Guide to San
Francisco

DAHLIA LOUNGE ILLUMINATES SAN FRANCISCO

COOL AND RETRO GUIDE TO SAN FRANCISCO

Roads disappear into the sky and roads and cars appear from nothing out of the sky.

Is that why it's uplifting ? A place of possibilities ? A roller coaster ride.

If you are looking for Fisherman's Wharf, this isn't the guide for you. If you are looking for a treasure trail of offbeat, magical, unusual splendour and want to go where the locals go, this is the guide you need. The best cafés, bars, restaurants, neighbourhoods, streets, retro shops and signs, cable car and tram rides, spectacular sights, views, architecture and uplifting stories of San Francisco.

If you want to find them, download a free A4 map you can fold easily in and out of your pocket, highlight dots of these cross street points then wherever you are in the city ..... you will have treasures.

Some examples abbreviated :

TRANSAMERICA PYRAMID

600 Montgomery @ Clay in Financial District

SIGHT

Stunning by day due to its pyramid form and whitish façade, a layer of crushed quartz, the architecture is also a wonder at night. If you stand beneath it on Montgomery and look up, its dramatic shape is spell binding against the night sky and with a drink or tiramisu on Columbus, create an entrancing evening. It is the tallest and most iconic skyscraper in San Francisco at a height of 260 M, 853 ft and was built between 1969 and 1972. On completion it was 1 of the 5 tallest buildings in the world. The architect William Pereira believed the building would be a statement of architectural sculpture and was the ideal shape for a skyscraper with the advantage of letting more air and light into the adjacent buildings and streets. Combine with Coit Tower, Calzone's and Caffè Greco.

HEMLOCK

1131 Polk @ Hemlock in Downtown

RETRO SIGN.BAR.MUSIC

I recommend the sight of the two 1950's era cocktail glasses in the windows, made of a turquoise aged metal and decorated with coloured light bulb rising bubbles, enhanced by the fairy lights strung inside the bar. If you don't like dive bars, don't go in. I have heard it's a hardcore tavern with well priced strong drinks, free juke box and a calender of some great local bands. Mon – Sun 16.00 – 02.00

MOTEL CAPRI

2015 Greenwich @ Buchanan in Cow Hollow

RETRO SIGN

This charming pastel coloured motel was built in 1957 and is a fantastic example of late 1950's motel architecture and signage. Walk 2 blocks each way, to Union and Chesnut, both lined with stores, bars and cafés. On Chesnut there is an old town feel with the great Marina Deli, the beautifully restored façade of Presidio Cinema and 12 blocks along, The Palace of Fine Arts from the World Fair of 1915. A fictional ruin reflected in a lake resembling a stage set for a 1940's epic and used as a backdrop in 'Vertigo'.

GOLDEN GATE PARK

Stanyan @ Haight in Haight Ashbury

PARK

Near the beach, two windmills look incongruous but were actually built in 1902 and 1905 to pump water throughout the park, an area of 1.5 x 3 miles. After the earthquake and fire of 1906, the park became a temporary haven of tents for 200,000 homeless people; while the citizens rebuilt their city, the children spent their days in tent schools. Enter the park at Stanyan onto John F. Kennedy Drive, the Conservatory of Flowers is on your right. This elaborate Victorian greenhouse opened in 1879 is made of glass and wood but has weathered storm damage, fire and earthquakes. Open Tue - Sun 10.00 – 16.30. A rare, exotic collection of tropical plants and flowers creating a lush environment. Entrance is $7 but free the 1st Tuesday of the month. To the right is the magnificent Dahlia Garden and opposite, wander in the tranquil, beautiful, primeval Tree Fern Dell, referred to in the 1960s as Mescaline Grove with Australian tree ferns as high as 20ft dating back to 1898. The AIDS Memorial Grove leads to a stream between tiny pathways, to a circular memorial wall in a well of trees. From this peaceful Memorial Dell, some enchanting steps dappled with light curve upwards to a small area of light sky.

TONGA ROOM AND HURRICANE BAR

at THE FAIRMONT 950 Mason @ California

RETRO.BAR.MUSIC

Walk in the main entrance through the elaborately decorated lobby of The Fairmont. The Tonga Room, named after the islands and 'South Pacific' nation of 'Tonga', was intended as an escape to a different place. A delightful 'high style' Tikki Palace designed in 1945 by Mel Melvin, Metro Goldwyn Meyer's top set director. A terrace of bamboo chairs, tables and balcony surround a lagoon on which a band perform on a floating pontoon. Sculptures, black lava rock, strings of coloured pom pom lights, thatched canopies and periodic thunder, lightning and tropical rainstorms fall into the lagoon, creating a dramatic and charming effect which has me rushing to the balcony.

LOST WEEKEND VIDEO and CINECAVE

1034 Valencia @ 21st Mission

STORE.RETRO.CINEMA

Retro signage, an old sign edged with coloured lights for changing film showings, a 1960's juke box and a 'Galaga' video arcade game create the effect videos came out in the 1960s, not the 1980s. They have a wonderful collection of drama, horror, cult classics, director's section, TV and new releases. Cinecave is an intimate cinema in the basement, a screen with a table lamp on each side and on the tiny bar from which they serve wine, beer, chocolate and $1 popcorn made as you order it. I watched 'Twin Peaks' pilot and 1st episode while being served cherry pie then Italian horror night, 'Susperia' and 'The Beyond'. Spooky. Daily 13.00 – 23.00.

SUTRO BATHS

Point Lobos @ 48th Ave. Lands End

SIGHT

The largest swimming pool in the world in 1896, the site has a magical quality because of it's one time greatness and epic scale but also it seems like an archaeological excavation site, an ancient Greek remains, a labyrinth, skeleton foundations and a few crumbling pillars standing defiantly against the sea. Eerie and desolate but also powerful, inviting, uplifting, making you feel like you are close to the harsh force of nature which defeated it, that you are right against the edge of things.

If you want to see the full 38 page guide click on the pyramid below.

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