San Francisco Peas...vacation help?

rent a bike at fisherman's wharf and ride to golden gate bridge and back. snack hut at west end of crissy field..and if it is friday, sat or sun, go into Ft Point at the end of the bridge. visit the hyde street pier and maritime museum (next to fisherman's wharf) and check out museum mechanique...bring a roll of quarters. get tickets for alcatraz way ahead of time. there is a small wells fargo museum downtown with a stagecoach. trolleys (F line) go along market street to the wharf, and the cable cars run over the hills...two different systems. you could take a fishing boat our on a bay tour from fisherman's wharf. alameda has a flea market I think...but there is a big one on treasure island. I haven't heard of people visiting the new mint...and the old mint is not open all the time...still mostly just a building. you might look at sfgate.com on what not to do in SF...a good historical house to visit is lillenthal house in pacific heights. open on wednesdays and sundays...a grand "middle class" victorian. angel island is a great place to have a picnic and ride bikes around the island...civil war era barracks. and an immigration station.

For the sea life lover, a trip down to Monterey Bay Aquarium would be worth it. It's an absolutely amazing place! Nice beaches there, too.

I'll be watching this thread closely for ideas too. I am thinking of going for three or four nights in March, during spring break, with my DS14.

Yes they have beautiful seahorses.

There are also some beautiful Victorian houses in Alameda.

You could take them to an A's game (or Giants, whatever) if they'd enjoy that.

There's a busy, authentic (not as tourist-oriented as SF's) Chinatown in Oakland, just on the other end of the Posey Tube from Alameda. Nearby is also the Oakland Museum of California, which features history, nature, and art floors. It's a great museum, not too big to do with kids, and there's often some kind of fun special exhibit going on, too.

The Oakland Zoo is small(ish) but nice. I really enjoy it more than a big, overwhelming zoo.

Drive out my direction  from Oakland/Alameda to Vallejo for Discovery Kingdom, fka MarineWorld Africa USA. It still has some nature stuff, plus the usual amusement park rides. About half an hour from downtown Oakland.

I live in Alameda! It's a beautiful town. The USS Hornet Museum and Crab Cove are great places to visit on the island. You can rent bikes from Pedal Beach and bike by the water. There are ferries that will take you right into SF, too. American Oak and Burma Superstar are my 2 favorite restaurants here.

Alameda has a GREAT flea market the first Sunday of every month.

If you haven't gotten tickets for Alcatraz yet, get them as soon as you can! They sell out quickly.

I second this suggestion. We spent an entire day just driving down the coast and stopping at various beaches. We especially enjoyed Fitzgerald Marine Reserve at Moss Beach. 

I have to put in a plug for Loving Cup frozen yogurt in Russian Hill. We rented a row house in Russian Hill and walked to this place every night. The staff was great (they recognized us and were fun to talk to) and the cinnamon rum raisin rice pudding is amazing! If you're in the area, you have to get something there. 

That's the beach I'm talking about. I grew up there (1 block from the beach) and my mom still lives there. The Distillery is a nice restaurant to eat at. You can walk there from the Reserve- it's a nice, easy walk through a forest along the bluffs. Memoirs of a Geisha was filmed in part there.

Marking my spot. Headed there in early June. I never asked in my thread about places to stay. Is Alameda a better location then right in the city?

alameda is not a great place to stay if you want to visit the city a lot. you want to be somewhere with easy access to bart/muni. alameda is an island --literally. it is a cute town. but. as a visitor I wouldn't stay there.

as far as weather..the average temp in SF is 60. every month of the year. so in june/july, it can be very foggy..and the west side of the city may not see the sun for weeks. it can be 70 on the other side of town. then 4 pm comes, the fog rolls in and it is 55 degrees and a 20 mph wind. layers, jeans, hoodies, hats... locals always carry an extra layer and wear long pants. (unless you are a hipster wearing board shorts in the mission). if you leave the city, it will be 75-100 degrees. if you plan to go to the beach in july, it may be foggy all day and drippy wet. and the ocean is rarely a place to dip your toes..too dangerous. I like alcatraz in the morning..but then I worked there and that was just my fav time. first boat for me.