I opted not to do the CES thing this year. Instead, I’m going to attend my first Macworld Expo next week in San Francisco, California. I’m really looking forward to it! I leave Saturday and come back Thursday. My plan is to try to get the show done in a day or so and use the rest of the time to check out SF.
I also plan to pack as gear-light as possible. I’m trying to convince myself to take my brand new ASUS EEE PC instead of my macbook pro. It will cut down on the weight of my carry-on bag and also give me the perfect opportunity to use and review it. My next decision is which smartphone do I take with me? Treo 680? iPhone, Pantech Duo, Nokia E61i? I don’t think it will be the latter two. For one thing, the Pantech Duo isn’t mine. It’s a loaner. It also has really sucky audio quality (sorry Pantech). The Nokia is great in the audio and signal department, but I’m finding that no matter how much I try, I don’t really like it all that well… So it’s down to the iPhone or the Treo. Hmmmm… decisions, decisions!
Anyone out there have any ideas for things to do and see while I’m in SF? We’re already planning a trip to Muir Woods and Alcatraz, but I’m sure there are tons of things to see and do that I’ve not even thought of yet.
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If you’ve never been to the Exploratorium (http://exploratorium.edu), definitely check it out. It’s one of the best (if not one of the first) hands-on science museums.
If you’re a foodie, check out the Ferry Building, on the Embarcadero, near the end of Market St. It’s right on the waterfront of the Bay.
Hope you have an excellent time in SF and MacWorld!
Since you’re going to Macworld Expo, you pretty much gotta go with the iPhone, don’t you?
My favorite things to do in SF:
Go to Nieman Marcus, walk in the door and look UP. Find out the story it’s worth it. If you have time for lunch go up four flights to a classic “ladies who lunch” adventure. That’s also where you’ll find the plaque explaining the history of what you’re going there to see.
If you love fine fabric go to Britex which is just a block or so from Niemans. Four floors of stuff you’ll never see anywhere else under one roof.
Check out the Sutro Baths, then walk toward the back of the (FREE) parking lot. Go down the path through the woods and you end up on vista of the gate and the bridge. You can sit on an old cannon platform. And while you’re there eat a burger at Louies-they only take cash
Go to Fort Funston and watch the hang gliders soar 500 feet off the water! Phew!
I went to MacWorld in 1987, it was great then. I bet it’s great now.
Thanks for the ideas so far! I’ll definitely report back when I get back.
Oh as for taking the iPhone to Macworld… I’m not the type to do what is expected ;o)
Hey Julie it is great to hear that you are heading out this way for a visit. Below are two lists of places (first is San Francisco-specific) to go, things to see, attractions, etc. that I use when entertaining friends and family from back home (the deep South). I hope you enjoy Macworld!! I am jealous….lived here 7+ years and haven’t made it to the show once. 🙁
49-Mile Drive (blue and white seagull signs all over town)
Alcatraz Island (San Francisco Bay)
Angel Island State Park (Angel Island)
Aquarium of the Bay (Fisherman’s Wharf)
AT&T Park – Home of the Giants (China Basin)
Beach Blanket Babylon (North Beach)
Cable Cars (Civic Center)
California Academy of Sciences (Golden Gate Park)
California Palace of the Legion of Honor (Lincoln Park)
Chinatown
Cliff House and Seal Rocks (Ocean Beach)
Coit Tower (Telegraph Hill)
Exploratorium (Marina)
Ferry Building Marketplace (The Embarcadero)
Fisherman’s Wharf
Ghirardelli Square (Fisherman’s Wharf)
Ghost Hunt Walking Tour (Pacific Heights)
Golden Gate Bridge
Golden Gate Park
Grace Cathedral (Nob Hill)
Haight-Ashbury (Mission District)
Japanese Tea Garden (Golden Gate Park)
Lombard Street (Russian Hill)
Monster Park – Home of the 49ers (Candlestick Point)
Moscone Center (Yerba Buena Gardens)
Ocean Beach
Palace of Fine Arts (Marina)
Pier 39 (Fisherman’s Wharf)
Presidio National Park
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (Yerba Buena)
San Francisco Zoo (Sunset)
Sausalito
Segway Electric Tour (Fisherman’s Wharf)
Sony Metreon (SoMa)
Steinhart Aquarium (Golden Gate Park)
The Cannery (Fisherman’s Wharf)
The Castro
Top of the Mark (Nob Hill)
Transamerica Pyramid (Montgomery Block)
Union Square
Victorian Houses – Painted Ladies (Alamo Square)
Wax Museum (Fisherman’s Wharf)
Apple a.k.a. ‘The Mother Ship’ (Silicon Valley Cupertino)
Hearst Castle (Monterey/Carmel Central Coast)
Indian Village of Ahwahnee (Yosemite National Park)
Intel Museum (Silicon Valley – Santa Clara)
Mariposa Grove (Yosemite National Park)
Monterey Bay Aquarium (Monterey)
Muir Woods (Mill Valley)
Mystery Spot (Silicon Valley – Santa Cruz)
Napa Wine Train (Napa Valley)
Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk (Silicon Valley – Santa Cruz)
Santa Cruz Surfing Museum (Silicon Valley – Santa Cruz)
Top of Half Dome Hike (Yosemite National Park)
Winchester Mystery House (Silicon Valley – San Jose)
Yosemite National Park (Yosemite Valley)
i envy you…did you score tix to the keynote as well?
I don’t know if I’d take the iPhone, consider it like a concert, when going to the show, you never wear the t-shirt of the band you’re seeing.
Me, I’d actually take the E61i, I have an E62, and for all it’s shortcomings, I still think it’s better as a phone than my iPhone. Plus, it’s not what everyone else has.
Adrienne:
Wow, lots of ideas! Thanks. Some of the places you mention are part of a city tour that I’ve already booked for Sunday to help me get the lay of the land. :o) It should be fun.
Anson:
No love for your favorite gadgeteer… No keynote for me. I was bummed. I had assumed that any member of the press was allowed in. Guess I don’t rate ;o)
George:
I keep thinking that it might be a mistake not to take the iPhone as there will be lots of companies exhibiting products for it. Easier for me to get samples if I have it maybe. We’ll see…
Take the iPhone, for sure. Line up really, really early for the Keynote – like 4 AM or before. Bring water and a camp stool. And think about that MacBook. You’ll not need it everyday on the floor, but it will make time after in your room or in meetings way better, because everything there is Mac-oriented. You’ll have so many demo discs and such that you’ll probably buy one at the store if you leave yours home.
Make sure you go through the small developer section of the show floor. There are a lot of little wacky apps being created by small companies, and this is their one big shot, and they need exposure.
Take more business cards than you have ever taken to a show before. Actually, order a few hundred to be shipped to your hotel today. Get access to the press area. The food isn’t what it used to be, I hear, but having a place to hear the buzz, sit down, and recharge with like-minded web publishers is a treat you’ll really need.
My favorite SF thing was taking the cable car from Market Street up Powell past Union Square, past Lombard (look east at that stop and see Coit Tower) and down Hyde Street to the Maritime Museum. Walk out to the dock and see Alcatraz just sitting out there in the bay. To your left is the Bridge – waaaay across the water – but this is a nice view of it. Walk back off the dock, and you have one of two choices: turn left and walk down the Embarcadero, or turn right and walk through Fort Mason, by the Marina, the Palace of Fine Arts, the ILM campus to the Bridge and the Presidio. Turning right is a whale of a walk – several miles, generally flat, by SF standards, but kinda sterile in the shopping/touching/market-type experience. After the show floor, it’s a nice change of pace. Going down to the left along the Embarcadero is much more crowded, there are shopping opportunities, and more restaurants, etc. You’ll go by Telegraph Hill, Pioneer Park and Coit Tower.
Oh, and take a few extra memory cards for your camera(s).
Get the Eyewitness Top Ten guide book from DK Publishing. ( http://tinyurl.com/235qr4 ) Maps, great lists of bars, restaurants, sights to see, maps for BART/streetcars, etc. and enough detail in a concise format to use well on the ground. (I now get this series guide for every place I visit – they are consistently fantastic!)
Have a fun trip! MacWorld is a treat, and SF makes it even more fun. I’ve been to MacWorld in Boston, NYC, and SF, and Moscone Center has it all over the others, IMHO.
You have to at least go up to Cupertino and see the Apple Mothership. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I were in San Francisco and didn’t go to Cupertino.
Have a blast Julie! Hey, at least this time you won’t be duped into visiting a body piercing shop, lol. You picked the better event and the much better city to visit. Some people need CES, and some don’t. Wish we were meeting you there. Have fun visiting all my fave haunts!
I wasn’t duped into going to the body piercing place the last time I was in SF. I’m the one that wanted to do it in the first place :o)
The trip should be great! Looking forward to it. CES is ok, but it seems every year I go, it’s just more of the same stuff we’ve all already seen. I needed a change of pace this year.
Ahh okay! I should have known better that you were the one with the original thought. ;>P