DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Everything Else... Point Reyes National Seashore, California

Looking for some advice about this area just north of San Francisco... I'm going to be spending a couple weeks there pretty soon and I'm looking for some things to do. I will be there for work so my days are occupied but I will have my evenings and I will have one weekend in the middle to be on my own.. The park is massive and I'm not sure where I'm staying yet. Based on the bit of research I've done, I could be an hour from downtown San Fran, I could be closer to 2, depending on where I'm staying (and what time of day I make the trip)... So I may, or may not, be willing to venture downtown just for an evening....

As far as what I like to do, well almost anything is on the table.... and I won't say money is no object but I've never been there before, don't know when I'll ever get there again.. so even if something is a little pricey, I would still love to hear the idea if it's worth it...

I've done some Google searching so I'm pretty familiar with the "touristy" places and restaurants and some of those are on my list of things to do but I'm looking for some local knowledge... the cool things they don't put in the brochures that the locals know about...

How far away from Pebble Beach?

Pebble Beach is a 2-hour drive from San Fran. The Carmel area is beautiful.

This may be a little bit further than you're willing to drive but not sure. When I was in California I drove up to San Francisco on highway 1 and stopped at San Luis Obispo and found Montana de oro state park. I spent the day doing some hiking on the trails (Bluff Trail) and the experience was wonderful, so relaxing, and a breath of fresh air compared to the congestion of some place lake San Fran or LA.

If the generalization about California natives is true (superficially friendly) (which still means friendly) - that’s perfect.

If it were me on a two week work trip, I would definitely end up hanging with some locals.

This is like a five hour drive.

If you're a bit north of San Fran I'd certainly tour wine country. All the well known wineries + some smaller wineries. It's where I met my favorite reisling.......Sattui Vineyards
Simply awesome day.

Fishermans wharf? Awesome.

Always wanted to tour Alcatraz but never got the chance.

In the early 2000s I stayed in Danville which is north of San Fran as well. Only for 5-6 days but well worth it.

Just some thoughts.

Have a great time!

You should check out a game at the Giants Ballpark. One of the nicest stadiums I've been in.

Thanks to all who responded.. my plans have changed some, trip shortened so I no longer have the weekend. This sucks because I never get business travel to span a weekend when I can do what I want to do. But alas, it wasn't meant to be. So I will have to cram in as much in the evenings as possible, which really limits the range I'm going to want to travel.

Pebble Beach is almost 3 hours from where I'm staying.. I would definitely make the trip if I had $700 to part with for a round of golf.. I did look into a couple of their other sister courses which are much more reasonable.. but since I don't have the weekend any more, golf is out.

Regular season baseball starts on the 28th (which is the only night I could go), the Giants are in San Diego.. Excl, you have a better chance to see them than I do.

I found out I'm staying in a town called Petaluma, which looks really nice. It's about 45 minutes north of San Fran. For an east coast comparison it looks a lot like Annapolis, MD... smallish city, looks pretty high end, everything seems to revolve around the downtown marina...

You're within an hour of Thomas Keller's restaurant The French Laundry. It has been named the best restaurant in the world before.

It's a bucket list type restaurant (if you're into that sort of dining) and if you can get reservations.

I have it on my list of places I must try.

The French Laundry

Cool, thanks. Do they have crab legs on their buffet?

Take your boxing gloves!

Fisherman's wharf... you gotta get a sourdough bowl full of chowder. Amazingly good!

Alcatraz... it's a really cool tour. I did the audio self-guided tour; totally worth it. Also, it's a very memorable swim to shore from there, but the water is COLD and the current is gnarly-fast

When I was 14 or 15, went to Washington for a wedding. Then, headed down to California for a week.

Got to San Fran. Did many of the touristy things. In the hotel room 1 night, mom and dad were making plans for the next day. I said I really wanted to go to Alcatraz. Mom said no, she and my sister wouldn't go.

Dad said "Ok", and he and I went.

It was so cool, yet eerie. Glad they gave me the chance to go.

So I showed up at the airport in Raleigh at 5:15 am on Sunday to fly to Cali... as I enter, not even to the ticketing area yet, a security guard comes toward me.. I start to get nervous as he is walking directly toward me... when he gets closer he extends his hand and says... "Go Browns"... I remember I'm wearing a Browns sweatshirt.. and he says, "My cousin is the new DC".. to which I said, "Steve Wilks is your cousin?".. and he says, "Wow, you must be a REAL fan if you already know who the newly hired DC is."

So then I get on the plane, Alaska Airlines (which I highly recommend).. I get to my seat, I'm in seat E (middle seat).. lady sits in aisle seat, big guy shows up for window seat, he sits down.... before we taxi out, he reaches into his carry-on bag, pulls out a Browns hat and puts it on.. introduces himself and we had a lot to talk about for 5 hours.....

#weareeverywhere

That brought a smile to my face..