Places to see in San Francisco?

[winter]

Yo. General enquiry here:

Female Parental Unit is going to be in San Francisco in two weeks, with a day or two free. She doesn't drive, though cabs are a possibility, and her interests mostly mirror mine apart from manga/anime. What's there for her to see, visit and/or shop at?

(And if anyone can point out good comic stores there, I would very much like to prepare a shopping list for her ^_^)

Also, I may possibly have a kitten. 300 km away, stripey, undertermined sex, apparently very cute. Lestat for a boy, Esme for a girl?

Comments

[tehta.livejournal.com]

Hey, I used to live there. And I agree that if she's going to be in the downtownish area, cars are a pain. The BART is a good way of covering large distances.

I know Berkeley better than SF, and the comic store I knew there has since closed. But The Other Change of Hobbit is an interesting fantasy/SF book store that probably has some comics. In all, your mother might enjoy a visit to Berkeley for a change of pace. It can be reached by BART. The places to see might be the campus (just a quick walk; there's a museum too, with special exhibitions) and Telegraph Avenue. There's some small-funky-boutique type shopping, but most of it would be on College or Solano, not Telegraph.

Otherwise, SF's interesting bits include not just the Park and the Haight and North Beach (which I like) and Chinatown, but also the Mission (the vaguely-hispanic district, with a historic mission) and the Castro, where everything the light touches is gay. I'd avoid Fisherman's Wharf--soooo touristy. Alcatraz, the old prison, is touristy too, but at least I found it interesting.

[winter]

I don't know if she'll have time for Berkeley, but I'll definitely send her to the Mission and Castro. Thanks!