San Francisco Things to Do Tips by Rixie

The first time I visited San Francisco's Chinatown, I couldn't believe it. There were so many people, and they all looked like me! Growing up Asian in another part of the US, I had become accustomed to being different, but walking along Grant Avenue, Chinatown's main thoroughfare, I blend in with the crowd. It's the largest Chinese community outside of China.

Chinatown still lifts my spirits. It's colorful, fun, and exotic (a Dutch friend of ours exclaimed, "It's just like walking down a street in Asia!") There are always interesting things to see and do, and they don't require a lot of money. Browse through the shops for souvenirs(children especially will love the inexpensive toys and sweets), have a bowl of noodles or a dim sum lunch, watch the old men play pa gow in Portsmouth Square, listen to the California Street cable car go clanging up and down the hill, buy moon cakes or lotus buns at the Far Eastern Bakery.

Visit the current exhibit at the Chinese Culture Center -- there's a walkway from Portsmouth Square that goes over Kearny Street. The CCC also offers classes in Chinese art and culture, and gives historical walking tours of Chinatown.

At Old St. Mary's, the red brick Catholic church at the corner of Grant and California, Mass is still celebrated in Cantonese, and all worshipers are welcome.

The Chinese Historical Society on Clay Street has a museum with both permanent and changing exhibits, plus a bookstore.

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Address: Bordered by Broadway, Bush, Kearny, Stockton Sts.
Directions: Grant Avenue is the main street. There is an ornamental Gateway to Chinatown at the beginning of Grant, near Bush.
Website: http://www.sfchinatown.com/

Beach Blanket Babylon Goes Bananas has been making people laugh for over 25 years. Based at Club Fugazi in North Beach, BBB is a series of delightful musical parodies of politics and celebrities and is known for its elaborate costumes and huge hats, some with whole cities atop them: Beach Blanket Babylon Hat Gallery

The show is constantly changing; new skits are added all the time. When we saw it a few years ago, there were a lot of Bill Clinton-Monica Lewinsky jokes and a dancing box of matzohs that sang, "Matzoh, Matzoh Man."

Because Club Fugazi a nightclub, only adults are admitted to the evening shows: Wednesday and Thursday at 8pm, Friday and Saturday, 7pm and 10pm. However, under-21s are allowed at Sunday matinees, so if you have children old enough to understand this kind of comedy, Beach Blanket Babylon can be fun for the whole family.

Ticket prices range from $25 to $77, depending upon day of the week and time of day. Not a cheap outing, but it could turn out to be the highlight of your visit.

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Phone: 415-421-4222
Address: 678 Green Street
Directions: Green Street between Powell and Columbus
Website: http://www.beachblanketbabylon.com/home.html

This is the longest suspension bridge in the world and one of the major symbols of the United States. Walking across the Bridge on a clear day gives you some different -- and sometimes spectacular -- views of San Francisco and the Bay.

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Phone: (415) 921-5858
Address: Links San Francisco to Marin County
Website: http://www.goldengatebridge.org

If your group includes small children, you can give them a chance to run around at the Portsmouth Square playground (Kearny Street, above the parking garage) or the Willie Wong Playground (Sacramento Street, one block uphill from Grant).

This is a mural that overlooks the Willie Wong Playground, formerly the YMCA Playground. The play equipment is all new. I understand that plastic lasts longer in a damp climate, but I really miss the old wooden footbridges and climbing equipment.

The Hang Ah Tearoom is just uphill from the WW Playground and is child-friendly, so you could visit both places.

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Address: Bordered by Broadway, Bush, Kearny, Stockton sts.
Website: http://www.sfchinatown.com/

Coit Tower has been a major landmark in San Francisco for over 70 years. Set atop Telegraph Hill, it's visible from downtown San Francisco and the Bay.

Elizabeth "Lillie" Hitchcock, a doctor's daughter, was fascinated with the San Francisco Fire Department from a very young age and used to follow the members of Knickerbocker Engine Company #5 to fires and cheer them on. The firemen considered her a mascot and eventually made her an honorary member of the company -- there's a famous photo of her as a young woman, wearing the helmet they gave her. Even after her marriage to Howard Coit, she remained a special supporter of the fire department.

When she died in 1929, Lillie Coit left a small fortune to the City of San Francisco, asking that it be used "“in an appropriate manner for the purpose of adding to the beauty of the city which I have always loved.” The city built Coit Tower as a memorial to her. Many people say that the tower was designed to resemble a firehose nozzle, but the architects always denied this.

The beautiful Depression-era murals inside the ground floor of the tower were closed to the public for years because some officials felt the paintings were "too Communistic." I don't see that, myself. They do show Californians at work, but I don't feel that they're political.

There are wonderful city views from the grounds. A fee is charged to go up into the Tower, but I'm told the view is basically the same from up there.

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Phone: (415) 362- 0808
Address: 1 Telegraph Hill Blvd
Directions: The parking lot is very small. You can take the #39 Muni bus or walk up the hill. Start at Sts. Peter and Paul Church at Filbert and Columbus. Walk up Filbert, turn left on Stockton and right on Lombard. Take the stairs up.

The historic City Lights Bookstore in North Beach, San Francisco's Italian district, is over 50 years old and still operating. The first all-paperback bookstore in the United States, it was once the hangout for Beat-era poets and writers like Lawrence Ferlinghetti (a co-founder of the store), Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, and Neal Cassady. It now takes up three floors and sells hardcover and paperback books on a variety of subjects.

Stop and buy a copy of Ginsberg's Howl, which was confiscated in the 1950s as obscene material, or browse through the latest cutting-edge literature.

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Phone: 415-362-8193
Address: 261 Columbus Avenue
Directions: Look for the triangular building on Columbus between Broadway and Jack Kerouac Alley
Website: www.citylights.com

Even those who are not religious can find something of interest at the Church of Saints Peter and Paul, a landmark building in North Beach. The parish was founded in 1884 to minister to the Italian community in San Francisco, but the original church burned to the ground after the catastrophic 1906 earthquake and fire.

The present building with its distinctive twin spires was finished in 1924. Words from Dante's Paradiso in Italian are carved outside the front doors. English translation: "The glory of Him who moves all things penetrates and glows throughout the universe."

There is a large, beautiful rose window in the church, as well as pillars bearing symbols of the four Evangelists: an angel for Matthew, a lion for Mark, an ox for Luke, and an eagle for John. The high altar is elaborately carved, and the painted dome above it shows Christ and the Holy Spirit in shades of gold, red, and blue. There are smaller altars, chapels, and shrines in other parts of the building.

Sunday Masses are celebrated in English, Italian, Chinese, and Latin. See website for schedule.

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Phone: 415-421-0809
Address: 666 Filbert Street
Directions: Near the corner of Columbus Avenue, across the street from Washington Square
Website: www.stspeterpaul.san-francisco.ca.us