Never the same. Always San Francisco. | POINTS OF INTErEST . 15 35 MISSION DISTRICT South of Market between Potrero Avenue and Sanchez. Mission Street, the main thoroughfare in the district, once linked the Mission San Francisco de Asis (Mission Dolores) to the bay. Boasting one of the best climates in the city, “the Mission” has always been a bustling community. Some of the city’s most promising young chefs are making names for themselves here as well. Valencia Street has become a hotbed of new restaurants and shopping. Cinco de Mayo and Carnaval, a Mardi Gras-like revel, are commemorated in May. 39 39 NORTH BEACH Northeast sector of San Francisco; Columbus Avenue is the main artery. There’s no beach like North Beach — in fact, there’s no beach at all. The area’s name derives from the 1850s when a finger of the bay extended inland and the neighborhood was a sunny shore. Today it encompasses one of San Francisco’s busiest nightlife areas, a mosaic of cabarets, jazz clubs, cappuccino houses, off-beat bistros and established restaurants. All around are the vibrant accents of the city’s inhabitants of Italian descent. Delicatessens are filled with enticing appetizers: provolone, prosciutto, frittata, mozzarella, ravioli, galentina and on and on. Washington Square is an ideal spot for lunch. 32 LITTLE SAIGON Lower Larkin Street. Just beyond the Asian Art Museum’s front door at Larkin Street and McAllister up to O’Farrell has been designated Little Saigon. Some 250 Vietnamese-owned businesses are concentrated in this area and the nearby Tenderloin. For budget friendly meals, this is a good fit – from banh mi (tasty sandwiches on baguettes) to pho (rice noodle soup). 36 MISSION dOLOrES 16th and Dolores Streets, 415-621-8203. Founded in 1776, Mission San Francisco de Asis is the sixth of 21 missions established by the Franciscan Fathers in California. The name Dolores was taken from a nearby lake, Laguna de Nuestra Señora de los Dolores, long since filled. Moorish, Mission and Corinthian styles combine in the church, the oldest intact structure in San Francisco; the altar and decorations are from Spain and Mexico. It has four-foot-thick adobe walls and hewn roof timbers lashed with rawhide. Alongside is a garden and cemetery where many pioneers are buried. 37 33 MArINA GrEEN Shoreline of the Bay, from Webster to Scott Streets. The broad waterfront lawn developed on the site of the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition provides a restful place to view the boats sailing out from San Francisco’s Yacht Harbor or partici-pating in weekend regattas. Get excellent views of the Golden Gate Bridge as well. Runners consider this one of the best spots for daily workouts. FROM TOP: Nader Khouri; © 2010 Scott Chernis Photography (2) 37 NOB HILL California and Mason Streets and adjacent blocks. Once a fashionable residential district for silver kings and railroad barons, known as “nabobs,” Nob Hill is now home to elegant hotels, apartments and restaurants. Views from atop the Mark Hopkins and Fairmont hotels offer a magnificent panorama of San Francisco Bay. Grace Cathedral, Huntington Park, the exclusive Pacific Union Club and The Masonic enhance the special lure of this locale. 34 MISSION BAY San Francisco Bay and I-280 near Third Street. Easily reached on the T-Third Muni Metro, Mission Bay’s most prominent tenant is the University of California San Francisco, Mission Bay, the largest biomedical university expansion in the United States. Chase Center, the future home of the Golden State Warriors, is under construction here and is slated to open for the 2019-20 basketball season. Visitors will also be intrigued by the floating real estate on Mission Creek; this small houseboat community has been a fixture since the 1950s. 38 NOE vALLEY Hoffman, Dolores, Alvarado and 27th Streets. The heart of Noe Valley, San Francisco’s “village within the city,” is 24th Street. This colorful and pedestrian-friendly thoroughfare boasts an inviting array of trendy boutiques, comfortable pubs, outdoor cafes and restaurants, some of them quirky all of them interesting and unique. Visitors can explore retailers selling imported cheeses, gelato, herbs and oils, hard-to-find magazines, and coffee beans and teas from around the world. sftravel.com
San Francisco Travel Planner's Guide 2018: Page 15
