San Francisco

Pam and Nguyen Tran’s trip to San Fran


We may have left our hearts in San Francisco but we certainly didn’t leave our wallets. We like bargains so here are my tips for you—

Double-decker tour bus—we did all three loops as they have a hop on hop off feature and allow a 48-hour ticket so we got a lot out of it. The London tour guide was the most fun by far! (if you have a choice). Do bundle up for the Golden Gate journey!


Fortune Cookie Factory—Warm cookies straight off the

line says it all. And yes it is in the Alley

(Ross Alley - between Jackson
and Washington). The locals will point

you there but you won’t believe it.

Dim Sum (as in I want somma dem and somma dem, etc) restaurants— The good point is you can try lots of the local favorites at local prices 3/1.50 on many items. Get started early on Broadway, Stockton, and Kearney or Washington streets as many close after lunch traffic. My advice is don’t miss the pork buns and anything wrapped in a banana leaf

(sticky rice, pork, and other stuff like peanuts usually).

Alcatraz—Surprised me—the audio tour made if for me. Not too over
dramatic. As an APR producer of course I could
suggest some edits but as an NPR listener who
focuses on sound it was pretty good. We watched
the B/W version of Bird Man before going and it was fun to hear the Alcatraz guard take on him for
contrast. And the bite from one prisoner saying how weird it was as they could hear the sounds of New Year’s parties in San Francisco across the water was chilling (“Everything we wanted—freedom--was over there so close and we couldn’t have it”)

Muir woods—Red wood trees (skinny but tall)—

majestic to say the least. The bus/shuttle ride and

entrance fees total under $10.00 per person.

Executive Hotel Vintage Court--A city bargain that plays Jazz standards in the elevator and offers wine tastings 5-6. The best part is that they offer more than one glass so guests hang out in the very cool lobby and talk about other travels and city sights. Another good point is that if you miss the wine time just go out the front door and diagonally left is a non-chain tiny grocery with an amazing amount of wines at great prices. The hotel is
on the edge of Union square and you can take the steps under this street to shoot out right in China town.


And Finally—can anyone explain this street to us….(see view left and right?). This is the same street somehow.