IT's already shivered on cable cars on a summer day and visited Pier 39 a dozen times. Wondering what we should do on our next trip to the City by the Bay, we asked San Francisco resident Andy Isaacson to send us his anti-Alcatraz tips. The catchy headlines are of his own device:
Room with a Helluva View—There are hostels (college students, large backpacks), and then there's Pigeon Point Lighthouse Hostel, perched dramatically on a bluff outside of town. Where else on the California coast can you book a private room under a 19th-century beacon and then soak alone in a secluded hot tub above the pounding surf for a scandalous $50 a night? Even knowing locals happily cough up for the privilege.
Chantey Jam—Forget phony living history: Relive San Francisco's maritime heritage on the main deck of the Balclutha (a 19th-century cargo vessel docked at Hyde Street Pier) on the first Saturday night of each month, when a mostly regular crowd gathers to sing and strum traditional sea chanteys. Free admission gets you cider and a high geek factor, but when the bawdier tunes start around 11 p.m., you'll think you're part of the crew.
Sunday Celebration at Glide Memorial Church—It doesn't really get any more San Francisco than Glide's Sunday Celebrations: non-denominational, multi-ethnic, rockin' gospel and compassion among rich and poor, gay and straight. The services held at the Tenderloin institution (run by San Francisco icon Rev. Cecil Williams) stir up the spirits of those in the packed pews for 90 minutes twice each Sunday morning.
Leave Your Heart on Vallejo Street—For the best undesignated picnic spot in San Francisco, head to the corner of Vallejo and Jones in Russian Hill, walk up Vallejo until it dead ends, and step over the low stone fence (it's legal, I think) onto a grassy hill that offers knockout views of the city and Bay. Afterward, head down the stairs, admiring a row of houses that survived the devastating 1906 earthquake and fire, for a coffee in North Beach.
Double Feature—If you're in San Francisco and must see a movie, skip the Metreon cineplex downtown and head to the lavish Castro Theatre. It doesn't matter what you see—the films are always good—but the thing to watch for is the nightly organ performance, which always ends with the crowd-pleasing 'San Francisco' (the title song of a 1936 Clark Gable romance) with the audience singing along as the long-time organist sinks dramatically (two stories!), still at the keys.
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