American road trip

[Emirus]

San Francisco is a wonderful place for the real America. Just be careful where you step, there's feces on the sidewalks downtown.

Take the BART to Berkeley, walk uphill to Euclid, and have pizza for lunch at La Val's. It's the same as it was in the 70's, with the exception that they now have gluten-free and vegan offerings. After pizza, continue half a block to Ridge and look along the curb uphill. About a block and a half up hill, you will see a surface expression of the Hayward fault as it shears the curb and sidewalk. Turn back toward campus and walk across Hearst and onto campus. If you continue in a line south, you'll end up at Telegraph, where you can celebrate the Antifa uprising or just see winos urinating on cars. A block down is the Bank of America building with no windows, because after the 60's riots, the windows were considered a liability. Then, a downhill walk back down the south side of campus to BART.

Thanks very much for this suggestion. On our one and only visit to San Francisco a few years ago it was the finale of a bus trip so most of the time was taken up by organised tours. Which were great. We went up the Bullitt hill and were hoping the driver would go down just like Steve McQueen. But he wouldn’t do it. lol.

Two things.

The first point is, and this applies to everyone, is if you want to visit Alcatraz book well in advance. We thought we could go to the ticket office and get tickets for the next day. No chance. This time we will be booking before we leave England.

Second point is I’m not a fan of Chinese food but we went to the Empress of China and had a window table with a fantastic view of San Francisco at night and it’s joint first on our best Chinese meal list. The other joint first was a Chinese restaurant in Scottsdale, Arizona in a prefabricated building looking as if it should be demolished. Planktop tables without tablecloths but the food was fantastic and equally as good as in San Francisco.

 

[thør]

Thanks very much for this suggestion. On our one and only visit to San Francisco a few years ago it was the finale of a bus trip so most of the time was taken up by organised tours. Which were great. We went up the Bullitt hill and were hoping the driver would go down just like Steve McQueen. But he wouldn’t do it. lol.

Two things.

The first point is, and this applies to everyone, is if you want to visit Alcatraz book well in advance. We thought we could go to the ticket office and get tickets for the next day. No chance. This time we will be booking before we leave England.

Second point is I’m not a fan of Chinese food but we went to the Empress of China and had a window table with a fantastic view of San Francisco at night and it’s joint first on our best Chinese meal list. The other joint first was a Chinese restaurant in Scottsdale, Arizona in a prefabricated building looking as if it should be demolished. Planktop tables without tablecloths but the food was fantastic and equally as good as in San Francisco.

The best Chinese food I've ever had in SF was in a nondescript walk-up that we just happen to stumble on in Chinatown. The rat running across the floor was just entertainment. I've never been able to find the place again. For Chinese, the Salt and Pepper Crab at R&G Lounge is a great experience. Old time SF can be found at John's Grill downtown where I like Sam Spade's lamb chops. Also, Scoma's, on the wharf, is an old time place that serves great seafood. And it's an easy walk to the Buena Vista for Irish coffee. If you happen to be there in the morning, the Buena Vista has excellent corned beef hash. And there is a myriad of other dining opportunities in SF. Or, you could just waste the day away in the Whitechapel gin bar working your way thought the 23 page cocktail menu.

 

[Emirus]

Or, you could just waste the day away in the Whitechapel gin bar working your way thought the 23 page cocktail menu.

It’s a good job my wife is never going to read this thread.

 

[thør]

It’s a good job my wife is never going to read this thread.

Leave her in the bar and pop over to Golden Gate park to look for the imprints of the Klingon Ship from Star Trek IV.

 

[Emirus]

Leave her in the bar and pop over to Golden Gate park to look for the imprints of the Klingon Ship from Star Trek IV.

It crash landed in the bay. My watch won’t work at 50 metres anymore so I can’t dive to find it.

 

[Comshaw]

It all depends on what kind of time you have. If you are short on days, take the freeway and stop at a few important highlights. The one I'll add to those previously listed is the Little Big Horn monument. The last time we were there we had an excellent balanced presentation on the battle by a Crow tribal member who was also a park ranger.

If you have time stay off the freeways and take the byways. Lay out a route that will let you see some of this magnificent country. An example from here: take SR 20 over the Cascades and all the way to Spokane rather then I 90, or take SR 410 up over Cayuse and Chinook pass to Yakima, then SR 24 through the Rattlesnake Hills to SR240, south on SR 240 to the Tri-cities, SR 124 to SR 12 then on to Clarkston, Lewiston. From there you could take HY 12 up over Lo Lo pass, through the Idaho pan handle and into Montana.

Or head south on I-5 until you hit SR 14 then along the Columbia east. You'll find things like the Maryhill museum and the Stonehenge monument, a full sized reproduction of what Stonehenge (dedicated to soldiers killed in WWI) looked like when it was in use.

With a little work you could map a route like that all the way to Detroit.
There are lots of ways to get from point A to point B. The key is to see those things that you can't from a freeway.

Either way, enjoy, have fun and stay safe.



Comshaw

 

[Emirus]

The one I'll add to those previously listed is the Little Big Horn monument. The last time we were there we had an excellent balanced presentation on the battle by a Crow tribal member who was also a park ranger. Either way, enjoy, have fun and stay safe.w

The first time we visited D.C. a few years ago we saw most of the sights. When we were there a couple of years ago we were very fortunate in not only having a personal guided tour of the Capitol but we also spent the next day with a park ranger going round various monuments etc. He was a fantastic fount of information and gave us a brilliant time.

Thank you for all your suggestions. You obviously spent some time on it.

 

[Comshaw]

The first time we visited D.C. a few years ago we saw most of the sights. When we were there a couple of years ago we were very fortunate in not only having a personal guided tour of the Capitol but we also spent the next day with a park ranger going round various monuments etc. He was a fantastic fount of information and gave us a brilliant time.

Thank you for all your suggestions. You obviously spent some time on it.

You're welcome. I've ridden a lot of the roads in this state as well as most of the other western states. My cardinal rule when planning a ride is to use freeways as little as possible. Consequently I have seen places that most folks pass by. I hope you have a great trip.

Comshaw

 

[thør]

You're welcome. I've ridden a lot of the roads in this state as well as most of the other western states. My cardinal rule when planning a ride is to use freeways as little as possible. Consequently I have seen places that most folks pass by. I hope you have a great trip.

Comshaw

A damn fine rule.

 

[Emirus]

I may be doing approximately the same trip, but in reverse, from the middle to the coast. Among the many items to pack, I would want a full size spare, and maybe a different car. I would be on the fastest route, not the scenic route. Or a plane.

We had a fairly large hatchback. Don’t know what they call them in the US. Not a saloon but one where the back, tailgate?, lifts up. We had three full size suitcases, hand luggage and other stuff on the back seats.

We drove San Diego to San Francisco and from Seattle to Detroit. Same model of car for each.

I can’t remember the name of the car but it didn’t have a lip at the back which made it easier to get the cases in and out. They were bloody heavy.

We did a rectangle. Atlanta-San Diego-Seattle-Detroit-Atlanta. Three internal flights and over 4,000 miles. Enjoyable but wouldn’t do it again in the same amount of time we allowed ourselves. We took five weeks but we really needed another week.