Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
51
Tips Getting to Golden Gate Park
When you study a map of the cit y, it appears as if it's an easy walk along Hayes,
Oak, Fell, Page, or Haight streets from the Civic Center to Golden Gate Park.
Appearances are deceiving. You'll encounter a number of hills along this r oute,
which takes you through areas that are somewhat blighted, noisy with traffic,
rough in spots, and unattractive. Save your legs for the park and get there on a
bus or streetcar.
a symbol of San Francisco as the Golden
Gate Bridge and the cable cars.
Pacific H eights The most expensiv e
neighborhood in S an Francisco is bor-
dered b y B roadway, P ine, D ivisadero,
and F ranklin str eets. E ven the priv ate
schools here are housed in mansions. I f
you hav e an inter est in ar chitecture,
you'll enjoy visiting the Haas-Lilienthal
House, an 1886 Queen Anne Victorian
decorated with period furniture at 2007
Franklin St. at Washington Street. Get
the children to come along b y promis-
ing a peek at Mrs. D oubtfire's fictional
digs on 2640 S teiner S treet at B road-
way. P ortions of The P rincess Diaries
were filmed at The H amlin School, a
private K-8 girls ' school occupying a
mansion on B roadway at B uchanan
Street. D anielle S teel, the r omance
writer, lives in the 1913, 55-room Spre-
ckles M ansion, which takes up all the
space betw een Washington, J ackson,
Gough, and O ctavia streets, if y ou can
imagine that. D irectly in fr ont of Ms.
Steel's house is Lafay ette P ark, which
has a small playgr ound. An even better
park is Alta P laza at S teiner and Clay
streets, with tennis cour ts and a ne wly
refurbished playground that afford great
city views.
Neighborhood residents do much of
their shopping along F illmore S treet
from California to J ackson streets, and
there ar e some ex cellent r estaurants
here, too . I t's a wonder ful neighbor-
hood in which to spend some time—
too bad the cozy inns here are all geared
toward couples.
Russian H ill Circled b y B roadway,
Polk, Chestnut, and Taylor streets, this
hill was named for the Russian fur trad-
ers r umored to be buried her e in the
1820s. The P olk S treet section of the
neighborhood has become F renchified
of late and sports some très chic antiques
shops, cafes, and a brasserie. H yde
Street provides upside access to the wig-
gly part of Lombard Street (the Powell-
Hyde cable car takes y ou right ther e),
and M acondry Lane, immor talized in
Armistead Maupin's Tales of the C ity, is
tucked between Leavenworth and Tay-
lor just north of Green Street. Your kids
may be ex cited to kno w that the ice
cream shop at the corner of H yde and
Union str eets is the original S wensen's
Creamery. I t's a v ery r esidential ar ea,
with no real accommodations options.
Haight-Ashbury Bordered on the
3
west by Golden Gate Park, on the north
by Fulton Street, on the east by Divisa-
dero Street, and by Waller Street to the
south, gritty Haight-Ashbury has never
fully put the 1960s behind it. This isn't
a complete bummer, by any means; the
main drag, H aight Street, is filled with
vintage clothes—much of it on hangers
and for sale—as w ell as independently
owned stores that y ou won't see in y our
local indoor mall. The str eet is also
action-packed, albeit with people look-
ing for handouts, but it 's historic, man.
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