Visiting San Francisco - Tiki Travel

M mikehooker Grand Member (3 years) Austin Joined: Jul 17, 2014 Posts: 1211	M mikehooker Posted posted on Mon, Jun 13, 2016 1:40 PM The wife and I booked flights to SF for early November. We'll be there from a Tuesday to Tuesday with a detour to Yosemite (for possibly 2-3 nights) plus a day in Napa Valley to see the wine country and some friends up there. So we may only have three or four full days to take in as much of San Francisco as we possibly could. Our tentative itinerary includes the following tiki locales: -Smuggler's Cover -Pagan Idol -Trader Vic's -Forbidden Island -Tonga Room Smuggler's Cove is probably the one I want to spend the most time at and possibly go to on two occasions if time allows. We're flying in to Oakland in the late afternoon so first thing we'll probably do is stop into Trader Vic's in Emeryville for lunch and then depending what time we finish up and if traffic is still fierce, we could either kill some time at Amoeba in Berkeley or go down to Forbidden Island for a couple drinks, then head on over to the Cove. Not sure I want to cram three bars into one day though, especially since we will be driving. Is Forbidden Island still serving quality drinks? It's probably the most out of the way of the bars we've chosen. I've heard mixed reviews of Tonga Room with many people saying the food and drink are terrible but it's worth popping in to see the place. If that's the case and only one drink is necessary, it should be easy to do that and Pagan Idol in the same day because of their close proximity. We're also looking for other things to do, especially in the day time. We're perfectly content doing touristy things like Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge but heard the Wharf is really not worth going to. What other activities, shopping, or fun things should be on our radar? Record stores? Vintage/thrift stores? What eateries should we definitely consider? Oh, and does anyone have lodging recommendations? We don't want to slum it but can't spend a fortune either. Would like to find a reasonably priced place to stay that's not too far from the action. We're planning to rent a car since we are taking those trips out of town but heard it's a nightmare driving in SF so maybe we'll return it for the days we're staying in the city. What say you locals? Would love to hear everyone's suggestions on how we could make the most of our time there. And of course would love to meet up with some of you.

The wife and I booked flights to SF for early November. We'll be there from a Tuesday to Tuesday with a detour to Yosemite (for possibly 2-3 nights) plus a day in Napa Valley to see the wine country and some friends up there. So we may only have three or four full days to take in as much of San Francisco as we possibly could. Our tentative itinerary includes the following tiki locales:

-Smuggler's Cover
-Pagan Idol
-Trader Vic's
-Forbidden Island
-Tonga Room

Smuggler's Cove is probably the one I want to spend the most time at and possibly go to on two occasions if time allows. We're flying in to Oakland in the late afternoon so first thing we'll probably do is stop into Trader Vic's in Emeryville for lunch and then depending what time we finish up and if traffic is still fierce, we could either kill some time at Amoeba in Berkeley or go down to Forbidden Island for a couple drinks, then head on over to the Cove. Not sure I want to cram three bars into one day though, especially since we will be driving. Is Forbidden Island still serving quality drinks? It's probably the most out of the way of the bars we've chosen.

I've heard mixed reviews of Tonga Room with many people saying the food and drink are terrible but it's worth popping in to see the place. If that's the case and only one drink is necessary, it should be easy to do that and Pagan Idol in the same day because of their close proximity.

We're also looking for other things to do, especially in the day time. We're perfectly content doing touristy things like Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge but heard the Wharf is really not worth going to. What other activities, shopping, or fun things should be on our radar? Record stores? Vintage/thrift stores? What eateries should we definitely consider?

Oh, and does anyone have lodging recommendations? We don't want to slum it but can't spend a fortune either. Would like to find a reasonably priced place to stay that's not too far from the action. We're planning to rent a car since we are taking those trips out of town but heard it's a nightmare driving in SF so maybe we'll return it for the days we're staying in the city. What say you locals?

Would love to hear everyone's suggestions on how we could make the most of our time there. And of course would love to meet up with some of you.

Post #764965 by mikehooker on Mon, Jun 13, 2016 1:40 PM