San Francisco Tourist Trap Tips by gerblunk

In a city full of tourist traps, this place takes the cake. It is the stupidest place I have ever been. And yes, I have been to the tacky raodside giftshops and rodeo museums in the American West. This place is an embarassment to the people of the Bay Area. I don't know why anyone would want to come here. Parents may think kids may get a thrill out of the "earthqauke ride" or the flashy lights and arcades. But you can find gift shops selling license plate keychains pretty much anywhere. Just take the kids to the nearest Six Flags, and skip Fisherman's Wharf.

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At Least Do This: If you want to see real Wharfs, walk down to the other piers where you can see the huge ships pretty close (I was there before September 11). The kids will like that.

Come here if you want to experience the trippy sensation of shopping for Greatful Dead and Doors T-Shirts. If you're one of those that remembers (?) Haight-Ashbury back in its Age of Aquarius days, I suppose it might be worth a return. But I doubt you'll find anything that reminds you of those good old days. Except for the groups of 16 year old runaways who aggressively ask you for change.

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San Francisco's Chinatown is the largest and most interesting Chinatown that I have been to, but if you go, you need to walk on some of the back streets, away from the tacky tourist-oriented shops that rope people in with cheesy roll-up calanders and faux-Oriental knick-knacks. The McDonald's shaped like a Pagoda is a new low in Sino-American relations. The "Chinese-style" streetlights look like something at Disneyland. In a word, the touristy sections of Chinatown are very, very boring.

Some of the backstreets of this district though, are fascinating, and the closest thing you'll get to a Chinese city in this hemisphere.

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