castro CBD (local non-profit) provides live music, exhibits and other entertainment for the community here May through October from 1-2pm. And it's FREE.

Stopped by here on the way to the beaches of Pacifica and Half Moon Bay, and it was beautiful…read more It's a very small lookout point (almost like a mini rest stop), with limited parking, limited seating, and limited space overall. But the views are amazing, especially on a sunny winter afternoon with calming clouds embellishing the sky. Probably nothing too spectacular to make it worth a visit on its own, but a cool spot nonetheless.

It's on point. I…read morehave driven past this lookout point in 30 + years of living in San Francisco, Daly City and Pacifica. If you're a local like me, it's located on the west-bound side on Sharp Park Road between Skyline Boulevard and Highway 1. It's a scenic, winding road that you'll really need to pay attention to with all the twists and turns. Every time I passed by the place, I thought about stopping and enjoying the view. But being a local, I told myself that I have plenty of time to do so. Heck, just like it took me 20 something years before actually riding a cable car and I've never been to Alcatraz yet. Not until we moved to the East Bay that we finally decided to stop here. Well, after hiking with the Wifey, we grabbed some food in San Bruno and drove to this spot to make it a romantic dinner in the car - similar to when we started dating. I didn't know the actual name of this overlook, and there's a plaque explaining that it was named after the former mayor of Pacifica, Grace McCarthy. Born in Memphis, Tennessee on August 14, 1908, she moved to the Bay Area and married Carl McCarthy. Grace served on California's first Coastal Conservation Commission and the California State Coastal Commission. She was also on the County Planning Commission, fought for disability rights and served on Pacifica's City Council and as Pacifica Mayor three times. A beloved mayor and truly worthy of this vista point named after her. The overlook provides a view of the northern part of Pacifica, Pacifica Pier, Oceana High School and Milagra Ridge on the right. We got lucky since the sun came out, and Karl The Fog was present all day during our hike earlier. It's a gorgeous view regardless if the weather is foggy or sunny, and I think the best time is during the sunset. The golden glow of the sun as it sets over the horizon in the Pacific Ocean is better than any screen saver out there. It certainly made our dinner date that much more romantic under the circumstances.