San Francisco - Monterey 10 Days

[John Kasaian]

An interesting factoid - the land on which Stanford University was built was originally a nut farm. Some will say that nothing has changed - - -

Today, the campus faces out on the main north-south surface road through Silicon Valley, El Camino Real, and the front part of the campus continues to feature a beautiful grove of walnut trees.

Stanford started out with free tuition----that didn't last long.

[John Kasaian]

If you like French Toast, Em Le's in Carmel is the place---
http://www.lovetoeatandtravel.com/Si.../Food/emle.htm

[John Kasaian]

Not sure what your budget is, but the Mayflower is a good little hotel in downtown SF with free parking, but the parking garage can only accommodate compacts, I think it used to be the old stables in the basement. Our '09 Jetta barely fit. The location is within walking distance of lots of cool stuff.
Other hotels we like:
The Marines Memorial
The Andrews (which has a fantastic Italian restaurant: Fino reservations requred!)
There are more restaurants in SF than you can shake a stick at.
One of our favorites is the Fort Mason Officer's Club just West of Fisherman's Wharf/Cannery The dining room does have a very fine view of the Golden Gate however and the food--the last time I was there---was excellent.
Another place, this with a great view of the Bay Bridge is Sinbad's, not far from Oracle Field.

If you want to give your budget a little----near minuscule---- break (everything in SF is expensive) give the Early Bird Specials at Scoma's in Fisherman's Wharf a try, or Boudin's Bakery in Fisherman's Wharf (a admitted tourist circus) which serves up the ubiquitous chowder bread bowl as well as OK sandwiches. Tourist circuses are probably the safest places to walk at night in SF---another fun night walk is a pub crawl down Columbus Street.
While exploring Columbus Street Original Joe's is near by. Order the Joe's Special and you'll be full for the rest of the week (better yet, split an order!)
One more old school restaurant worth considering is the Tadich Grill on California Street.

[Bob Salomon]

Not sure what your budget is, but the Mayflower is a good little hotel in downtown SF with free parking, but the parking garage can only accommodate compacts, I think it used to be the old stables in the basement. Our '09 Jetta barely fit. The location is within walking distance of lots of cool stuff.
Other hotels we like:
The Marines Memorial
The Andrews (which has a fantastic Italian restaurant: Fino reservations requred!)
There are more restaurants in SF than you can shake a stick at.
One of our favorites is the Fort Mason Officer's Club just West of Fisherman's Wharf/Cannery The dining room does have a very fine view of the Golden Gate however and the food--the last time I was there---was excellent.
Another place, this with a great view of the Bay Bridge is Sinbad's, not far from Oracle Field.

If you want to give your budget a little----near minuscule---- break (everything in SF is expensive) give the Early Bird Specials at Scoma's in Fisherman's Wharf a try, or Boudin's Bakery in Fisherman's Wharf (a admitted tourist circus) which serves up the ubiquitous chowder bread bowl as well as OK sandwiches. Tourist circuses are probably the safest places to walk at night in SF---another fun night walk is a pub crawl down Columbus Street.
While exploring Columbus Street Original Joe's is near by. Order the Joe's Special and you'll be full for the rest of the week (better yet, split an order!)
One more old school restaurant worth considering is the Tadich Grill on California Street.

Or, if you like French.

Cornell Hotel, 50 rooms, 3 stars, excellent French restaurant. Convenient location.

[Drew Wiley]

My wife went through UCB on scholarships plus campus work, and graduated with only 6K debt, which I wrote a check for once we were engaged. But it's incredibly difficult for most students to graduate without a lot of debt; and UCB is a lot more affordable than Stanford. Both schools try to pack in as many foreign students as possible, esp from China where the govt subsidizes their education here, because foreign students pay a premium which cumulatively brings the CA University system huge amounts of income. Interestingly, UCB paid for my wife's exchange student program when she attended Beijing University for a year. But that wasn't what I was hinting at concerning Stanford, but the recent bribery scandals. My wife came from a poor family in Oregon but was the top of her class, and not the daughter of a movie star with a lot of extra cash to spread around to get the records cooked. Her Biotech certificate came nearly free because that kind of post-grad education is subsidized by the big corporations who need a trained labor pool. Then she flipped that income to pay cash for med school. Otherwise, we'd be 200K in debt just like most of her classmates. Commuting to Stanford would have been hell; at least 4 hrs per day in the car even over the San Mateo Bridge. Fortunately, she got into a program closer to home. She sometimes goes to seminars at Stanford; but those are usually timed on weekends, in which cases she tries to leave the house no later than 6AM. Times have changed, Bob. The population in the South Bay has mushroomed. Far more people than ever have to commute from surprisingly long distances inland to high-paying jobs in the Bay area. Even where I worked there were about half a dozen people who commuted over 90 miles each way daily. They never saw the sun at home except weekends.

[Bob Salomon]

My wife went through UCB on scholarships plus campus work, and graduated with only 6K debt, which I wrote a check for once we were engaged. But it's incredibly difficult for most students to graduate without a lot of debt; and UCB is a lot more affordable than Stanford. Both schools try to pack in as many foreign students as possible, esp from China where the govt subsidizes their education here, because foreign students pay a premium which cumulatively brings the CA University system huge amounts of income. Interestingly, UCB paid for my wife's exchange student program when she attended Beijing University for a year. But that wasn't what I was hinting at concerning Stanford, but the recent bribery scandals. My wife came from a poor family in Oregon but was the top of her class, and not the daughter of a movie star with a lot of extra cash to spread around to get the records cooked. Her Biotech certificate came nearly free because that kind of post-grad education is subsidized by the big corporations who need a trained labor pool. Then she flipped that income to pay cash for med school. Otherwise, we'd be 200K in debt just like most of her classmates. Commuting to Stanford would have been hell; at least 4 hrs per day in the car even over the San Mateo Bridge. Fortunately, she got into a program closer to home. She sometimes goes to seminars at Stanford; but those are usually timed on weekends, in which cases she tries to leave the house no later than 6AM. Times have changed, Bob. The population in the South Bay has mushroomed. Far more people than ever have to commute from surprisingly long distances inland to high-paying jobs in the Bay area. Even where I work there were about half a dozen people who commuted over 90 miles each way daily. They never saw the sun at home except weekends.

Some of Terry Shuchat’s employees were commuting every day to Palo Alto from well east of Concord. And Terry closed his store a few years ago now.

Since my rep lives in Oakland he always had me stay on that side so getting down to Palo Alto or San Jose wasn’t that bad a trip, and I got to get extra sleep on the way!
Except for the great deal I got from Marriott in Fremont. That became a difficult spot for him to get to.

[Drew Wiley]

Concord to Palo Alto? Try Modesto or Los Banos. It gets insane. Do you want a cheap house and titanic auto and fuel expenses, or the other way around? Now the big software companies are trying to figure out how to build their own apartment complexes, but it gets darn contentious when old timers get their views spoiled, parks paved over, or quiet neighborhood lanes clogged with traffic. Still, with more open space than any other major urban area in the world, the quality of life here is tempting. If I just can't stand the thought of driving at all, it's just a ten minute walk to 7,000 acres of beautiful open space. If I get the jump on traffic over the Richmond Bridge, say, prior to 10AM, I can spend an entire day in Marin county, including just about anywhere at Pt Reyes. If I want to get to the Sierra, I wait till 8:00 PM, then can reach campsites at the crest before midnight with a minimum of traffic. But commuting to work - my gosh - it took me up to an hour to drive 8 miles, but mostly about half an hour, still damn nerve-wracking. Same strategy if I visit my sister near Monterey. Just wait till 8:00 in the evening, and I'll get there around 9:30. Leave earlier, and it's totally counterproductive. ... But ironically, the longest commutes I'm aware of were at my high school growing up. That school district was large than six New England States, and bisected by three of the deepest canyons on the continent. There was a trophy each year for who had to come the furthest. One kind had to walk fives miles from home to hitch a ride to where there was a main road (twisty old Hwy 49), then take a bus one and half hours each way to school ... about six hours per day involved. I was a lot closer, and the last kid onto a bus shortened to be able to handle the tight curves on a one-lane road on the canyon with hundreds of feet of drop-off and no guard rails. The average city driver would pee their pants just parked there.

[Bob Salomon]

Concord to Palo Alto? Try Modesto or Los Banos. It gets insane. Do you want a cheap house and titanic auto and fuel expenses, or the other way around? Now the big software companies are trying to figure out how to build their own apartment complexes, but it gets darn contentious when old timers get their views spoiled, parks paved over, or quiet neighborhood lanes clogged with traffic. Still, with more open space than any other major urban area in the world, the quality of life here is tempting. If I just can't stand the thought of driving at all, it's just a ten minute walk to 7,000 acres of beautiful open space. If I get the jump on traffic over the Richmond Bridge, say, prior to 10AM, I can spend an entire day in Marin county, including just about anywhere at Pt Reyes. If I want to get to the Sierra, I wait till 8:00 PM, then can reach campsites at the crest before midnight with a minimum of traffic. But commuting to work - my gosh - it took me up to an hour to drive 8 miles, but mostly about half an hour, still damn nerve-wracking. Same strategy if I visit my sister near Monterey. Just wait till 8:00 in the evening, and I'll get there around 9:30. Leave earlier, and it's totally counterproductive.

So, you’re near San Quentin?

[Drew Wiley]

No. San Quentin is in Marin. And it's right where the Bridge clogs up right now in the evenings. But it is probably the only way to live in Marin County all-expenses paid. After all, Alcatraz is no longer an option.

[Bob Salomon]

No. San Quentin is in Marin. And it's right where the Bridge clogs up right now in the evenings. But it is probably the only way to live in Marin County all-expenses paid. After all, Alcatraz is no longer an option.

Had another rep that lived outside Walnut Creek who went to work for San Jose Camera. That was a haul!