About Laura Del Rosso

Latest Posts by Laura Del Rosso

Point Bonita Lighthouse on the Edge of North America

Tunnel leading to the lighthouse

There are bucket lists for the big events and adventures in life and then there are lists of things to do locally that you never seem to get to: visiting Point Bonita Lighthouse was one for me.  This winter — on a crisp, clear evening when a golden full moon rose over San Francisco — I joined a group for the Golden Gate National Recreation Area’smonthly evening walk to the lighthouse. It’s an adventure, about a half-mile walk down a steep cliff-side trail from a remote Marin headlands parking lot that itself seems perched on the edge of the continent.

Bringing In The Year Of The Snake…San Francisco Style

 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s the time of year for San Francisco’s biggest celebration: the annual Chinese New Year parade on Saturday February 23, starting at 5:15 p.m. from Second and Market streets (up Geary, then Powell and Post) to Kearny and Jackson in the heart of Chinatown.

Expect almost 100 floats, marching bands, drum groups, fireworks, lions and, of course, the long colorful golden dragon to cap it all off in a San Francisco tradition that dates from the Gold Rush days.

Grant Avenue will be abuzz with a street fair 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday, sidewalks along Stockton Street even busier than usual with holiday shoppers and cavernous dim sum restaurants packed — all in celebration of the Year of the Snake.

My San Francisco Chinatown travel app — a guide to the neighborhood’s historic sites, shops, restaurants and old alleyways — has been updated for the occasion with more photos and entrees than before. Maps, contact information and links to websites are included.

It’s available for iPhones and iPads in iTunes and also in the Android store (search for San Francisco’s Chinatown).

Gung Hay Fat Choy!

California Fall Highlights: From Yosemite & Autumn Foliage to a Norman Rockwell Exhibit

Every October the California tourism industry meets with the media to showcase all that’s new in the Golden State. This year was no different and the range of new attractions and events on tap for northern California is more than enough to get people out and about rain or shine the next few months. Here’s a round up of some of the region’s news:

Yosemite National Park’s brilliant autumn foliage will be at its peak the next two or three weeks, said John Poimiroo, who produces a website devoted to California fall colors. Despite this week’s storm that put a damper on some of the colors, “it’s been a spectacular season so far. Leaves turned early and the colors have lasted a long time,” he said.

Yosemite will commemorate the 150th anniversary of the start of the national park movement through 2014 with symposiums, art exhibits, film festivals, concerts and more. In the midst of the Civil War — on June 30, 1864 — President Lincoln signed the Yosemite Grant Act to protect Yosemite and Mariposa Grove, a move which marks the creation of the U.S. national park system.

Some people may not think vibrant nightlife when they think of Monterey County but it’s there, says the Monterey County Convention and Visitors Bureau. The Attic, a watering hole that drew John Steinbeck and other local residents five decades ago has reopened.

The owner is the original owner’s grandson and bar goers sip drinks in the same place where Steinbeck and Doc Ricketts imbibed in a newly expanded space on Alvarado Street. Just a short stroll away Restaurant 1833 in a historic adobe attracts a lively crowd for cocktails.

San Francisco’s Pier 39 has a new thrill ride that combines ups and downs of a roller coaster (a simulated one) with an interactive shooting game. It’s called the 7D Experience and it’s all done in a digital theater with surround sound, 3D effects and laser technology. For the Halloween season this October, zombies are part of the action.

The surfing movie “Chasing Mavericks” is being released this week and Santa Cruz is gearing up for a potential visitor bump as a result of the publicity. The movie tells the true story of local surfer Jay Moriarty, one of the youngest to compete in the big wave competition at Mavericks near Half Moon Bay on the San Mateo County coast.

Sacramento’s newly expanded Crocker Art Museum will show “The American Chronicles: The Art of Norman Rockwell” an exhibit of more than 50 paintings and 300 magazine covers of the American artist known for his Saturday Evening Post paintings of quaint American life. The show opens Nov. 10 and ends Feb. 3, 2013.

The New Home of SF Jazz

Anyone driving along Franklin Street around San Francisco’s Civic Center and Hayes Valley lately has noticed it: lots of construction, particularly at the corner of Fell Street.

The building is one of the most anticipated new builds of 2013: the home of SFJazz and the first concert space designed specifically for jazz on the west coast.

On a press tour recently, Randall Kline, SFJazz founder and executive artistic director, described the goal: providing a relatively intimate space, a cross between concert hall and nightclub, where music lovers and musicians can enjoy the full artistry of the music and performance.

And, for the first time, SFJazz will be able to present concerts in one free-standing space instead of rented venues around the city.

In mid-September, Kline announced the center’s first season of programming, including the grand opening celebration on Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday — January 23 — billed as an “extravaganza” with McCoy Tyner, Chick Corea, Esperanza Spalding, Joe Lovano, Joshua Redman, Bobby Hutcherson, Mary Stallings, Rebeca Mauleon and the SFJazz Collective. Master of ceremonies will be comedian Bill Cosby.

Already, the building’s architecture is turning heads. Architect Mark Cavagnero described the three-story, $63 million building as state-of-the-art, with stunning, tall glass walls of windows that allow passers-by on Franklin and Fell a view inside, including into the main hall, the Robert N. Miner auditorium that seats 350 to 700, depending on the configuration (and a dance floor that can be arranged in front of the stage). A smaller, 80-seat ensemble room provides an even more intimate setting.

The goal is to allow the energy and music to flow out into the surrounding area, involving the surrounding community in the musical experience, he said. The center also will have rehearsal spaces, a cafe at sidewalk level, lobby with bars open on performance evenings, a retail shop and box office. Kline said SFJazz is thrilled to be part of the thriving cultural and nightlife scene around Civic Center and booming Hayes Valley.

It’s one more reason this part of San Francisco is taking off, transformed the last several years into one more of the city’s vibrant urban hubs.

San Francisco: Fisherman’s Wharf Hidden Foodie Gems

Some of the best eating at Fisherman’s Wharf isn’t inside traditional fish restaurants or at the stands of steaming crab pots and sourdough bowls of chowder.

Suzanna Acevedo and co-worker

It’s found tucked away on the edge of a parking lot along Jones Street, where the creaky old streetcars from around the world end their run on MUNI’s F Line. Two colorful food trucks are permanently parked here, on a quiet block just a short distance from the main wharf tourist attractions.

Codmother fish tacos

Both are dishing up some surprisingly good food (not surprising, perhaps, to those following the food truck phenomenon).

Tanguito’s

The first is The Codmother, where a cheery Englishwoman, Suzanne Acevedo, runs a traditional fish ‘n chips stand but with California twists, including super Baja-style fish tacos.

 

The fare here is simple and straight-forward, all based on fresh fish, mostly west coast cod. The fish ‘n chips come in regular and junior portions with the junior including two good-size fillets.

 

The fish tacos are made with corn tortillas, topped with cabbage and the traditional creamy Baja-style sauce. Acevedo uses her fryer for other goodies, too: fried Oreos and fried Twinkies, among them — but I haven’t had the stomach to try those. Codmother is open daily 11:30 a.m.- 7 p.m.

Tanguito burger

The second little spot is next door, the Argentinean truck Tanguito, which serves Argentinean empanadas and juicy half-pound Angus beef hamburgers that some swear are the best burgers in the city.

 

Tanguito, which means “little Tango” in Spanish, was in the local foodie spotlight last year when it won raves from guests on the KQED TV show Check Please! Bay Area. You can see why when you line up at the truck, order and grab a table at the covered, outdoor patio.

 

The food, even the burgers, are Argentinean in flavor: they’re topped with zesty chimichurri sauce, made of parsley, garlic, olive oil and spices. Tanguito is open Tuesdays through Sundays 11 a.m. -7 p.m. Cash only.
Both are featured in North Beach/Fisherman’s Wharf travel app for iPhones, iPads and iPod Touches, available in the iTunes app store. I’ve added more than 20 restaurants and other spots that are new in North Beach and Fisherman’s Wharf in this edition.

California Academy of Sciences Has New Exhibit: “Earthquake”

If you duck under a table or desk when a big truck rumbles by your front door you may not want to know any more about the potential for strong, destructive earthquakes in the Bay Area. But if you’d like to learn about why our little piece of the earth’s crust moves the way it does head over the California Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park where, for the next year, an exhibit entitled simply “Earthquake” covers the west exhibit area and planetarium.

The 18-minute planetarium show is particularly awe-inspiring, a journey high above and into the earth, zeroing in on California’s San Andreas Fault and San Francisco with footage of the 1906 quake and ensuing fire that destroyed much of the city.

In the west hall of the Academy a large exhibit area is dedicated to teaching children and adults about earthquakes with interactive lessons in local geology.
No doubt the biggest crowds will be for the “Shake House,” a recreation of an old Victorian residence. Once inside the “house,” you hold onto railings as Academy technicians flip a switch to set the place rocking and rolling, one time for a re-creation of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake (6.9 magnitude) which occurred as the World Series game between the San Francisco Giants and the Oakland A’s was about to start.

The second is the 1906 shaker, which, at 7.2 magnitude, was 32 times stronger than the 1989 earthquake. Both jolts leave powerful impressions.
Outside, there’s plenty of information about what you can do to prepare yourselves, your families and your house for the next Big One.
One of the exhibit sponsors, Safeway, offers food products (canned foods, granola bars, etc.) and bottled water that can be ordered as a package and kept in the event of disaster.

Live ostriches are part of the exhibit, too. You can discover for yourself the correlation between these cute little furry animals and the shaking that sometimes goes on in these parts. The exhibit runs for the next year at the Academy. The planetarium show often sells out so plan to arrive early (especially during summer peak season when the kids are out of school) and get your tickets for screenings later during your visit.

 

Golden Gate Bridge’s 75th Bash

Anyone around 25 years ago in San Francisco remembers the 50th anniversary of the Golden Gate Bridge, a gorgeous day where it seemed everyone in the Bay Area wanted to walk across the span, closed to auto traffic for the celebration.

Fast forward to 2012: the big event being planned for the bridge’s 75th anniversary is quite different from that frenzy of tens of thousands cramming onto the bridge. The focus of this year’s carefully-planned festivities will be the city’s waterfront along the Marina Green and Crissy Field, culminating in a grand fireworks finale at 9:30 p.m.

During the day, Crissy Field will have dance and live music from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., with vintage cars and motorcycles on display.

A historic watercraft parade with classic boats is on tap at the St. Francis Yacht Club from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. while, at adjacent Marina Green,  dance troupes and bands will perform from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.

But no doubt the show-stopper will be fireworks over the bridge’s iconic towers, with soundtrack aired live on KFOG 104.5/97.7 FM. And, like all fireworks in San Francisco, much will depend on the weather. If it’s a clear evening (fingers crossed), they should be amazing.

The best place to see them will be any where from Fort Point to the eastern part of the Marina Green, organizers said. The city’s hills (particularly the ridge above Cow Hollow) and the Marin Headlands should also provide terrific views.

 

Officials from the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy, the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District and the city of San Francisco are recommending not to drive to the waterfront because parking will not be available in the Presidio, Crissy Field or Marina Green. “Severe” traffic congestion is expected, they say.

The tear-down of Doyle Drive and maze-like Presidio detours are also complicating matters. So, plan to take public transportation and give yourself plenty of time. Or walk or bike.

Meanwhile, there’s so much to like about what’s new in the Presidio and bridge area, including a sleek new visitors center, gift shop and plaza open at the bridge (photos here), for the first time offering the millions who come to San Francisco to see the city’s most famous landmark a place to learn about the span, buy some very cool and unique souvenirs and grab a bite (a cafe is planned to open in a few months).

The beautiful new area — all done in “International Orange,” the bridge’s special color — is fitting to such a spectacular setting.

 

Lots On Tap For Visitors To San Francisco In 2012

There’s always lots going on in a city like San Francisco but this year seems especially exciting. First on everyone’s list is the 75th anniversary celebration of the Golden Gate Bridge. Year-long festivities and revitalization of the plaza areas on the south end are in full gear. The big party will be on Sunday, May 27 when the entire Crissy Field and nearby area (but not on the bridge itself — no one wants a repeat of the 50th anniversary squishfest) will be transformed into a festival devoted to celebrating the famous and beloved city icon. (Click here for the SF Chronicle’s really cool old bridge opening photos).
This week, San Francisco’s tourism industry gathered for a day-long forum on the outlook for the city’s travel industry. It turned into a bit of a celebration in itself with good news for the industry: San Francisco tourism is up and the forecast is rosy.
Some 16.35 million visitors spent the night in the city in 2011, up 3.1% from 2010. Those figures are not at the same level as the pre-recession and pre-dot-com bubble “glory days” of 1997-2000 when the city drew 16.7 million overnight visitors each year.
But it’s close and no one in the room was complaining, especially since hotel occupancies are over 80% and average daily room rates are creeping higher (projected to be $171 this year, a 10% hike from last year — good news for the industry, not such good news for travelers and their pocketbooks).
Mayor Ed Lee said that the data “shows we are on a very good track for recovery.” Tourism is San Francisco’s number one industry, with $8.3 billion in economic impact.
Mayor Lee also noted all the excitement in the city this year. Not only is the big bridge celebration planned, but there’s 100 years of MUNI to celebrate (April 5 with the relaunch of the historic No. 1 streetcar), the opening of the Lands’ End visitors center above the old Sutro Baths and, of course, the start of the America’s Cup.
That international sailing race in 2013 has been pared down a bit in its ambitions, he said, but it is still going to be a thrilling event that will put San Francisco in the worldwide spotlight and draw thousands of visitors to the waterfront.
San Franciscans and visitors will get a taste of that excitement Oct. 4-8 when the city’s annual Fleet Week festivities will be combined with a sample of the America’s Cup so that we’ll have the Blue Angels soaring overhead and those sleek multi-million dollar yachts sailing on the bay below.

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