Chill Out in Chinatown and other San Francisco, CA Things to Do Tips

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 first saw the show, there were a lot of Bill Clinton-Monica Lewinsky jokes and a dancing box of matzohs that sang, "Matzoh, Matzoh Man." The second time we saw it, in 2009, the Obamas and Nancy Pelosi (the latter singing "Leader of the Pack") were portrayed in the show, and there were jokes about Brittney Spears and Octo-Mom.

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 for this kind of comedy, which is sometimes risqué, 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.

Pedestrians on the east (Alcatraz) side of the Bridge; bicycles on the west (ocean) side.

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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 SF 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 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 to add “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: No weekend parking is allowed. 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

Golden Gate Park is a bus ride from downtown, but well-worth the effort. It's a long, narrow park with more acreage than New York's Central Park; it offers something for everyone. Just a few of the things you can do in the Park:

·Take a ride on one of the few remaining wooden carousels in the country

·Visit San Francisco's herd of bison in the buffalo paddock

·Sip a cup of green tea in the Japanese Tea Garden

·Whiz through the Park on rented roller blades, bikes, or Segways

·Walk through a huge greenhouse, the Conservatory of Flowers, that contains waterfalls and 2,000 types of plants

·Rent a pedal boat on Stow Lake for a closeup look at the turtles and ducks

·See a real Dutch windmill

·Buy a ticket to the Academy of Sciences and see the planetarium, rainforest exhibit, and the newly renovated Steinhart Aquarium, which reopened in 2008

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Address: Lincoln Ave, Fulton & Stanyan Sts, Great Hwy
Directions: Take the Muni #5 Fulton from downtown. Get off near 10th Avenue and walk across Fulton and into the Park. Download a map of the Park before you go -- it's a big place.
Website: www.golden-gate-park.com

The buildings on Alcatraz Island, in the middle of San Francisco Bay, were originally an Army garrison, but the island is best known for its now-defunct Federal prison, 1934-1963. The prison was close enough for the prisoners to hear music and traffic noises from the city, but out of 14 attempted escapes, only 2 might possibly have been successful. The super-cold waters of the Bay are as effective as barbed wire.

Buy tickets in advance through Alcatraz Cruises (website below); the tours fill up weeks ahead of time. Wear warm clothing and comfortable walking shoes -- the hike from the boat landing to the prison is steep, and the prison is cold. Boats leave from Pier 33.

The cellhouse audio tour is a very good way to tour the prison, a sort of total immersion experience.

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Address: Big rock, San Francisco Bay
Directions: Alcatraz Cruises, Pier 33
Website: http://www.nps.gov/alca
Other Contact: http://www.alcatrazcruises.com/