2016-12-21 05:22:48
The going rate for a two-bedroom apartment in San Francisco may be astronomical, but that doesn’t mean the city isn’t bursting with cheap options for fun. While we heartily endorse splurging on chef’s tasting menus and fourth-row theater tickets while you’re in town, here are a few only-in-San Francisco ways to have a great time for under $10. Mission District CHILL LIKE A LOCAL Golden Gate Park is the most famous rectangle of green space, but Dolores Park on the Mission/Castro border is a real San Franciscan’s backyard. Now that DoPa’s two-part renovation is complete, the grass is in great shape and the new restrooms are spiffy — plus the city views, picnicking, and some of San Francisco’s best eye candy are as good as ever. Although waits can be lengthy on sunny afternoons, salted caramel ice cream from the nearby Bi-Rite Creamery (three scoops for $6) is a sweet accessory for a sunny afternoon. TOWER OF POWER Coit Tower’s elegant tapering column has crowned Telegraph Hill since 1933. A legacy of San Francisco’s colorful Lillie Hitchcock Coit, who left a $125,000 bequest “for the purpose of adding beauty to the city which I have always loved,” the tower features a series of fresco murals by some 30 local artists from the Depression era. Guided docent tours of the murals start at $6. Elevator rides ($9) to the top of the tower offer spectacular 360-degree city views. OUTDOOR MUSIC San Francisco’s curious climate effectively means a few extra months get tacked onto summer, and that means an expanded calendar of free music festivals when most cities’ schedules are winding down. Hardly Strictly Bluegrass (first weekend in October in Golden Gate Park) and the Stern Grove Festival (Sundays, mid- June through mid-Aug.) Vie for the title of Most Eclectic, while Sunday Streets (monthly, March-Oct.) Closes various neighborhood thoroughfares to cars and opens them to musicians and street food. If you want a lunchhour music break, People in Plazas delivers over 120 performances of jazz, opera, salsa and zydeco every summer weekday. FLEAS AND FARMERS In the southeast corner of Bernal Heights stands a massive freeway interchange. Just off this junction is the site of the weekend Alemany Farmers Market (Saturdays) and Alemany Flea Market (Sundays). The farmers market, specializing in bulk seasonal produce and hard-to-find Asian vegetables, is California’s oldest, while the equally massive flea market rewards people with the patience to pick through table after table of delightful finds. On the last weekend of every month, Treasure Island Flea draws artists, collectors, designers, crafters and food trucks as well as local musicians and entertainers. Twin Peaks Hike TO THE SUMMIT While it’s easy enough to drive or take a tourist bus up Twin Peaks Boulevard — a curving road featured in limitless car commercials — hiking to the top from the city below is even more fun. (Hint: Just keep walking uphill.) Starting from the transit-friendly intersection of 17th, Castro, and Market streets, architectural curios and charming, dead-end lanes dot the hillsides, where an easily corrected wrong turn might lead you to an Instagrammable modernist abode. Once you’ve reached Twin Peaks’ 922-foot vista point, your reward is a stunning view of downtown, straight up Market Street, that stretches across seven counties of California. SLIDERS On the way down from Twin Peaks, don’t miss the Seward Street Slides. Located on a quiet, block-long side street above the Castro, these dual chutes aren’t the easiest things to find, but no other San Francisco mini-park will turn you into a six-yearold adrenaline junkie. (Pro-tips: The slides are open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day but Monday. Bring your own cardboard to slide down on and a handful of sand dropped ahead of you will speed you along.) “Giant Camera” CAMERA OBSCURA Way above Ocean Beach and next to the famed Cliff House, is a curio listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The “Giant Camera” (technically a camera obscura) is open from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m. daily, and for $3 viewers can get a 360-degree “live feed” of the environs, courtesy of a technology developed by Leonardo da Vinci. And there’s that beautiful beach just below. Be warned: It can be foggy, so best to call ahead. CHEAP EATS ON CLEMENT Chinatown is a singular sensation, no doubt. But if you want to eat like a local, head to the Richmond District. The lively commercial stretch of Clement Street between Arguello Boulevard and 26th Avenue is bursting with inexpensive Asian eateries from dumplings to Burmese salads to Korean BBQ. Stop into Good Luck Dim Sum (736 Clement) for delicious pork shu mai (only $2 for three!) Or $1.10 steamed buns at Wing Lee Bakery (503 Clement). Pop in at the Asian-inflected Hamburger Haven (800 Clement) for a vintage 1950s San Francisco diner experience and try the $7 sandwiches at Café Bunn Mi (417 Clement). They might be a tad more expensive than their cousins in the Tenderloin, but they’re bigger, eggier and just as delicious. BEHIND THE CACAO So much chocolate comes from automated assembly lines that to see how the real artisans make it might turn you off of Hershey Bars forever. But if you’re willing to take that risk, the $5 tours (Wed. Through Sat., 6:10 – 6:50 p.m.) at Dandelion Chocolate (740 Valencia St.) demonstrate every fascinating step of the production process, including the transformation of cacao beans into liquid chocolate, followed by a guided tasting of single-origin bars. They’re intimate — groups of eight or fewer only — and you’ll come away with a new appreciation of chocolate. Especially if you try a lychee-like “cacao fruit smoothie,” made from bean pulp. Spoiler alert: There is no gum that will turn you into a blueberry here, and no moralizing Oompah-Loompahs breaking out in song.
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