Carpe Diem - Spring Forward in San Francisco

. October 14, 2008

SAN FRANCISCO, CA, April 3, 2007. Daylight-saving time has been extended four weeks this year starting on March 11 and ending on November 4, 2007. That's 28 hours of more basking in the sun or lingering at an outdoor caf'e.

Need some suggestions for wiling away those hours? The San Francisco Convention & Visitors Bureau has them:

Sign up for a cooking class. Every Saturday the California Culinary Academy (www.baychef.com) is headquarters for Weekend Gourmet hands-on cooking classes. Fees range from $135 to $175 per person; for Kids in the Kitchen classes, fee includes one child and one adult. Some classes coming up: Sustainable Proteins on April 21, Culinary Camp for Kids on June 2, O Solo Meal - Everyday Cooking and Easy Entertaining for Singles on June 9, Culinary Technologies for the 21st Century on June 30 and dozens of others.
Stroll in the San Francisco Botanical Garden (www.sfbotanicalgarden.org). Open 365 days a year from 8 am to 4:30 pm and 10 am to 5 pm on weekends and holidays, the 55-acre park in Golden Gate Park, Ninth Avenue at Lincoln Way, has more than 7,500 varieties of plants from around the world. Of particular interest are the Coast Redwoods, one of the most remarkable and unique plant communities in the world. A brochure detailing a self-guided trail walk through these majestic trees and more than 100 associated species, can be downloaded from the Web site.
Head for the overlook at Sutro Heights Park, corner of Pt. Lobos Avenue and 48th Avenue in the outer Richmond District. Two stone lions guard the entrance of an old carriage road, which meanders through the grounds of 19th century millionaire and former Mayor of San Francisco Adolph Sutro's estate. The elements have reclaimed all but a few pieces of statuary including the lions and a parapet, which offers a dazzling view of the Pacific Ocean and the Farallon Islands.
Shrug off those cares and woes with a circuit through one of several labyrinths in the city. Grace Cathedral (http://www.gracecathedral.org/labyrinth/) has two, an indoor one open during cathedral hours (with the exception of special events) and an outdoor one that is accessible 24 hours a day. While there, be sure and see the Keiskamma Altarpiece, a monumental, 13- by 22-foot artwork created by 120 women in Hamburg, South Africa. The altarpiece makes its only Northern California stop on its current North American tour, March 27-May 29. A lesser-known labyrinth is located in the rooftop garden on top of Moscone Center (www.moscone.com) at 747 Howard St.
Visit one of the new park areas that have opened in the city in recent months. Mission Creek Park (www.missionbayparks.com) is the first of many parks and open spaces being developed in the Mission Bay neighborhood. Just a few blocks southwest of AT&T Park between Fourth and Fifth streets near King, the three-acre park is divided into north and south areas by Mission Creek. Shade trees, pathways, benches and gentle grass-covered hills invite lingering; hours are sunrise to 10 pm daily. Bring binoculars - birds abound. Last fall the Fay-Berrigan gardens, which offer a rare peek into a Thomas Church-designed garden opened to the public. Considered one of the great landscape architects of the 20th century, Church's restored garden with its gazebo and roses is the perfect complement to the adjacent 1912 Fay-Berrigan house (www.rhn.org/historyfayhouse.html).
Board one of the many ferryboats criss-crossing the bay as the sun carves deep shadows across San Francisco's central waterfront. Adult fares range from $23 to $11 (round-trip) for passages to Alameda, Angel Island, Oakland, Sausalito, Tiburon and Vallejo. To review schedules and departure points, visit www.511.org.
Order a fog cutter or an Irish coffee and watch the gilding of the city from one of her skyroom bars. Among the best known are the Carnelian Room, Cityscape (Hilton San Francisco), Equinox (Hyatt Regency San Francisco), Harry Denton's Starlight Room (Sir Francis Drake), Top of the Mark (Mark Hopkins InterContinental) and View Lounge (San Francisco Marriott).
Many museums in the city have extended hours at least once a week. Evening hours tend to be less crowded and an early dinner at the museum caf'e can be the perfect prelude to an art lark: Asian Art Museum, until 9 pm on Thursday; California Academy of Sciences, $5 on the Third Thursday of the month includes a cocktail hour and dance music from 5 to 9 pm; CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts, until 7 pm on Thursday; Friday; San Francisco Museum of Craft+Design, until 7 pm on Thursday; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, half-price on Thursday from 6 to 8:45 pm. A popular series of Friday evening programs at the de Young Museum re-launches on March 30 with a dynamic lineup of live music, artist demonstrations, poetry readings, and interactive art projects inspired by the Vivienne Westwood exhibit. For details on museum locations, visit www.onlyinsanfrancisco.com.
Call someone up and tell them to "meet me at Willie," as in the Willie Mays statue on the plaza of AT&T Park, home field for the San Francisco Giants. Opening day is April 3; coming up soon on the schedule are the Seattle Mariners, Colorado Rockies and New York Mets. For the full schedule, visit www.sfgiants.com. Tours of the stadium, dugout areas and visitors' clubhouse are also offered on a regular basis.
Something's always brewing in San Francisco especially at the redoubtable Anchor Brewing Company (www.anchorbrewing.com) where Fritz Maytag produces eight unique beers in one of the most traditional and handsome breweries in the world. Tours are offered once a week by reservation only; to confirm a slot, telephone 415-863-8350. On Saturday, April 28 the 24th annual San Francisco International Beer Festival (www.sfbeerfest.com) opens at Fort Mason Center's Festival Pavilion; more than 150 beers will be available for tasting. The San Francisco Brewers Guild (www.sfbrewersguild.org) also sponsors a number of events and has a map of local breweries on their Web site.
Take a break from the local workout center and head for the nearest hill. San Francisco's natural inclinations offer some challenging ascents for even the most physically fit. As one anonymous person quipped, "When you get tired of walking around in San Francisco, you can always lean against it." Among the steepest streets: Filbert between Leavenworth and Hyde (31.5 percent grade); 22nd Street between Church and Vicksburg (31.5 percent grade); Jones between Union and Filbert (29 percent grade); Duboce Avenue between Alpine and Buena Vista (27.9 percent grade). Percentage indicates for every 100 feet, block rises 3l.5 feet, 29 feet, etc.
Train for one of the many athletic events coming up this summer. Registration is open through May 17 for the ING Bay to Breakers (www.ingbaytobreakers.com) on Sunday, May 20. Since 1912 tens of thousands of people have gathered in San Francisco to see the world's largest footrace unfold as more than 70,000 costume-clad runners and walkers push off at 8 am. A two-day Greater Body Expo precedes the race on May 18-19 at Bill Graham Civic Auditorium. On June 3, 2007 the Accenture Escape From Alcatraz Triathlon (www.escapefromalcatraztriathlon.com) will draw some 2,000 triathletes/relay teams for the 1.5 mile swim to Alcatraz, 18-mile bike ride and eight-mile run through the Golden Gate National Recreation Area with a finish at Marina Green. Known as the summer marathon, the San Francisco Marathon (www.runsfm.com) on July 29 is a USAT&F Certified course offering a "best of San Francisco" tour and is the only race to run on the Golden Gate Bridge roadway. Choose from running the marathon, two half marathons, progressive marathon or 5K run/walk races.
Discover new artists and revisit others on the first Thursday of every month when many downtown art galleries stay open until 8 pm or later. Among those who participate are Himmelberger Gallery; 111 Minna Gallery, also noted for their third Tuesday "Sketch Tuesday" with local artists doing live sketching/art making from 6 to 9 pm, schedules its art openings the first Thursday of every month from 5 pm to 2 am; S.F. Black & White Gallery; San Francisco Camerawork, which waives its admission fee from 5 to 8 pm.
More and more travelers are including a stint of volunteering with their vacation plans. One of the easiest ways in San Francisco for combining good works with good people is www.onebrick.org. Named best non-profit by the San Francisco Bay Guardian for the third year in a row, the organization provides a platform for "commitment-free volunteering." Volunteer events usually last three to four hours and don't require a long-term commitment to a certain number of hours, etc. One Brick-ers have logged more than 33,700 hours for more than 500 organizations in the Bay Area.
Don't miss an opportunity to see San Francisco at its most vibrant during one of the many neighborhood celebrations coming up in the next seven months:

---|Japantown's Cherry Blossom Festival (www.nccbf.org), the Mission District's

---|Carnaval (www.carnavalsf.com),

---|the Union Street Festival (www.unionstreetfestival,

---|Fiesta Filipina (www.fiestafilipinausa.com),

---|Juneteenth Festival (www.sfjuneteenth.org) in the Western Addition,

---|North Beach Festival (www.sfnorthbeach.org),

---|Fillmore Street Jazz Festival (www.hartmannstudios.com),

---|Positively 6th Street Fair (www.6thstreetfair.org),

---|Chinatown's Autumn Moon Festival (www.moonfestival.org),

---|the San Bruno Avenue Community Festival (www.sresproductions.com), and

---|the Castro Street Fair (www.castrostreetfair.org).

Indulge in a deep tissue massage or a round of reflexology at one of San Francisco's day spas. No longer the exclusive province of women, many locations offer complete spa services for men as well. Cure jet lag, soak tired muscles in an outdoor tub with a bay view or lift the edge of a hangover. Several hotel-based spas also offer hotel/spa packages. For a list of local spas, visit www.onlyinsanfrancisco.com.
San Francisco's has six municipal golf courses under the jurisdiction of the San Francisco Recreation and Park Department (www.sfgov.org/recpark) at these courses: Harding (18 holes), site of the 2005 World Golf Championship; Fleming (9 holes), Lincoln Park (18 holes), famous for its fairways along the Golden Gate; Sharp Park (18 holes); Golden Gate Park (9 holes), and Gleneagles (9 holes). Courses are open from dawn until dusk. Investigate the twilight rates (where available) for savings; non-resident rates are higher. Opened in 1895, the 18-hole Presidio Golf Course (www.presidiogolf.com) also offers twilight and early bird discounts.
Paddle on the bay on a sunset tour with City Kayak (www.citykayak.com). The leisurely weekend excursions depart from Pier 38, The Embarcadero and go under the Bay Bridge, along the waterfront to McCovey Cove near AT&T Park. From dock-to-dock, 5 to 8 pm, the tour includes 30 minutes of orientation, 90 minutes of paddling and another 30 minutes for stowing gear, rinsing off, etc.
The walk across the Golden Gate Bridge is often called "the walk of walk." It would be hard to match the exhilaration of walking across this vital link between San Francisco and Marin counties. Considered one of the foremost engineering triumphs in the world, the bridge is the seventh longest suspension bridge in the world. On May 27, 1987 the bridge closed for "Bridgewalk 87" in honor of the span's 50th anniversary. More than 300,000 pedestrians surged on to the roadway. During daylight savings time, pedestrians have access to the east walkway of the bridge from 5 am to 9 pm. For more information, visit www.goldengate.org.
Special summer programming starts at the San Francisco Zoo (www.sfzoo.org) from Memorial Day weekend to Labor Day weekend. The Children's Zoo features opportunities to groom a horse or curry a goat; "meet the keeper" talks, a special parrot program and Koret Animal Resource Center tours. Come be a part of the San Francisco Zoo's first-ever D'ia del Ni~no Celebrati'on (Day of the Child) on April 29, 2007. This one-day festival is filled with traditional music, dancing and free crafts. Enjoy entertainment from Ballet Folkl'orica Infantil de South San Francisco and the Puppet Company.
While California's wine country is about a 30- to 45-minute drive, San Francisco has a number of tasting rooms. They currently include Crushpad (famous for its small-lot, custom wine facility), Diablo Grande, Wattle Creek and Vino Venue. The Napa Valley Wine Exchange has also been offering access to top rated, small production wines not found in other parts of the country since 1988. Many local restaurants complete the circle with special wine and food pairing menus. Among the newer ones offering this are Bistro 1689 known for their Monday and Tuesday $39 three-course prix fixe menu which features "bottomless wine by the glass," Chef Seiji "Waka" Wakabayashi's three-course Omakase tasting menu with wine pairing for $50 at bushi-tei, and Pres a Vi Global Cuisine & Wine Bar's single three-ounce samples for tasting. Zagat's populist picks for notable wine bars include A16, bacar, Cav Wine Bar, Eos, 1550 Hyde, Kuleto's, Le Zinc, Lulu and Nectar Wine Lounge.
A restored Crissy Field (www.crissyfield.org) debuted in the spring of 2001 and this gateway to San Francisco quickly became a favorite spot to stroll, sit and sip (caf'e lattes from the Crissy Field Center Caf'e or fresh organic orange juice from the Warming Hut - temporarily closed due to a recent fire). Blue heron, 100,000 plants representing 73 native species and 100 acres of wild, windswept shoreline provide the perfect opportunity to drink in one of nature's great labors of love: San Francisco.
Take an Around the Park circuit in the Presidio of San Francisco on the PresidioGo shuttle. The clean-fuel compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicles operate daily. A morning and evening commute service departs from the Transit Center at Lincoln and Graham Monday-Friday, 6:30-9 am and 3-7:30 pm. Mid-day service runs from 9:30 am to 2:30 pm and includes additional stops not on the commute schedule. Weekends and holidays the service operates every hour from 11 am to 6 pm. Routes link with Muni and Golden Gate Transit stops. The free shuttles go to popular destinations such as Crissy Field, Baker Beach and Fort Point. Brochures are available at locations throughout the park as well as www.presidio.gov/shuttle.
Theatre lovers should bookmark www.theatrebayarea.org. Not only does TIX Bay Area sell half-price day-of-performance tickets from their Union Square location, they also offer half-price tickets in advance for such long-running hits as Beach Blanket Babylon. The list of available tickets is posted by 11 am Tuesday-Sunday and some purchases may be made online. Half-priced tickets go on sale daily at 11 am. The TIX booth is open daily except Monday and major holiday. Hours are 11 am to 6 pm Tuesday-Thursday, 11 am to 7 pm Friday, 10 am to 7 pm Saturday and 10 am to 3 pm on Sunday.
Exercise the intellect and the body on one of the free guided walks offered by San Francisco City Guides (www.sfcityguides.org). More than 30 tours are offered day-in-and-day-out by the volunteer group. They canvass every corner of the city from the ever changing Castro district to Victorians of Alamo Square. Several of the tours are offered in the early evening hours including Ferry Building (5 pm), Telegraph Hill (5:30 pm) and North Beach at Night (7 pm).
Grab the Graham crackers, dark chocolate and marshmallows for an old-fashioned s'mores party at the beach. Small wood bonfires for groups of less than 25 (without permit) are permitted on Ocean Beach between Fulton and Lincoln. The full regulations are posted at www.nps.gov/goga.
The Graduate, Casablanca, Annie Hall ... these and other film classics will be shown at 8 pm on a giant outdoor screen on Saturdays May 19 through Oct. 6 as part of the Film Night in the Park series, sponsored by the San Francisco Neighborhood Theater Foundation (SFNTF). Locations include Dolores Park, Washington Square and Union Square. Attendees are encouraged to picnic before the show and discouraged from bringing chairs. For the complete schedule, visit www.sfntf.org.
San Francisco at twilight can be magical. San Francisco at twilight as seen from an airplane or helicopter on a "flightseeing" excursion, even more so. Regularly scheduled aerial tours include Attitude Aviation, Inc. (www.attitudeaviation.com), Delta Seaplane Tours (www.deltaseaplanes.com) San Francisco Helicopter Tours and Charter (www.sfhelicoptertours.com), San Francisco Seaplane Tours, Inc. (www.seaplane.com)and SF Air Tours (www.sfairtours.com).