Follow Their Footsteps

FOLLOW THEIR FOOTSTEPS SAN FRANCISCO

GUIDE/ TIPS/ ITINERARY/ MAPS/ JOURNAL/ SCRAPBOOK/ SKETCHBOOK

Tess Falotico

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Lanee Lee

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Crystal Meers

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Magan Taylor

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Katie Mendelson

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103 THINGS

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Tess Falotico

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On the Road Trip: San Francisco Montery Traveler: Tess Falotico

Your fantasy California road trip involves nothing more than renting a sexy convertible, blasting the summery tunes, and letting the road take you where it goes. Woo-hoo, California dreamer! Too bad the reality looks usually more like a month of web searches, map-making, and hotel booking. It doesn’t have to: Fathom’s Tess Falotico planned the perfect week-long road trip from San Francisco to Monterey and back.

All you have to do is follow.

SAN FRANCISCO – My best friend Kelly and I were a little ambitious when we planned a week-long reunion along Highway 1. See the redwoods. Shop local designers and thrift shops.

Dip toes into Pacific. Bond with sea lions. Eat everything, spend nothing. Make it a road trip, but fly in and out of one airport. We did it all, 5

and still had time for a few drunk nights catching up in our hotel room (completely necessary for long-distance BFFs). Excuse us while we pat ourselves on the back.

DAY 1: SETTLING IN We land in San Francisco absolutely starving. We Google the closest In-N-Out to SFO and go immediately. (It’s at 11 Rollins Road in Millbrae.

You’re welcome.) Happily stuffed with what are truly the best fast-food burgers in America, we head into the city and check into Americania Hotel. It’s cheap and safe. (Shout out, Best Western!) For two female college students traveling alone, cheap and safe is really all that matters.

Wiped out but determined to make the most of our first night, we sit at the bar at Bloodhound for as long as our jet-lagged bodies can manage.

(We last 47 minutes.)

A beautiful church in the Mission District. Photo by Tess Falotico.

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DAY 2: THE MISSION This day is all about shopping and eating.

Our hotel is in SoMa, so we stop at BrainWash for breakfast on our way into Mission. Strong black coffee and eggs on local sourdough in a sun-soaked, industrial space, and we’re fueled and ready to shop. The Mission is packed with vintage and thrift shops, but if you can only get to one, make it Mission Thrift (2330 Mission St., +1-415-821-9560). If you’re up for a full-on hunt, brave the racks of dresses spanning the 1960s through ‘90s. We also score at Community Thrift Store (623 Valencia St., +1-415-861-4910), which has bins and bins of records and awesome Nikes from the ‘70s and ‘80s.

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I fall in love with Little Paper Planes, a shop on Valencia that brims with a tightly curated selection of clothing, jewelry, home items, and art prints. It shares space with Owl Cave Books’, a very cute emporium of used books and indie magazines. We find more great local designers and magazines at Needles and Pens, where the jewelry is particularly insane. I pick up great gifts for my boyfriend and my brother at Fellow Barber, a manly man’s barber with a shop stocked with manly man’s items. We loop back around to Mission St. for lunch at Gracias Madre, a little gem serving amazing vegan Mexican food (hey, don’t knock it til you try it). After our Mission District marathon, we relax with iced tea at Café Sophie. Their advertisement doesn’t lie. They really are “colder than your ex’s heart.” Dinner is take-out from a tasty but unremarkable Vietnamese joint. We eat in our room, watch movies, and pass out.

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DAY 3: MUIR WOODS On our way out of the city we stop in Outer Sunset, a blissfully laid back surfer neighborhood on the ocean. We do a little (more) shopping at Mollusk Surf Shop, a mainstay that carries locally made surfboards and beach gear, and General Store, which epitomizes beachy California design, everything from jewelry to sofas. We cross the Golden Gate Bridge — a perfect San Francisco experience in itself — and drive up to Muir Woods. The cliffside road is pretty harrowing: winding, narrow, and full of sudden drops. There’s a free shuttle on weekends, but we want to avoid the crowds and do it ourselves on a weekday. No regrets: It is stunning and peaceful, and we make it up and down the mountain alive.

Rather than take one of the more challenging hikes, we stay on flat ground on boardwalks made from fallen redwoods. Now it feels like a vacation. I haven’t breathed air this pure and clean since I moved to New York four years ago.

I leave feeling like a new person.

DAY 4: BiG BASIN REDWOODS STATE PARK We spend our last morning in San Francisco wandering around Ferry Building Marketplace, home to Pressed Juicery, Blue Bottle Coffee, and Heath Ceramics, to name a few of the awesome vendors. We hit the farmers’ market out front for healthy car snacks and begin the trip to Monterey.

Our pit stop of the day: Big Basin. We grab a map from the information desk and take the very, very easy Redwood Trail. We feel like Gre8

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tel and Gretel on the flat journey through the mighty giants, which are even mightier than the ones in Muir Woods. The small loop of a trail should take twenty minutes, but we spend an hour gaping at the massive beauties. Never before in my life have I had an emotional reaction to a tree. We spot the Mother of the Forest, at 328 feet, the tallest tree in the park, and a flock of snowy plovers, which look like little flying potatoes. Big Basin splits the drive in half, so it’s an easy hour cruising down Highway 1 to Monterey. After another death-defying descent down the mountain, that is.

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We check into Embassy Suites in Monterey.

There’s nothing cute about the choice, but we’re getting our fill of cute on the road. (And we don’t mind the free happy hour.)

The views in Point Lobos are some of the best I’ve seen in California.

Photo by Tess Falotico.

DAY 5: POINT LOBOS Point Lobos State Reserve is easily one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been. It is absolutely gorgeous. We stock up on guac and chips, drive twenty minutes south, and park 9

at Sea Lion Point beach. We pick it randomly, and any beach will do. They’re all perfect. We take our snacks to the water and spend hours (hours!) marveling at the Pacific views. The colors are beautiful: purple pebbles, sparkling blue water, and crystal clear skies. We tear ourselves away in time to stop in Carmel-by-the-Sea for treats from Carmel Bakery (Ocean Ave. and Lincoln St.) and a walk around the charming town before heading back to Monterey for another free happy hour.

DAY 6: MONTEREY BAY Day 6 will heretofore be known as The Best Day of Our Lives. We spend two incredible hours kayaking around Monterey Bay into animal habitats. We see otters grooming their precious babies and seals peeking their sweet little faces out of the water, checking us out. Sea lions do back flips and pose for photos. (Show-offs.) It’s almost hard to bear how cute this whole scene is, and it’s nice to think it will stay this way because the animals and the area are heavily protected. We booked our tour through Monterey Bay Kayaks. Being on the water was a little chilly. We warm up in the hotel lobby. We’re wearing our pajamas, and nobody minds.

DAY 7: ON THE ROAD AGAIN We get an early start and hit Santa Cruz in time for lunch at Cafe Gratitude. We needed the detox, and their quinoa bowls and fresh juices hit the spot. Then we take a back slide at Penny Ice Creamery on rhubarb crisp ice cream and blood orange sorbet with homemade raspberry preserves. Downtown Santa Cruz has great shopping: Stripe and Stripe Men for well-de10

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signed clothing and home goods, and Synergy for soft, organic cotton everything. We were really hoping to get to Swanton Berry Farm on Highway 1 — pick-your-own berries and a refurbished Airstream lounge seemed too cute to pass up — but it was too early in the season.

Next time. That’s right, I’m already taking notes for next time.

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My cousin and his fiancé live in San Jose, so we stop at their house for dinner. Dinner is in the oven with five minutes left to cook. When they hear the only Mexican we’ve had in California was vegan, they turn off the oven and take us to their favorite taqueria, Adelita’s. My eyes are always bigger than my stomach, so I order a super taco platter with carne asada and al pastor, rice and beans, and a Mexican Coke.

My cousin was right: Tacos with pork are better than tacos with zucchini. It’s the perfect end to a perfect trip. We drop off the car and take a cab to a hotel by the airport. We try to stay awake and talk about our magical week of wonder, but we pass out hard and dream of carne asada.

Follow Tess Falotico on Instagram @tessfalotico. She travels for the food, but has yet to find a meal that tops her Italian grandmother’s cooking.

I WILL FOLLOW HER FOOTSTEPS ON______________________________.

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Lanee Lee

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24 Hours in Berkeley’s Gourmet Ghetto Traveler: Lanee Lee

With such a high concentration of gourmet shops and farm-to-table deliciousness, your waistband might not survive the day. Lanee Lee heads to Berkeley and tries one of everything.

“One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.” – Virginia Woolf BERKELEY, California – Nowhere else have I understood this sentiment more than in the ghetto. The Gourmet Ghetto, that is, of Berkeley, California, the birthplace of the American slow food movement spearheaded by Alice Waters and her pals.

The Gourmet Ghetto is the nickname for the Berkeley neighborhood that runs along Shattuck Avenue from Rose Street to Hearst Avenue 17

that has a high concentration of restaurants and food shops committed to serving organic, non-GMO, peak, in-season food. It’s also a state of mind, given the community that this type of place attracts. Started in the late 1960s when Chez Panisse, The Cheese Board Collective, and Peet’s Coffee were opened, these were the pioneers who gave Americans a shocking (and much tastier) alternative to the canned food, Velveeta, and Folgers coffee that was the order of the day. Nearly a half of a century later, the Ghetto remains a hallowed pilgrimage for foodies around the world.

Snacking and hanging in Berkeley.

I spent a mere 24 hours in the epicurean Mecca, but managed to eat my way through it nearly every waking minute.

Why only a day? Because I’m an efficient and sophisticated traveler and I thought a oneday excursion during a San Francisco trip would be more than enough. I thought wrong.

I could have spent a week exploring the town, from coffee shops to couture boutiques.

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But if you have to cram it all in, here’s how to lap up every precious moment.

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9 a.m.: Philz Coffee I’m a coffee snob, and I thought I’d died and gone to java heaven. They brew by the cup, on demand, with five or six bean choices depending on how you like it (light, medium or dark roast). Yes, it may take ten minutes to get a cup of coffee, but it’s so worth it. If you ask for halfand-half, you’ll get — wait for it — heavy whipping cream. I’m not sure what they use (my best guess is condensed milk), but it was the silkiest, most glorious cup of coffee I ever laid my lips on.

Emunah Hauser, the tour guide from Edible Excursions Gourmet Ghetto tour, at Saul’s Deli.

Monica and Aaron Rocchino, owners and butchers of The Local Butcher Shop.

The Cheese Board’s pizza of the day: lime, cheese, and potato.

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10 a.m.: Edible Excursions Gourmet Ghetto Tour I’m usually the last person to join a tour group, but due to time constraints and the guarantee of no more than fourteen people per tour, I conceded and was glad I did. Led by local Berkeley foodie expert Emunah Hauser, Edible Excursions was fun, informative, and, of course, laden with lots of tasty treats. Highlights included Saul’s Deli, where they still make their own pastrami and celery seed soda; Claudio Corallo’s chocolates made with cocoa beans from his plantation in West Africa; and hipster couple-owned-and-operated The Local Butcher Shop and the The Cheese Board Collective, which serves only one kind of wacky, vegetarian pizza (think lime, cheese, and potato!) per day. ($75 per person, three hours, roughly 8 stops.)

The view from Wildcat Canyon.

1 p.m.: Tilden Park Despite wearing stretchy yoga pants, I was waving the white flag in terms of consuming more. What better way to eat more than to take a hike? Roughly an hour’s huff up the mountain on Laurel Canyon or Wildcat Canyon trail af20

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fords a dreamy panoramic view of San Francisco Bay and, more importantly, calories burned to allow more dining to come. It’s about a fifteen-minute drive from the Gourmet Ghetto to the entrance of the trailhead.

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The ultimate symbol of Berkeley’s slow food culture.

4 p.m.: Chez Pannise If there ever was a sacred temple to the farm-to-table movement, Alice Waters’ Chez Pannise would be it. I gingerly crossed the threshold, wondering if I’d be kicked out for my grubby workout gear. Peeking my head into a place I’d only seen in glossy cookbooks, I notice a woman futzing about with flowers on the host stand. OMG, it was the Alice Waters! Spinning on my heels to restrain myself from falling prostrate and pronouncing my undying devotion to her cause, I dashed upstairs to the casual dining restaurant. To my surprise, as reservations are suggested well in advance, the friendly maitre d’ offered to seat me right away — no reservations (Bourdain, you would have been proud).

Light appetizers, like a garden salad and seared scallops, were all I could fit in my already bulging belly. The café looked like something Frank 21

Lloyd Wright would have designed, and, combined with the flawless bites and service, I was once again reeling in the ghetto’s goodness.

6 p.m.: Hotel Shattuck Plaza With a giant peace sign gracing the lobby floor, it’s one of Berkeley’s most upscale, hip hotels, centrally located off hopping Shattuck Avenue. I was happy for a comfortable bed to flop into, although the Dionysian feasting was far from over.

7:30 p.m.: Comal

Slow food meets Mexican cuisine at Comal.

If you cross farm-to-table with trendy Mexicana-Oaxacan, you’ve got a sense of what Comal is about. The place was packed, especially around the bar where the expert bartenders spin out wickedly good creations. My favorite drinks were Abuelo Sucio, aka “Dirty Grandpa,” made with Siete Leguas reposado, Mina Real reposado mezcal, Jarabe de Grenada, and house bitters and Joaquin Murrieta, made with Tres Agaves reposado, Carpano Antica, Amaro Montenegro, orange bitters, and lemon zest. Dinner consisted of beer-marinated carne asada tacos 22

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with nopales and quesadillas stuffed with rabbit stew, pea shoots, and mole.

The knowledgeable bartender at Five in the Hotel Shattuck.

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Grilled ribeye at the hotel’s restaurant.

9:30 p.m.: Five Flying high on dopamine, I got my second wind. No way I was missing the four-time Bib Gourmand Michelin award-winner located inside Hotel Shattuck. Technically, it’s not in the Gourmet Ghetto, but Five’s commitment to organic, farmers’ market produce was evident.

Saddling up to the marble-topped bar, I ordered a Manhattan and quizzed the bartender for recommendations. I finished off the food marathon with grilled ribeye steak with shishito peppers, white cheddar biscuits, and blackberry/rhubarb cobbler — all spot on.

Brown Sugar Kitchen for Southern specialties.

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BBQ shrimp and grits at Brown Sugar Kitchen. Photo: Lindsay Taub.

Sunday, 9 a.m.: Brown Sugar Kitchen Recommended several times by Berkeley locals, Brown Sugar Kitchen is well worth the trek into Oakland’s industrial neighborhood.

Chef Tanya Holland churns out soulful renditions of Southern favorites in an old-timey diner setting. Beignets, BBQ shrimp and grits, fried chicken and waffles slathered with brown sugar butter and apple cider syrup. Breakfast doesn’t get any better than this. Local know-how: If you go on the weekend, go early (before 8 a.m.) or expect up to an hour wait.

The Joaquin Murrieta cocktail at Comal.

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Lanee is a Los Angeles-based freelance writer who Tweets as @wanderlushdiary. She travels for spine-tingles, golden moments of bliss, and spirited scouting missions.

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I PLAN TO FOLLOW HER FOOTSTEPS ON______________________________.

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Crystal Meers

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Where to Go From San Francisco: 12 Trips within 4 Hours Traveler: Crystal Meers SAN FRANCISCO - You’ve gone west. Okay, so, what’s next? Take a day trip in a new direction.

UNDER AN HOUR AWAY It’s not a day trip, per se, but it’s enough time to get across the bay.

1. Sausalito Shop for classic California ceramics from Edith Heath’s original studio and showroom.

Take in the cityscape and bay view from Farley Bar at Cavallo Point.

2. Oakland Stay long enough to snag a dinner reservation at Camino or book a table for brunch (either way, eat Tunisian orange cake).

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3. Berkeley It’s not as hard as it sounds to squeeze into lunch at Chez Panisse, which would mean there would be time to hit Gather for dinner. In between, sift through the gift shop darling of the blogosphere, Tail of the Yak.

Point Reyes lighthouse. Photo: rajdayal-nc / Flickr

1-2 HOURS AWAY Stop at Tartine for morning buns before you hit the road and get back in time for an end-ofthe-day ice cream at Bi-rite.

4. Point Reyes Crack crab claws at Fisherman’s Wharf but save the bivalve shucking for a picnic table at Hog Island Oyster Co. overlooking Tomales Bay. Stroll out to the lighthouse on the windiest spit of land on the Pacific Coast.

5. Sonoma County Wind through wine country on a vespa stopping for sips at Cade and Ram’s Gate. Oxbow Public Market gather the best of the bay area food and sundries under one, giant roof.

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6. Halfmoon Bay Pay a visit to the Purisma Creek Redwoods or see the sights via pony on a guided ride with Sea Horse Ranch. Chow down on crab cioppino at the Flying Fish Grill.

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Yuba River. Photo: outsideinn / Flickr

2-3 HOURS AWAY The scenery and a folk pop playlist make it easier to power through to the final destination of the day.

7. Navada City Pick up a Füdenjuice and head down to the banks of the Yuba River. Sleep over at the National Hotel for a (possibly haunted) holiday.

8. Santa Cruz Surf’s up. Shred with pros or just lay on the beach like one. There are positive vibrations around lunch at Cafe Gratitude.

9. Mendocino Hike the Headlands, then bolt for the local breweries. LIsten for old-timers speaking boontling, a local dialect mashing up Gaelic, Spanish, and 33

Pomoan steaming from Booneville’s counter culture roots.

Photo: Courtesy of Basecamp Hotel

3-4 HOURS AWAY Pack an overnight bag for this one.

10. Sea Ranch Check into the Sea Ranch Lodge. Marvel at the ‘60’s throwback shingled houses and the organic architecture of the Sea Ranch Chapel.

11. Lake Tahoe Someone must have brough sneakers. (Right?)

Basecamp Hotel has (almost) everything else covered. Hike the basin and recover with s’mores by the firepit.

12. Big Sur Cruise the coast, breaking for beach at Pfieffer State Park, sunset cocktails at The Post Ranch, and country fare from the Big Sur Bakery. Cozy up to cabin life at Deetjens.

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Crystal, Fathom’s editor-at-large, is often surprised by her sedentary career choice considering it’s impossible for her to sit still. You can follow her at @crystalmeers on Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest. She travels for the action.

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I PLAN TO FOLLOW HER FOOTSTEPS ON______________________________.

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Megan Taylor

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From Bay to Boardwalk in Santa Cruz Traveler: Magan Taylor

We’re all for shipping off to far-flung places. But there’s something very satisfying about exploring your own backyard. San Franciscobased writer, blogger, and locavore adventurer Meg Taylor leads the way to Santa Cruz.

SANTA CRUZ – It’s time for that summer getaway you’ve been needing but barely have time to plan. If you live in San Francisco, you can find your escape with a day trip to Santa Cruz. The best part about this quick California road trip is that you don’t need overnight accommodations. In one day you can fit in a state park visit, boardwalk ramble, wine tasting, and musical performance under the stars.

BEEN THERE, DONE THAT Have your coffee in San Francisco. But hold out 41

for breakfast at Spanky’s, a quaint, no-nonsense diner in the woodsy town of Ben Lomond.

Light and fluffy pancakes will satisfy the hungriest of travelers.

THE MOTHER LODE Embark on an early morning adventure in Big Basin Redwoods State Park (dating back to 1902, it’s California’s oldest state park). Visitors from near and far come for the hiking (over 80 miles of trails to chose from), sites (access to waterfalls and beaches), and famous trees. Make your way to park headquarters and take the Redwood Trail, a short and easy stroll through the canopy. You can’t miss “Mother of the Forest,” the tallest Redwood in the park. A resilient force, she stands at a staggering 329 feet. On your way out, stop into secondhand shops for records and old jewelry in the town of Boulder Creek.

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ON THE PACIFIC Take a tally of all the banana slugs you spot on the trails as you drive a short fifteen miles to your next location. Pacific Avenue in downtown Santa Cruz has great lunch options, especially if you want to eat al fresco. Get your meal to-go from New Leaf, a community market that specializes in local and organic food from the Central Coast. There’s a nice selection of prepared bites and a deli counter for made-to-order sandwiches. As you wait for yours (enthusiasts recommend The Hook, while vegetarians might lean toward the Surf City Club), pick out a piece of ripe fruit and a refreshing beverage. Set up for lunch outside as you people watch under the California sun. Want souvenirs for pals at home?

Pop into Pacific Wave (for the surfers and skaters) and Om Gallery (for the yogis and mystics).

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NOT JUST FOR KIDS No one’s too old for the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, although you try and try to convince yourself that it is so. Take a foodie approach to sampling saltwater taffy and funnel cakes. For sweeping views of the Pacific Ocean, ride the historic Big Dipper (the wooden roller coaster that is also a national historic landmark) and Logger’s Revenge (on a hot day you’ll welcome the big splash at the end). If thrills and heights aren’t your thing, practice your footwork in the arcade with a round or two of Dance, Dance Revolution. On your way out, say “Cheese!” in the photo booth.

BE STILL MY HEART Ease into the evening at Pizza My Heart, a takeout joint in Capitola that UC Santa Cruz alums 43

talk about long after their college days. Create your own pie or order the Big Sur 40 Clove, their most popular pizza. Get it to go for the next leg of your journey, a picnic at one of Capitola’s state beaches or parks (I like New Brighton State Beach).

THE FRUITS OF YOUR LABOR There’s still time for wine, and you don’t have to go as far as Sonoma or the Napa Valley for a taste. Head back to San Francisco the way you came, making one last stop in the town of Saratoga. Visit Mountain Winery, a.k.a. The Vineyard in the Sky, for the Summer Concert Season.

Highlights for 2012 include Ricki Lee Jones, Diana Krall, Emmylou Harris, and Steve Martin. Most shows start at 7:30 p.m., but get there early to enjoy the winery’s estate and reserve wines. As the sun sets over the vineyard, follow the music into the amphitheater and take your seats. You’ll feel right at home.

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Megan is a writer living in San Francisco.

She works for a non-profit literary organization in Berkeley and writes the blog, Poem, Sweet Poem. She travels for the lighthouses, the music, and the sunsets.

I PlAN TO FOLLOW HER FOOTSTEPS ON______________________________.

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Katie Mendelson

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Just Back From: Big Sur Traveler: Katie Mendelson

Brooklyn-based garden writer Katie Mendelson took advantage of a long weekend to get a nature fix in Northern California. She ate, she hiked, she can’t wait to go back.

Was it your first time?

I had driven through on a family road trip up the coast of California when I was a teenager.

But even though I remembered the scenery, I really had no idea how dreamy it was. So basically, yes.

How long were you there?

Three days.

Who were you with?

My boyfriend.

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Why did you go?

My boyfriend wanted to visit California’s Central Coast where he grew up, it was my 27th birthday, and we had a long weekend.

Photos by Katie Mendelson

Photos by Katie Mendelson

Where did you stay?

In the Champagne Room at Deetjen’s Big Sur Inn. It’s incredibly cozy — rustic cabins draped in wisteria and rose bushes and equipped with fireplaces and wood stoves. The beds are soft and comfy, and the food is to die for. But it’s not, they readily admit, for those who are noise-sensitive. The walls and floors are 52

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paper-thin and supremely creaky. So if your upstairs neighbors are early risers, you’ll be up with the sun. But when you spend the dawn hours in bed while a fire burns in the wood stove, this is a not-unpleasant, easily forgivable occurrence.

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What’s the #1 tip you’d give a friend who wanted to go?

I adored Deetjen’s and think everyone should stay there once. But it’s expensive for what you get, like pretty much everything in Big Sur. (We filled up our gas tank at a cool $6.50/ gallon.) I’d recommend nabbing a spot at a local campsite like Big Sur Campground, where you can inner tube on the Big Sur River, and splurge on meals at Deetjen’s and Big Sur Bakery or an outdoor massage at Esalen. The real reason to go is for the area’s scenery and spirit. No need to break the bank to enjoy that.

What did you do?

We spent a night and a day in Carmel Valley with my boyfriend’s cousin and friends, passing a rainy morning with a long breakfast at Toast and checking out estate sales under the expert lead of Lisa Salzer, who was shopping 53

for Lulu Frost, her gorgeous, vintage-inspired jewelry collection. We stopped at Point Lobos State Natural Reserve to hang with sea lions and picnic in the cypress grove. In Big Sur, we browsed the Henry Miller Memorial Library, hiked Tanbark Trail, a six-mile trip that included redwoods, wildflowers, and endangered California condor spottings, and said “this view is UNbelievable” to each other way too many times.

To ease the transition back to New York, we made a pre-flight stop in Berkeley, where we watched the sun set over the Golden Gate Bridge from the top of the city’s terraced Berkeley Rose Garden and had a dream-come-true, still-making-my-mouth-water dinner at Chez Panisse.

Were you there for the right amount of time?

Yes, though another day wouldn’t have hurt.

How did you get there?

We flew to San Francisco and rented a car.

This was essential for the spectacular drive down the Pacific Coast Highway as well as for stops at In-N-Out for animal-style burgers and black-and-white shakes.

This was especially great: There’s a bench tucked on the side of a hill above Deetjen’s that

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you can hike to and drink wine at dusk. Also, the guest book in our room was chock-full of gems, including tales of Big Sur alien abductions, marriage proposals, and angry rants about heavyfooted guests stomping around overhead.

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This wasn’t: We were there on Memorial Day weekend, so it was definitely prime time for tourists. But aside from the trailheads and lunch hour at Nepenthe, a high-traffic, cliff-top restaurant, it was generally pretty quiet and easy to forget that it was busy season in Big Sur. Favorite meals: An incredibly cozy and decadent dinner of filet mignon, baconwrapped pork, and BYO-Cali cabernet sauvignon at Deetjen’s. Beers at the the stunningly beautiful Post Ranch Inn, where the restaurant, Sierra Mar, is perched on a bluff 1,200 feet above the Pacific. Dinner at Chez Panisse was just sort of indescribably good: grilled asparagus, parmesan-topped arugula, and fava bean toast to start, pork shoulder and polenta, and a cherry galette.

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What’s the local specialty?

Laid-backness. Friendliness. I left a favorite scarf at Nepenthe and didn’t realize it until I was halfway back to San Francisco. When I called, they offered to UPS it to me at their expense.

Because I live in New York, I was convinced that they were messing with me. They were not.

One thing you didn’t get to visit but wanted to: I was dying to soak in the natural hot springs at Esalen Institute, an oceanside retreat center. The hippie mecca opens its mineral baths, which are perched on a cliff directly above the Pacific, from 1-3 a.m. for nudity-encouraged dipping. The springs were closed for Memorial Day — crushing.

Any surprises?

How easy it was to get there and back in three days. We flew from New York on Friday afternoon and took an easy red-eye home on Monday night (thanks, Ambien). It was a full but relaxing long weekend.

Would you go back?

Yes, of course! Though my next trip to California will be exploring what’s north of San Fran.

Point Reyes is first on my list.

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Let’s talk about stuff.

1. Glad you packed: Layers. Sweaters and pants for chilly mornings and nights, short sleeves for sunny afternoons. And, as mercilessly as I mocked my boyfriend for bringing them, binoculars.

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2. Wish you’d packed: A field guide to California wildflowers.

3. Didn’t need: A bathing suit. We snuck into Ventana Inn for a dip in the clothing-optional pool and hot tub.

4. Brought back: A guide to mushrooms and a feminist manifesto purchased from the Big Sur library book sale. Perfectly appropriate cultural souvenirs.

What was your favorite moment?

The whole drive between Carmel and Big Sur is pretty Instagram-worthy — Garrapata State Park, Bixby Bridge, Point Sur lighthouse.

You can’t stop thinking about: Falling asleep to the sound of the fire crackling in the wood stove. The view from the Post Ranch Inn. Moving to San Francisco!

Katie is a writer and a gardener in Brooklyn. You can follow her on Twitter at @katierumphius. She travels for the perspective.

I PlAN TO FOLLOW HER FOOTSTEPS ON______________________________.

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Amy Graff

103 Things

all S.F kids should do in the city before they grow up Traveler: Amy Graff Over the weekend my kids and I drove across the Golden Gate Bridge to visit a friend in Marin. It was a glorious day. The sun was shining, the Bay was full of boats, and scads of tourists were walking across the bridge.

“Mommy can we walk across the Golden Gate Bridge sometime? Please!” my 6-year-old daughter asked me.

I found her question amusing since we live in San Francisco and she has never stepped foot on the city’s most iconic landmark. I decided that I would definitely set aside a day to walk the bridge and then I started to think of all the 62

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places we had visited in our hometown–and all of the sights we had yet to see. I ended up with a list of 103 things every San Francisco kid should do in the city before they grow up.

Print this out, put it on your fridge, and start exploring the city. Maybe I’ll see you on the Golden Gate Bridge next weekend!

Take a photo to prove that you did it! Who ever accomplished 103 things will get an amazing award.

1.

Eat a hot fudge sundae at the St. Francis Fountain, open since 1918 on lower 24th Street in the Mission District.

2.

Stick a penny into “Susie the Can-Can Dancer” at the Musee Mecanique.

3.

Watch jet planes roar over San Francisco Bay during Fleet Week.

4.

Walk across the Golden Gate Bridge.

5.

Build a sandcastle at Baker Beach.

6.

Rent a rowboat at Stow Lake in Golden Gate Park.

7.

Step inside Mission Dolores, the oldest intact building in San Francisco. The neighboring Cemetery is the final resting place for numerous Ohlone, Miwok, and other First Californians.

8.

Play in the water at Julius Kahn Playground in 63

Presidio Heights.

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9.

Take the Alcatraz tour.

10.

Pick out a pastry at La Victoria Mexican Bakery on lower 24th Street in the Mission District.

11.

Fly a kite at Crissy Field.

12.

Hike the Coastal Trail where some of the most intact natural habitat in the Presidio harbors rare plants.

13.

Visit North Beach’s Washington Square in the early morning and watch the groups practicing Tai Chi.

14.

Enjoy a picnic at Dolores Park.

15.

Ride bikes along the one-mile Lover’s Lane in the Presidio. U.S. soldiers once used the trail to visit their lovers in the city.

16.

Look for the wild parrots on Telegraph Hill.

17.

Wade in the Bay at Crissy Field Beach.

18.

Visit the kittens and puppies at the SFSPCA.

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Check out books from the Children’s Center at the Main Library.

20.

Slurp up a bowl of pho (Vietnamese noodle soup) at Turtle Tower in the Tenderloin.

21.

Gaze at the Foucault Pendulum until it knocks over a pin at the Academy of Sciences.

22.

Step inside City Hall and stand under the dome, which is the tallest in the United States, 42 inches higher than the one in the nation’s capital in D.C. Look up and scream “Wow!”

23.

Take a walk down the Mission District’s Balmy Alley, the most concentrated collection of murals in the city.

24.

Look for turtles in the pond at the San Francisco Botanical Garden.

25.

Climb over the moon bridge in the Japanese Tea Garden.

26.

Attend a sing-along movie at the Castro Theater.

Sound of Music always plays over the Thanksgiving holiday; other favorites include Mary Poppins and Mamma Mia.

27.

Shop for vegetables in Chinatown and use them to make a stir-fry at home.

28.

Ride the cable cars all the way from Union Square to Fisherman’s Wharf.

29.

Walk the one-block stretch of Lombard that twists and turns between Hyde and Leavenworth.

30.

Zip down the slides, climb up the rope structure, and swing across the monkey bars at Golden Gate Park’s Children’s Quarter, originally built in 1887 and recognized as our nation’s first-ever public playground.

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31.

Attend the Meet the Animals presentation put on at the Randall Museum every Saturday at 11:15 a.m. Pet a snake, feed a turtle, feel a rabbit’s soft coat.

32.

Explore Cayuga Park in the Excelsior. Gardener Demitrio Braceros has transformed this spot right next to the Bart tracks into a wonderland with winding paths lined with wooden sculptures and flowers.

33.

Go out for dim sum on Clement Street. Try Wing Lee Bakery or Good Luck.

34.

Shop for art supplies at Flax on Market Street.

(Great place for birthday gifts too.)

35.

Lick an ice cream from Mitchell’s in Noe Valley.

36.

Drive to the top of Twin Peaks.

37.

Fill up on blueberry pancakes at The Ramp’s weekend brunch.

38.

Stroll Ocean Beach in the early morning and look for sand dollars.

39.

Buy chocolate malt balls at Miette in Hayes Valley.

40.

Check out the Fire Department Museum where you can see an engine from 1810.

41.

Spend your savings at Ambassador Toys in West Portal.

42.

Order the Bullet Train children’s meal at Mifune in Japantown. It comes with cold soba noodles and

tempura served on a toy train.

43.

Zip down the 25-foot tube slide at the Yerba Buena Gardens Play Circle.

44.

Glide across the ice at the Yerba Buena Ice Skating Center.

45.

Knock down some pins at Yerba Buena Bowling Center.

46.

Ride the carousel at Golden Gate Park.

47.

Watch the 4 p.m. giraffe feeding at the San Francisco Zoo.

48.

Hike the Land’s End Trail, from the Cliff House to the Palace of the Legion of Honor. Looking down at the rocky shoreline, you can see the remains of three shipwrecks.

49.

Grab a dozen donuts at Dynamo on lower 24th St. in the Mission District.

50.

Ride to the top of the tower at the De Young Museum.

51.

Take a class at the Cartoon Art Museum.

52.

Check out the Presidio’s Battery Chamberlin, the last six-inch “disappearing gun” of its type on the West Coast. On the first full weekend of each month, take part in demonstrations of the gun.

53.

Visit Fort Point and attend the Cannon Loading Demonstration and learn how soldiers were taught to load and fire a Napoleon 12-pounder 67

cannon during a Civil War artillery drill.

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54.

Pet the baby sharks (they don’t bite!) at the Aquarium of the Bay.

55.

Attend a Family Art Encounter on some Sundays at the Asian Art Museum. It’s a drop-in class in which parents and kids create art related to the museum’s collection.

56.

Say hello to the sea lions at Pier 39.

57.

Catch a Giants game at AT&T Park.

58.

Ride a ferry to Angel Island State Park.

59.

Volunteer at the San Francisco Food Bank.

60.

Attend a service at Glide Memorial Church in the Tenderloin.

61.

Marvel at the 100-year-old giant Imperial Philodendron inside the Conservatory of Flowers in Golden Gate Park.

62.

Ride the glass elevators inside the Hyatt Regency.

63.

Visit the Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory in Chinatown.

64.

Chow down on pizza at Giorgio’s in the Inner Richmond.

65.

Watch the trains circle round the tracks maintained by the Golden Gate Model Railroad Club in the basement of the Randall Museum. Saturdays only.

66.

Suck on a fruity popsicle from Bi-Rite Creamery in the Mission District.

67.

Step aboard the Balclutha at the Hyde Street Pier. The 1886 three-masted ship once transported cargo between California and the British Isles via Cape Horn.

68.

Tour the Cable Car Museum.

69.

Get a free balloon at one of the city’s many Cole Hardware stores.

70.

Create gigantic bubbles at the Exploratorium.

71.

Let your imagination run wild during a drop-in art class at Precita Eyes in Bernal Heights and the Mission District.

72.

Watch Jackie Floyd Jones perform swinging 1920s tunes on her musical saw and guitar with her sidekick, a dancing pink wooden cat, at the Saturday Alemany Farmer’s Market.

73.

Visit Coit Tower–and ride the elevator that takes you to the top of the 210-foot tower in the elevator.

74.

Attend one of SFMOMA’s Family Studios, the first and third Sunday of the month. It includes free admission, hands-on art projects and a kidfriendly tour of the museum.

75.

Watch the break-dancers at the Powell Street Cable Car turntable.

76.

Wave to the boats coming and going at the Ferry Plaza, while noshing on a baguette piece from 69

Acme Bread.

77.

Listen to the ocean’s song at the Wave Organ, just east of the yacht club on Bay Street. When the waves crash over sculpture of PVC pipes sound is created.

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Watch the remote-control model boats sail around Spreckels Lake in Golden Gate Park.

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79.

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Walk by the Painted Ladies, a row of elaborately painted Victorians facing Alamo Square Park on Steiner Street. Afterward, play in the park.

80.

Catch one of the free summer performances at Stern Grove.

81.

Read inspiring words from Martin Luther King Jr. behind the cascading fountain at Yerba Buena Gardens.

82.

Attend a family concert at the San Francisco Symphony.

83.

See a Concord Coach used by Wells Fargo in the 1860s at the Wells Fargo History Museum on Montgomery.

84.

View the Diego Rivera mural, “Making a Fresco,” at the San Francisco Art Institute on Russian Hill.

85.

Feed the ducks at Mountain Lake in the southern edge of the Presidio.

86.

Order an ice cream cone at the first-ever Swensen’s on Russian Hill.

87.

Tapp your toes to live jazz on Friday evenings at Bird & Beckett Books in Glen Park. Also browse the wonderful selection of children’s picture and chapter books.

88.

Take a docent-led tour of the Haas-Lilienthal House, the city’s only Victorian house museum.

89.

Zoom down the Winfield Street Slide, nestled away amongst the trees and curvy hills of Bernal Heights, on a piece of cardboard.

90.

Spread out a blanket at Russian Hill’s lovely Michelangelo Park. Enjoy a picnic and then take a nap.

91.

View the collection of works by El Greco, Rubens, Rembrandt, Monet, Matisse, and Picasso at the Legion of Honor. Say “hello” to “The Thinker.”

92.

Savor scones spread with clotted cream and finger sandwiches at Lovejoy’s Tea Room in Noe Valley.

93.

Explore Justin Herman Plaza’s Vaillancourt Fountain with walkways that allow you to walk over, under and through its waterfalls.

94.

Chow down on a burger and fries at one of the city’s old-fashioned Mel’s diners.

95.

Splash around in the Carl Larsen Sava Pool, one of the city’s nicest, cleanest public pools.

96.

Kayak along the waterfront.

97.

Go for a hike and watch the hang-gliders at Fort 71

98.

Funston.

Sit on the dock of the bay at India Basin Shoreline Park in Hunter’s Point, known for its sun, birds, stunning views, and fishing dock.

99.

Take the ferry to Sausalito.

100.

Pay your respects to artist Keith Haring’s “Three Dancing Figures”–an abstract sculpture featuring brightly colored figures with their arms and legs intertwined–at Moscone Center between Howard and Third.

101.

Walk down–or up–the Lyon Street Steps in Pacific Heights.

102.

Eat a burrito at La Taqueria on Mission Street.

103.

Treat yourself to a cream puff at Beard Papa’s downtown.

CONGRATULATIONS!!! YOU HAVE ACCOMPLISHED 103 THINGS IN SAN FRANCISCO! ’ ve accomplished 103 things in San Francisco.

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SOURCES FROM: FATHOMAWAY http://fathomaway.com/guides/usa/san-francisco/itineraries/itinerary-big-sur-california/ SF GATES http://blog.sfgate.com/sfmoms/2009/04/27/103-things-all-s-f-kids-should-do-in-the-citybefore-they-grow-up/ Big City Guide http://www.baycityguide.com/maps/maps.html

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