San Francisco Local Custom Tips by riorich55

Watch the Fog Roll In

My very first trip to San Francisco was back in 1985. I was a trainer and conducting a training class from Monday through Saturday. The classes were actually in a small hotel I was staying at by a marina on the Oakland side of the Bay, but most evenings I would head over to the BART station and head into San Francisco.

On my last full day there I had a rental car and got a chance to drive across the Golden Gate Bridge and see a few more of the areas that I couldn't walk to. On that drive across the Golden Gate Bridge was when I first saw the rolling fog that San Francisco is famous for. As I crossed the bridge the fog rolling over the small foothills on the other side looked like a boiling witches cauldron. To this day, more then 25 years later, I can still vividly recall that image.

On our last trip back in 2010 we had the opportunity to stay on one of the hills in San Francisco using hotel points I had earned on business trips during the year. One morning I got up early just so I could walk around the city and take in some quiet moments before everyone else started their busy day.

On this particular morning the fog was indeed rolling in and even though the photos don't show this fog off as well as being there in person hopefully it will give you some idea of my walk that morning.

Get a Shoe Shine

For the most part San Francisco's weather is rather temperate year round. You will never get very hot summer days in the city itself as the Pacific ocean breezes cool everything off. Likewise because of the ocean you will not get any snowy days.

Thus, after walking around this very walkable city you may decide to shine those shoes up a bit before heading out to one of the many fine dining establishments around town.

But, if you see one of the shoe shine professionals taking a break on his throne during the day, as seen in picture #2, just let him catch his well deserved middle of the afternoon nap.

Small-Batch Artisanal Ice Cream

Continuing our walk from the Mission District to the Castro District along 18th Street we saw a line of people on the other side of the street lined up for ice cream. We had already had a dessert not more then 10 minutes earlier, but when you're on vacation little rules like "only one dessert" are thrown out the window especially when you see something unique. So we crossed the street and venture over to Bi-Rite Creamery and Bakeshop.

Since it was Halloween Night and a night the San Francisco Giants were played in the World Series the streets in the area were jumping which could have been a reason for the line out of the shop. But after getting inside and having our taste of their homemade ice cream (soft serve) concoctions, we came to the conclusion that lines like this were probably very commonplace.

The flavors change daily depending on what is fresh. You will always have the standards like vanilla and chocolate, but you never know what will show up on the menu until you go or call the day of. From their website it says that they have no more then 5 ingredients in each flavor.

All the flavors are written on the glass partition in front of the ice cream. On Halloween they gave them delightful names such as: vampire vanilla, toasted coconut from the crypt (my choice that night), and coffee toffee with weird ritual roaster's coffee. In addition they are very environmentally friendly using cups and spoons that are biodegradable. If you get a chance stop in here on your visit.

Phone: 415 626 5600

Website: http://biritecreamery.com/