San Fransisco Area recommendations

[Creekwood]

The admiral and I are taking a long overdue trip to the San Francisco area from April 1th to 9th. I am looking for some recommendations from fellow CSR members for places to stay and eat and any other ideas of must do/see (other than the obvious). We are not partyers, but like great food, great wine and great views. Seafood is a must for us.

Our rough agenda is we arrive and spend 3 nights in San Fran, then 2 or 3 nights in Monterrey followed by 2-3 nights in Napa/Sonoma area and last night in San Fran before flying back. Doing the obligatory convertible rental for the week and particularly for the Hwy 1 trip down the coast to Monterey. We want to do a couple of winery tours and would prefer to find that hidden gem kind of places rather than the Berringer kind of place.

So any recommendations are much appreciated!

Thanks

Frank & Celynn

 

[HUMPH]

Great time of year to visit out here! You should eat at The Tadich Grill, which is the oldest restaurant in SF. Very cool place but get reservations as early as you can. The food scene is amazing in SF so you can't go wrong. Rather than the tourist trip to Napa, consider Sonoma and go to places like Ledson and B. R. Cohn in the Valley of the Moon. Stunning views and very good wine while missing the crazy tourist scene in Napa. If you do go to Napa, head over to the Silverado Trail where you will find exceptional wineries (must go to Rombauer for the view) and eat at the Rutherford Grill where you will find excellent food and no corkage for the wine you purchased while tasting.

Monterey is beautiful, we were there last weekend for the golf tournament. Stop on the way in Capitola and maybe even Half Moon Bay. Highway 1 will take you a lot of time to get there. A convertible may also be chilly but you never know. We like to stay at the Portola Hotel & Spa while there. Visit the aquarium, the wharf and take a drive down 17 mile drive to Pebble Beach and have a bite while gazing on the most beautiful view. Swing down to Carmel and take a stroll along some quaint shops and more sweet views.

PM me if you have any questions and I can help you out!

 

[highslice]

Carneros Inn between Sonoma and Napa is worth a stay. Great cottages and a great restaurant. Kinda pricey though. Rombauer is worth a tour (we found the staff to be a bit snooty, though) as is Cake Bread. Sterling is also worth a visit if only for the ride up and the view of the castle. Plump Jack is a bit off the beaten path and a great tasting room. Opus One was a very educational tour, but touristy. Downtown Sonoma is worth a morning or afternoon strolling around.
Have fun. There is great food in all of your destinations.

 

[BurgundyS24]

Napa checking in. Albeit I don't drink wine I have tons of friends in the industry and know of the majority of the hidden gems. Br Cohn is a good one off the beaten path. Mumm is a good place for some delicious sparkling. Trinchero is legendary. There are plenary of good eats here as well. If your lady needs salon care my wife owns a hair salon in downtown Napa


Edit; add ancien winery, my wife loves them.

Highslice is right about Sonoma, it's great, it's where I got married.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Creekwood]

Just re-living some vacation pictures from this trip way too long ago. I thought I would post a few nice ones. We ended up getting fantastic warm weather other than one cool day on our last day in Calistoga (it actually snowed on Mt St Helena that night).

That's not me in the winery picture. That is Tom Eddy the namesake of his winery in Calistoga. Fantastic guy, fantastic wine, and a great host. Very different experience from the other wine tours we did (better IMO).

The seafood picture is at a restaurant on the pier in Monterey. I did a morning head boat fishing trip and it was one of the places that would cook up your catch. They did my rockfish and ling cod three ways. Not a fancy spot, but very homey and great food and people.

Here are a few of the nicer shots from the trip:

 

[my3sons]

Great pics. Were you able to fit in the Alcatraz tour? We, especially the admiral, found it very interesting. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Creekwood]

Great pics. Were you able to fit in the Alcatraz tour? We, especially the admiral, found it very interesting. Thanks for sharing.

We did. Its fantastic. We couldn’t get night tickets so we did the day tour. It was a really entertaining and educational tour.

 

[Carpediem44DB]

Hopefully by then things will be opening up more in SF. If you are a member of a Yacht Club, you should try and have lunch or dinner one day at the St Francis Yacht club. Very nice and situated walking distance from several points of interest near the GG Bridge. I second on all of the other recommendations above. If you enjoy a hike through the sequoias stop at Muir Woods near Marin City on your way up to the wine country and stroll the main drag in Sausalito as well. Eat at Poggio in Sausalito. Great food!
PM me as well if you like.
Enjoy your trip to SF. Its getting a bad wrap as many areas are a toilet there but stay in the Marina district, North Beach and the Pier 39 area and you should be able to avoid the bums.
The Carpe Diem is berthed right across the street for Poggio now, You may even run in to the new owners