I love the “36 Hours In” column that runs every Sunday in The New York Times. The concept of attacking a city with vigor and fitting as much in as possible for a short period of time, is very appealing since I find it hard to get away for longer periods of time.
I recently spent literally 36 hours in San Francisco. I took advantage of the direct flights before they stopped and was able to arrive around 9 a.m. and leave around 5 p.m. the next day. The BART is a great way to skip any traffic and taxi fares, and it dropped us right downtown. Hotel Tonight is a handy app to help find last minute discounted rooms. We choose The Marker because the rooms are nice and bathrooms large – plus they have free rental bikes and a wine social.
The key to making the most of a short tip is planning ahead. The main reason we were going was to see Hamilton. But, there were still plenty of meals to be had and I had organized and researched in advance. We starting with dim sum at Fang. Sizzling rice soup, dumplings and incredible apple glazed shrimp got us going. Next up was a battery-powered scooter tour of the city. Trust me, these are fun! So fun, in fact, that we now own one…
A quick refresh at the hotel got us ready for the evening. You can’t be in the Bay area without tasting some California wine and cheese. So, Eno Wine Bar satisfied that craving. The main evening event (Hamilton) lived up to the hype. Go see it if you can ever find tickets for less than your rent.
We woke up ready to hit the streets and take a leisurely two and a half mile stroll across town for breakfast at Tartine. Even my husband was glad we walked because we wanted to eat everything in site. And we did just about that. I started with the most incredible grougere I have ever put in my mouth and ended with a coconut creme tart (equally delicious). Needless to say we walked back, too.
Then it was back on the scooters to reach our next destination: Golden Gate Park. The hills didn’t like the scooters quite so much, but we had an adventure and it was beautiful out, so who cares?!? The Phoenix and the Dragon‘s owners had recommended a place to have crab for a late lunch. PPQ Dungeness Crab was the perfect last outing for our quick trip. Dare I say, we were ready to go home?
