San Francisco

[AdeV]

So, it looks like I'm coming back to America again! Woo! 2nd time inside of 12 months (after 39 years of not getting around to it...).

Same deal as when I was in Orlando really; I'm flying over on the 9th May, I'll be working for a couple of days, have the weekend to myself, then another day's work & then flying out. I'll be staying somewhere in/near Livermore, CA, where the client is based; which looks like an easy(?) 50 mile drive to San Francisco on the Saturday... the question is, are there any forum guys out that way, and if so, what would you recommend to see/do during my weekend off? I've considered hiring a Mustang and doing a Steve McQueen down that hill, but I suspect I won't be particularly popular with the local cops if I try that one out.... or the hire company for that matter...

My only experiences of "San Francisco" are thanks to GTA:San Andreas....

BTW, I've checked, and Virgin won't allow me to stow a Lister Diesel in the overhead lockers, sorry 

[bschwartz]

If not the whole lister, how about some bits and pieces 

[Tom Reed]

I'm located about 2.5 hours north of SF in the Mendocino wine country. I don't go to the city much, so I can't really recommend much in the way of sights beyond the usual tourist traps like fisherman's wharf, the cable cars and Ghirardelli Square. What kind of sights are you interested in?   

[mobile_bob]

well luckily i don't think you will be shanghied if you go to the bars down by the waterfront at night. 

wouldn't that beat all, come to america, get a mickey and find yourself on a tramp steamer delivering banana's to england!

you probably got to take the trip to see alcatraz, i think they do tours there still.
nothing says "vacation destination" quite like the "rock".

just remember one thing
if you drop your wallet, you should probably kick it to Oakland before you bend over to pick it up.

seriously there is a lot to see, with the cable cars and all the 19th century architecture that born a lot of cool stuff that was copied all over this country.

have a good trip

bob g

[AdeV]

If not the whole lister, how about some bits and pieces 

Hmmm, I could bring an injector... can't guarantee it's any good though... 

Tom: Anything technological floats my boat - be it old-time tech (steam engines, stationary engines, industrial museums, that kind of stuff) or new stuff - space stuff, etc.

Bob - the wallet thing... I've heard that about the place! Someone was telling me Atlanta has stolen SF's crown... even so, I think i'll make sure my wallet has a piece of string attached which is tied to my belt - I'd sure hate to ruin a good wallet by kicking it all over...

Alcatraz, sounds like a plan...


Cheers folks!

[SteveU.]

Hi AdeV
There is a heck of alot of teckie stuff between you at Livermore and SF the City.
Like NASA at Moffit Field, a couple of nice observatories, Jim Mason's All Power Labs in Berkeley, the whole Silicon Valley is just a hop skip down away . . . do you think you will be able to even make into SF passing by all of this??
The new light show on the Oakland Bridge at night . . . .
Couple of auto race tracks . . . more than a couple Air Museums . . . Maritime Museums . . .
Decisions, decisions.
Regards
Steve Unruh

[Mad_Labs]

The Maritime Museum is great, don't miss that. They do have an old donkey steam engine and the walking beam engine on the Eureka ferry is awesome! See if you can eat lunch at Red's Java Hut for a classic burgerNbeer combo. Go to the Hotel Utah for an old school SF bar. Take a ferry out to Angel Island and climb to the top for the one place you can see all three bridges plus a lot of great history.

[AdeV]

Maritime museum & Angel Is. both sound good  - Steve, you got a location for one of those air museums?

I don't mind playing the tourist....

Looks like I might be calling into Chicago on the way back as well, although it's unlikely I'll be stopping long there, sadly.

[SteveU.]

Hey AdeV
My info is w-a-y dated back to a lady pre-wife who sadly died early on of cancer. Never had the heart then for decades to go back for other than strictly drive down-and-out business.
For your tight time slot try seaching current times/offerings at the Hiller Aviation Museum (working regional airport there) or go for a two-fer with naval avation at the USS Hornet aircraft carrier Museum.
Regards
Steve Unruh

[AdeV]

No don't go with a string on your wallet. Wear a chastity belt and spiked wrist bands. And if anyone approaches you in a funny way than just tell them you mean buisness.

Obviously none of y'all have played tourist in SanFran and run across one of it's street fairs.   

I'm thinking if you wandered down certain streets in SanFran in that garb you get LOTS of unwanted attention.   

Don't worry, I will leave that particular outfit at home...

Steve - thanks for those heads up, I've looked at the Hillier one & that looks like a good couple of hours on the Sunday, I'll see if I can find the navel one too.

[millman56]

Wouldn`t kick a wallet to Oakland unless it was with an Abrams tank,  after driving over there  and being amazed by the fact that we were looking up at the hookblock of a giant floating crane moored hundreds of feet below  in the bay,  I later read that there had been 24 murders in Oakland during Sept 2009 alone.     

To be fair we found Northern Californians friendly and polite, the natural world stunning and Yosemite beyond superlatives.

Have a good trip Ade and if you require a mule to smuggle some Lister bits over give  me a call.

Mark.

[AdeV]

I haven't made any hard & fast plans, but thanks to you guys I have a few places in mind to go see; so many thanks. & Hopefully one day I'll get to spend a proper amount of time there (here, in 24hrs), than just a weekend...

Jetlag ahoy!

Cheers,
Ade.

[Henry W]

Hi Ade,

Have a safe trip and enjoy your free time.

Henry

[AdeV]

Thank you!

Yesterday was most interesting.... my body thought it was around 1am; the clock said 5pm... I probably shouldn't have been driving TBH. Having forgotten my SatNav (that really confused the bloke in Target.... eventually he twigged that I meant "a GPS"), I navigated by the really low quality Hertz map - which got me as far as Livermore - after driving around aimlessly for an hour or so I caved in & got directions from a gas station. (see, I'm learning all the terms...)

Today was mostly spent in an air-conditioned box fighting the system I was installing, nearly got the bugger working, will have to go back in on Monday to finish off.

Off to find some food now... tomorrow I hit the town. Reckon I'll drive over to Pleasantown/Dublin tomorrow & take the BART into SanFran, rather than drive. I got my new wide angle lens for my camera too, so hoping to take some cool photos

Cheers!
Ade.