Morning all - managed to get myself a paid trip to blog/network/tweet at the Security B-Sides conference in San Francisco on the 14th and 15th of February so wondering what to do the other days. I'm staying with a mate in San Rafael on the Fri and Sat (it's his birthday on the Friday), then moving to a hotel on Union Square for the rest of it.

Planning on taking a reasonably decent camera to try and get some good scenery shots, but also very interested in the history of music in San Francisco, and in just wandering and seeing the place as I have never been before. So - what to do?

All info gratefully received

Also interested in beer if anyone is around?

Scenery and beers are easy to find in San Francisco!
I'm game. Thinking about a Sunday tour? Or maybe one evening after your meetings are through?

Did someone say beer?

Sunday tour would be very cool - should have lots of free time, and the only thing I have to do at some point is end up at Union Square to check in to my hotel.

Thinking the Monday evening may have some post con events on so probably can't do much, but also a possibility for Tues eve, as I don't think my plane is until Wed afternoon.

Hugo - yes, beer is good. I'm betting you know where a man can find proper beer? Up for some food / drinks?

I'm waiting to see what others can manage time-wise.
My Sunday is open, I think, as are Monday and Tuesday nights.

Anyone else up for a beer?

Sunday night is ideal for me (and I guess there will be easier traffic to get up there) but I can do mon/tue too...

Sounds like Rory and I could tour the City by day and meet up with you for further adventures in the evening on Sunday.

Any favorite meeting points?

I don't go there often enough to have any favorite points I'm afraid... but I'm totally open to suggestions

I think The Cliff House is the most obvious venue.

I've never been in the restaurant at the Cliff House. I've never been very interested in the place- of course, after I'd seen the grandeur of the Victorian Cliff House, the modern version seems totally uninteresting.

The Musee Mecanique was housed in the basement of the Cliff house a few years ago and I visited it a couple of times there. The new location at Fisherman's Wharf is *much* more accessible.

We certainly could do drinks or dinner at the Cliff House, though. I'm always interested in trying out things.

Had a grand evening out in San Rafael last night, and the lads agree the Cliff House is well worth a visit. Today having a slow day and doing a few things around Marin County, but sounds like a good plan for tomorrow - a bit of a tour round then beers and food later.

Stew - my mate has said he'll give me a lift in to the city tomorrow so what would be a good place and time to meet?

Rory

Didn't manage to sort out a US number, so am on my normal UK phone so calls are a wee bit expensive, but should be easy to meet up through a email/text.

So sorry I haven't responded yet! My wife and I were just in SF this October and loved it. We mostly did the standard touristy stuff, though, so I'm not sure if I have much to add to anything you might be doing already, and we didn't see any musical sites there (I know plenty of grunge sites in Seattle, but that's pretty much it for my musical geography).

Here's my stream of consciousness summary of what I can suggest from my experiences (though it's certainly not as valuable as info from someone who's lived there would be):

We loved the Ferry building and ate at a nice restaurant there for brunch called Boulettes Larder (they make an amazing pastry called a canelé).

We did the whole Alcatraz thing, which was actually a lot of fun for a touristy thing. It's pretty tough to get tickets, but it might be a little easier this time of year.

I'd say stay away from Fisherman's Warf (except for maybe the sea lions). I really hated how touristy it was. Same for Ghirardelli Square. Union Square too, for that matter.

We also liked Coit Tower, which has great views of the city and the bay.

City Lights Bookstore was neat, but we were only able to jump in and out.

As far as dining goes, we ate at:

Paladar Cafe Cubano (because my wife knows I love Cuban sandwiches)
Farallon (courtesy of my mom, otherwise we wouldn't have been able to afford it it was delicious )
Plant Cafe (near the Ferry building)
Cafe de la Presse (great French cafe outside our hotel)


Oops, sorry, have to wrap it up. Time for dinner out with the wife (celebrating the 14th on the 12th instead). If I think of anything else I'll try to let you know, but it looks like you won't have many more days of pure tourism left...

Lest this post leave the first page of OT without a wrap-up...

Phones did seem like a good idea at the time, but Rory's provider decided to block service almost the day we were to meet up.
I sat in the foyer of the hotel in SF with my trusty RIO CAR on the table in front of me, hoping that a Scotsman would soon wander by and see it.
Alas, the trick did not work.
Hastily trying to recall his gmail address, I sent a text from my dumb-phone which he could receive on his smart-phone. Et voila! The day began!

The tour started in Haight Ashbury, continued around to Lombard's twisty part, then Hyde St. Pier and Fisherman's Wharf before we unbuttoned the top on the car for a quick cruise over to Treasure Island for the view back on the city skyline.
Last stop before dusk was Coit Tower, then a mad dash across the city and through The Presidio and Diamond District (Sea Cliff), quickly past the Legion of Honor and on to meet up for drinks and dinner at the Cliff House.

I hope Rory will share a few photos with us soon and the other empeggers can also add to the story.

I do remember that the saturday night closest to valentines is probably not the best day to pick to have a few beers and some food

On the other hand, I'd never, ever, seen flowers being served as salad - particularly on a bar menu!

It was great to meet up, and I'm in awe of Rory's alternate backup career!

Apologies for the delay - everything was very hectic on the run up to the Scottish Alternative Music Awards - unfortunately we came 2nd to Zombie Militia, but was all good fun.

I had posted a quick summary of my visit to SF over on http://infosecfrog.blogspot.com/2011/02/so-was-over-in-san-francisco-for-b.html but had forgotten to link it through here.

I also popped up a small fraction of the photos I took over on https://picasaweb.google.com/frog51/BSides

Was very impressed. I loved the whole visit - a city which is definitely on my list to visit again, ideally with Claire for a proper holiday, but probably not there for a while. My next US visit is to Las Vegas in May, but not much spare time then :-(

Well done, Rory!
I had a great time, too.

There seems to be access issues with your picasa link, though.

2nd'ed

No problems, here. I can even see the zebra-striped guitar.

Maybe it's because I'm signed into my google account...

I'm signed in and I can't see the gallery.

Hopefully permissions sorted now.

Ah- my bad. NoScript was blocking googleusercontent for me.
I never think to check it.

Nicely posed there in the sun on Treasure Island sir :-)

ha!
And you, at Haight Ashbury.