Things to do in Northern California?

   / Things to do in Northern California?
  • Thread Starter
#141  
Muir Woods and some private reserves just north of SF are gorgeous Redwood groves, well worth seeing. But I would cut over to the coast from 101 via Petaluma, an easy shortcut. Then beyond (farther north) of the Russian River is the prettiest part of coastal SR 1, sililar to the Big Sur region, but you would likely turn around and come back south the same way because there's no easy way to get back over to 101 north of there.
I might kick myself for asking, but if driving from Angels Camp and I wanted to drive over the golden state bridge to Muir woods, what type of drive time could I expect? Better days (perhaps weekend) to make the drive through the city? I see what you're talking about hitting 101 from Petaluma, but you could have been talking about from R1, because looking at the map, not certain how I would go west from Angels Camp.

I figure it we could do it in a day, depending on what time we had to leave Angels Camp, it would be worth it for the boy to experience "city" driving (particularly through San Francisco along with going over the Golden State bridge) no matter how insane I could go:ROFLMAO::cry:

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   / Things to do in Northern California?
  • Thread Starter
#142  
You will be in the vicinity of the year-over-year #1 most requested campground listed on Reserve America-- New Brighton Beach. You can also drive in for day use. It's a pretty awesome bluff top view, and a spectacular beach.


btw Old Navy stores just announced they are boarding up their "flagship" store in San Francisco and leaving. The article below cites that 95 retailers have now left. Apparently some due to the impact from covid, but many due to crime.

Many retailers say: "we will open again when it is safe to do so." Hmmm I wonder what must change for those circumstances to occur?

I'm pretty much convinced that SF is a **** show at this point in time and after my wife read some of the responses, staying in the city due to the night life is out of the question.

I'm wondering if staying by the airport (overnight) and driving to Muir woods and even perhaps some photo shots of the gold state bridge may be worthwhile?

That would cut on our drive time to SF and we might be able to hit Muir woods off the airport quicker. Then I need to think about the drive back to Angels Camp...

There is some irony here IMO with man made "landmarks" and dealing with men.

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   / Things to do in Northern California? #143  
Google Maps shows about 3 hours Angels Camp to Muir Woods, outside of commute hours. It suggests in the Bay Area to go north then west at Richmond but that misses the Bay Bridge (impressive) and the Golden Gate Bridge (spectacular!). Turning west over Bay Bridge, I-80 only adds a couple of minutes and I strongly recommend it.

I like your idea of staying overnight in the SFO airport region. An Air B&B in the neighborhood might give a better impression of the culture there, civilized, in contrast to downtown SF. We did this once and liked it. We learned a little of the local culture: Owner was a Chinese-American cancer researcher, probably a doctorate, I suspect born in China. His youth table tennis trophies were prominently displayed along with wedding photos etc. One of the DVD's available for entertainment was (approximately) How to get your baby into the right preschool that is on-track to advance through the right prep schools to qualify for Harvard. His elderly father lived next door, we didn't see him but were told he could respond immediately to anything. A nice variety of breakfast cereal and teas but no coffemaker! I texted him we need a coffeemaker for next morning, a new one from Ikea was there when we came back. The neighborhood looked working-class, and we saw every ethnicity of -Americans you can imagine (majority white). I expect every house was over $1m. Quiet neighborhood, decent people, must be hard-working to afford to live there. (Google Street View: 637 5th ave San Bruno). If you're traveling to learn, this beats staying in a generic hotel.
 
   / Things to do in Northern California?
  • Thread Starter
#144  
I like your idea of staying overnight in the SFO airport region.
I would think a late night stay around the airport on a Friday or Saturday night and then a early morning drive over the bridge to Muir woods would be the better option given traffic? (I have no clue). Just figure on the weekends, less of a workforce heading to the concrete jungle and traffic to deal with. I could deal with traffic on the way back to Angels Camp.

Need to look, will just be my luck Muir woods is closed on the weekends...
 
   / Things to do in Northern California? #145  
I'm pretty much convinced that SF is a **** show at this point in time and after my wife read some of the responses, staying in the city due to the night life is out of the question.

I'm wondering if staying by the airport (overnight) and driving to Muir woods and even perhaps some photo shots of the gold state bridge may be worthwhile?

A lot of people here are talking about SF in the 1990s. Or they're getting their info from the media, which greatly exaggerates the crime in big cities. Even "liberal" media like the NYT does it. SF's a lot better now as far as crime goes. It's been cleaned up so much that I barely recognize parts that I used to go to in the '90s. If you really want to spend some time in the city and have dinner there, I'd go ahead and stay there for a night.

The SF airport is in an industrial area. There's not much in the way of tourist stuff or food there. I'd stay in San Bruno, or even go over the hill to Half Moon Bay or stay on the north side of the bay in Sausalito. HMB is a small funky seaside town about 45 min from downtown SF along highway 1. Sausalito is a bayside town that's a little more upscale than HMB. I'd personally pick one of the latter two options as they have more character.
 
   / Things to do in Northern California?
  • Thread Starter
#146  
A lot of people here are talking about SF in the 1990s. Or they're getting their info from the media, which greatly exaggerates the crime in big cities. Even "liberal" media like the NYT does it. SF's a lot better now as far as crime goes. It's been cleaned up so much that I barely recognize parts that I used to go to in the '90s. If you really want to spend some time in the city and have dinner there, I'd go ahead and stay there for a night.

The SF airport is in an industrial area. There's not much in the way of tourist stuff or food there. I'd stay in San Bruno, or even go over the hill to Half Moon Bay or stay on the north side of the bay in Sausalito. HMB is a small funky seaside town about 45 min from downtown SF along highway 1. Sausalito is a bayside town that's a little more upscale than HMB. I'd personally pick one of the latter two options as they have more character.
I like the Half Moon Bay option, thank you.

I'm assuming R1 will take you to the Golden Gate bridge? Looks like it on a map.

The bigger question is if you stay at a semi decent hotel in San Francisco, does the hotel actually have parking? It seems like a crap shoot as parking is not included in the price.
 
   / Things to do in Northern California? #147  
Yes I should have clarified San Bruno, Millbrae, Burlingame etc. the neighborhoods across the freeway from SFO. Not the immediate airport area! This is if you want to see how the locals live, but not spend much time before getting back on the road.

Half Moon Bay and Sausalito are prettier if you want to explore around where you are staying.

The problem with being a tourist in downtown SF is because that's where the predators go to harass naive tourists.

Younger Daughter commutes on BART from Millbrae to the SF financial district and says she's isn't hassled, but she sees stuff like the scary sterotypes portray. Luckily after Covid hit, her office is now nearly 100% work-from-home and she says she and the analysts who report to her are more productive now than they were when everyone had hour or more crowded commutes (each way), which wore them out.


Yes hotels have parking but its an extra-cost option. As an international destination, not everyone arrives by car.
 
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   / Things to do in Northern California? #148  
I haven't read all the posts but Yosemite is one of the most beautiful places you can lay eyes on. Just wish I could have seen it 200 years ago. We went in December and there was hardly anyone there but I've seen the pics in the summer and don't think I can stomach that.

There's also Kings Canyon National park east of Fresno. They have the giant sequoia trees. They're different than the coastal redwoods. Not as tall but much wider bases. Both are incredible to see and no pictures can do them justice.

 
   / Things to do in Northern California?
  • Thread Starter
#149  
The problem with being a tourist in downtown SF is because that's where the predators go to harass naive tourists.
I don't consider myself a naive tourist, but with my wife and son, no doubt we'd stick out like a sore thumb as a "potential" (you'll pick me out easy with the shorts and sandals LOL). I was thinking if staying at half moon bay, get up early on a weekend, perhaps beat the potential of influx of people, and even perhaps stop so my son could get a picture of the bridge.

I just like the idea of being closer to SF so I don't have the haul from AC and then traffic to deal with.

Figure worst case scenario, stop at a hardware store for a black iron 1/2" X 24" pipe nipple just to have in the car. Learned that from my dad LOL
 
   / Things to do in Northern California?
  • Thread Starter
#150  
We went in December and there was hardly anyone there but I've seen the pics in the summer and don't think I can stomach that.
Going in August is called "doing it for your son";) This trip won't be cheap overall, but it's where he wanted to go and he's leaving in September.
 
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