RSSDestinations | San Francisco Travel Blog - Part 17
Three Truly Unique Destinations in San Francisco
Most visitors to San Francisco want to see or experience something unique. Be it art, music, food, or some strange performance piece. They know that the Bay Area is the nation’s hot-bed of progressive culture, and they want to experience it first-hand. They want something more than a walk on the Golden Gate Bridge or a tour of Alcatraz. For those people, we provide you with this list of truly unique destinations in San Francisco, that you won’t find anywhere else in the United States:
Tis The Season for Sightseeing in San Francisco!
San Francisco may not be the winter wonderland of the Twin Cities or Anchorage Alaska, and there may be more fog than snow covering the ground, but the city still does a fantastic job of making winter unique from the other three seasons of the year: events around the city become more introspective, and, in many cases, reflective. There will be less of the festival atmosphere of spring and summer, less of the frivolity of those seasons, and more deliberateness, a quality that can bring a depth to action, and forge memories that will last forever. So, consider some of the following options while you’re putting on your jacket and heading out for a night — or an afternoon — on the town.
Film and Fun in the Bay Area
San Francisco has been one of the primary hotspots for film in the 20th and 21st century. Whether it is an innovative, small budget production from a new auteur or the next explosive blockbuster from Hollywood, San Francisco will be screening it, perhaps premiering it, and there’s also a good chance that some of the cast and crew live nearby. Visitors who love movies, whether it is with a passion or just a way to escape for a few hours, will find the Bay Area a welcoming and enriching place.
Delicious Dining Destinations in San Francisco
One of the trickiest elements of being away from home is trying to find fantastic places to eat. Especially in a city like San Francisco, how can you possibly narrow down your field of options into something at all reasonable? And then how do you know what you’ve chosen will be any good? Obviously there are guides to help figure these things out, but leafing through a 200-page manuscript on San Francisco dining options doesn’t sound like much fun. So, for your benefit, we’ve compiled together a short list of fantastic food options to help you narrow your decision. These run the gamut from high-end to more financially manageable, but all are delicious options.
Marin Headlands
Part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, the Marin Headlands are one of the top-rated attractions in the San Francisco Bay area. It is a unique destination that offers visitors glorious views of the ocean, and an array of hiking trails and other outdoor amenities. There are amazing blankets of wildflowers that appear each spring, and it is a natural way station for nearly 20,000 migratory raptors during the autumn. From the coastal beach to the majestic headlands, there is something always new and exciting for nature lovers to enjoy.
The Koret Children’s Quarter in Golden Gate Park is a Magical Place for the Young and Young at Heart
Fairy tales can come true, it can happen to you
If you’re young at heart.
For it’s hard, you will find, to be narrow of mind
If you’re young at heart.
– Johnny Mercer
Mr. Mercer may or may not have ever visited the Koret Children’s Quarter during his time on earth but he certainly knew the value of maintaining a youthful outlook on life. Located in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park, the Children’s Quarter is the latest version of a children’s playground that dates back to 1888. It features the usual swings, slides, monkey bars, teeter-totters and other playground essentials but best of all, particularly for city kids starving for open spaces, it gives them a safe, fun and green place to simply be kids.
San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park is One of the Biggest and Most Popular Public Parks in America
The vast majority of people who visit San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park each year cannot imagine that this part of the city was once an uninhabitable zone of sand dunes known as the Outside Lands. Since the 1870s, the expanse of sand and dune grasses has been gradually transformed into a verdant space of trees, open spaces, recreational areas and many of the Bay Area’s most important and beloved civic treasures and institutions.
Visit the Yerba Buena Center of the Arts for Superb Local, National and International Art of all Kinds
The Yerba Buena Center of the Arts may not be as large as the art museum (San Francisco Museum of Modern Art) across the street but if you love art, make sure to leave room in your schedule to visit this venue as well. The YBCA is a thriving art space and event venue with an ever-changing lineup of performances, exhibitions, workshops, films, community outreach programs and much more.
San Francisco’s Conservatory of Flowers is one of the Jewels of Golden Gate Park
If the stunning array and displays of flowers, shrubs, trees and other greenery found at the Conservatory of Flowers in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park doesn’t lighten your mood and bring joy to your soul, you may need to check your pulse. The rich profusion of colors, stunning variety of shapes and beautifully tended grounds make it very easy to unplug from the world and lose all track of time. Many Bay Area residents say they visit the Conservatory a few times each year to do exactly that, as once they begin walking through the gardens, it is easy for them to imagine they are in Versailles, Villa d’Este, Stourhead or another world-class garden.
The USS Hornet Museum in Alameda is a Floating Museum and Important Part of History
There have been several warships in the U.S. Navy named Hornet since the nation was founded, but when it comes to distinguished wartime service and participation in significant milestones in our nation’s history, none can match the current (and likely, last) version now moored on the east side of San Francisco Bay in Alameda. Rightfully listed as a National Historic Landmark, the USS Hornet is now a floating museum with lots of things to see, do, and learn whether you are a military history buff or not.
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