Never the same. Always San Francisco. | POINTS OF INTErEST . 15 MARINA GREEN Shoreline of the Bay, from Webster to Scott streets. This 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 participating in weekend regattas. Get excellent views of the Golden Gate Bridge as well. Runners consider this one of the best spots for daily workouts. MISSION BAY Waterfront south of I-80 and east of I-280 along Third St. 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 new home of the Golden State Warriors, will open for the 2019-20 basketball season. MISSION DISTRICT South of Market St. between Potrero Ave. and Dolores St. Mission St., 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. Valencia St. has become a hotbed of new restaurants and shopping. Cinco de Mayo and Carnaval occur in May. MISSION DOLORES Japanese Tea Garden in Golden Gate Park 16th and Dolores streets, 415-621-8203. JACKSON SQUARE Jackson St. from Montgomery St. to Battery, extending one block north and south. LAKE MERCED Southwest corner of the city. An authentic reminder of the rowdy Barbary Coast and Gold Rush era, Jackson Square has handsome 19th-century buildings that serve as showrooms for interior decorators, antique and art dealers. Chic specialty shops and restaurants add to the charm. JAPANESE TEA GARDEN 75 Hagiwara Tea Garden Dr., 415-831-2700. Adjacent to the San Francisco Zoo & Gardens and TPC Harding Park Golf Course, Lake Merced is a favorite place for fun and relaxation. Once an ocean lagoon before it was separated by sand dunes, the lake is now fed by freshwater springs. It offers the only trout fishing in San Francisco and is also popular for boating and sailing. Founded in 1776, Mission San Francisco de Asis is the sixth of 21 missions established by the Franciscan Fathers in California. 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. Alongside is a garden and cemetery where many pioneers are buried. NOB HILL California and Mason streets and adjacent blocks. LINCOLN PARK Northwest corner of the city, bisected by El Camino del Mar. Main entrance at Clement St. and 34th Ave. Created in 1894 as a Japanese village for the California Mid-Winter Exposition, this four-acre exhibit (1.6 hectares) is one of the city’s most beloved treasures. It includes a tea house, pagoda, Buddha, torii gates and several small pools, streams and bridges. Cherry blossoms, azaleas and flowering shrubs enhance its tranquil beauty. The 9,000-pound Peace Lantern was presented by Japanese children in 1953 as a symbol of friendship. San Francisco Travel Association These 270 acres (109 hectares) of green space provide an impressive view of the Golden Gate. Two-hundred-foot cliffs (61 meters) enhance the grandeur. The Legion of Honor’s art collection, the Holocaust memorial and the Lincoln Park Municipal Golf Course are the principal attractions. Once a fashionable residential district for silver kings and railroad barons, known colloquially as “nabobs,” Nob Hill is now home to elegant hotels, apartments and restaurants. Views from atop the InterContinental Mark Hopkins and Fairmont hotels offer magnificent panoramas of San Francisco. Grace Cathedral, Huntington Park, the exclusive Pacific Union Club and the Masonic enhance the lure of this locale. JAPANTOWN Geary, Fillmore, Sutter and Laguna streets. LITTLE SAIGON Lower Larkin St. Travelers can visit Japan just 1.1 miles (1.8 km) west of downtown. Nihonmachi, as Japantown is known to the city’s residents of Japanese descent, is one of only three in the United States. The Japan Center is a five-acre complex of shops, restaurants, sushi bars, movie theaters, galleries and Japanese baths. The Peace Plaza, crowned by a five-tier pagoda, is the main setting for such celebrations as the annual Cherry Blossom Festival (April), Nihonmachi Street Fair (August) and several smaller festivals. Just beyond the Asian Art Museum’s front door at Larkin St., from McAllister to O’Farrell streets 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). Grace Cathedral sftravel.com
San Francisco Travel Planner's Guide 2019 TPG: Page 15
