If you are in San Francisco
for a short time and have followed my advice in the last blog, to sign
up for any one of the walking tours, I would recommend the following
additional sites.
If you are at a convention, ride on the wonderfully restored merry-go-round on the roof of the convention center. This and the ice skating rink are the only remnants of my failed project to create a Tivoli Garden in the center of San Francisco. I loved Tivoli in Copenhagen and tried to bring it to San Francisco. I got an ally on the planning commission, later the Board of Supervisors...Sue Bierman, but she was never able to get a real Tivoli Garden. Fear of danger, local unvoiced dislike of kids and risk of lawsuits completely destroyed the project.
Don't miss the
Ferry Building on the Bay including coffee at Peets and the elegant
markets on Thursday and Saturday. San Francisco, by the early 1980s
became the gourmet capital of America (more subscribers to Gourmet
magazine per capita than any place else) and the Saturday market
remains a focal point of the foodie crowd.
See Fort Mason, the first transfer of military land to public use (I played an important role in that) with over 80 interesting non-profit occupants and Greens restaurant, the first and foremost top end vegetarian restaurant in America.
Take a walk in the Presidio, another military base that was transformed into a public masterpiece based on the success of Ft. Mason. I played a minor role in the magnificent Crissy field promenade that no visitor should miss.