Life is a journey. Here to
help you escape the bumps and enjoy the ride through Northern California is the thoroughly revised 9th edition of WEEKEND ADVENTURES IN SAN FRANCISCO & NORTHERN CALIFORNIA.
Award-winning author Carole Terwilliger Meyers, who published the first edition of her book in 1977, invites you to visit the vast array of vacation
wonders in Northern California. You can spend the night in a coastal lighthouse, play chess on one of the two largest chessboards in the United States, and pan for gold during the day and
spend the night in an
authentic 49er miner's cabin. WEEKEND ADVENTURES has something for everyone--from weekend warriors anxious to test their mettle to
world-weary slugabeds who want breakfast brought to them on a tray.
Weighing in at almost 1 1/2 pounds, WEEKEND ADVENTURES is packed with interesting places to visit: the Santa Cruz mountains,
the coast south to Morro Bay and north to Eureka, the Wine Country, the Russian River area, Sacramento and the Delta, Highway 101 north and south, the national parks, the Gold Rush Country, Lake Tahoe, and
the Mt. Shasta area. San Francisco and the Bay Area--including the East Bay, Marin, and the Peninsula--are also detailed. Former San Francisco mayor Willie Brown says, "Ms. Meyers' love for the City and her
familiarity with its abundant charms are evident in each entry."
Each destination includes information on what to do, where to stay, and where to eat. Helpful extras include the
most direct driving route and interesting stops along the way. Information on family-friendly places is included, and the text is filled with intriguing historical tidbits and unusual facts.
Additional chapters are devoted to ski areas, family camps, houseboats, river and pack trips, and assorted other adventures.
What people are saying about this book
"This lady is organized . . . well-researched guide."
--San Francisco Chronicle Book Review
" . . .easy-to-follow format."
--Booklist
"Carole's guide is to Northern California as my tour is to NYC. Almost. Not
that there's anything wrong with that!"
--Kenny Kramer, the real Kramer and director of Kramer's Reality Tour
"We had a great time on our California vacation. Weekend Adventures
was essential both during planning and execution. Thank you for a wonderful guide!"
--Joleen Chambers, parent, Annapolis, MD
"Carole is the doyenne-empress-goddess of family travel in the Bay Area. She invented it."
--Peter Beren, Publisher, co-author of The Writer's Legal Companion
"When I'm scouting set locations in Northern California, I call Mom. She's da bomb!"
--Dave Meyers, music video director
". . . businesses have come and gone . . . What's unchanged is her attention to detail and enthusiasm for this lovely chunk of California. . .
. valuable resource."
--Mike Cleary, The Food and Travel Enthusiast, Hills Newspapers
"This guidebook is a gem. It has it all . . .well-known and unusual activities are presented in an organized manner. Buy this
book, enjoy Meyers' insights, and plan for a memorable vacation in Northern California."
-- April Leo, The Bloomsbury Review
Excerpt from the book:
From San Francisco chapter:
Annual Events
Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival
Japan Center; (415) 563-2313; www.nccbf.org. Free.
Japanese cultural events at this elaborate celebration of spring include traditional dancing, martial arts demonstrations, taiko drum and
koto performances, and tea ceremonies. A Japanese food bazaar operates continuously, and demonstrations of the Japanese arts of doll making, calligraphy, and flower arranging are usually scheduled. The
festival culminates with a colorful 2-hour, Japanese-style parade.
Historical Sites
Coit Tower
At top of Lombard St., North Beach, (415) 362-0808. Daily
10-6:30. $4.50, 65+ $3.50, 6-12 $2.
This 210-foot-tall tower (approximately 18 stories) located atop fashionable Telegraph Hill offers a magnificent 360-degree view that includes the Golden
Gate and Bay bridges and Lombard Street. Resembling the nozzle of a fire hose, it was built in 1933 as a memorial to the city's volunteer fire department. Colorful murals painted on the ground floor walls in
1934 depict area activities during the Depression. They were controversial at the time because of left-wing political content. The admission fee includes an attendant-operated elevator ride to the top.
Parking is extremely limited.
Visitors can take the 39 Coit bus up, then walk down the Filbert Street Steps
(keep an eye and ear out for the wild parrots that live in this area—made famous by Mark Bittner's book, The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill--and for Napier Lane—made famous by Armistead Maupin's novel,
Tales of the City) and see some charming 19th-century cottages as well as the Grace Marchant Garden, exiting onto Levi Plaza near Battery Street.
Where to Stay
Hotel Rex
562 Sutter St./Powell St., 2 blks. from Union Square, (800) 433-4434, (415) 433-4434; www.thehotelrex.com. 7 stories; 94 rooms; $$-$$$. Evening wine; restaurant; room service. No
pets. Valet parking $30.
Aspiring to become the Algonquin Hotel of the West Coast and designed as a focal point for the arts, this theme hotel has a clubby, writer-friendly ambiance.
If it were a magazine it would be The New Yorker, and it aims to be warm, witty, and smart. Hand-painted lampshades are featured throughout, and the elevator is papered with pages from the city's 1945
Social Register. Wall colors are warm, with guest rooms in shades of citrus, and back rooms face a lovely garden. Sketches of Martha Graham in the '30s hang in a lobby furnished with period pieces, including
an authentic clock-face table, and literary events are scheduled regularly. Appetizers and drinks are purveyed each evening in the wood-paneled lobby bar.
After watching the bakers through a sidewalk window, where they sometimes respond to questions via a two-way speaker, visitors can choose between informal dining downstairs--both inside and outside on
a heated deck—and finer dining upstairs in Bistro Boudin (it is pronounced either "boo-deen" or "bow-deen")--with a dead-on view of Alcatraz. Among the best items are an ever-popular clam chowder in
a sourdough bowl, meaty crab cakes, and pizzas.
Upstairs, the Boudin Museum
is an homage to sourdough bread-making with some interesting city history mixed in (Boudin is the oldest continuously run business in San Francisco). The busy first-floor bakery can be observed below from a glass-walled catwalk, and a tasting room completes the tour. Take home the perfect souvenir--a loaf of bread in the shape of a darling turtle or alligator.
