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California Things to see and do Travel Articles

Santa Barbara December 2000: December is an excellent time to visit Santa Barbara, the skies are clear, the temperatures in the 70′s and there is a festive air. As usual I made my annual trip down from Oregon by plane via San Francisco to spend Christmas with my relatives. Santa Barbara is an expensive place to fly into as [...]
San Francisco, California – Thoth: Now, I have seen some interesting things before, but this has got to top them all: A man, a beautiful, taut, brown man, is playing a violin beautifully. His stage is the broad landing on the steps that lead down to the small tunnel below the road in front of the Conservatory of Flowers, and [...]
San Francisco, California – January 2001: “…Well, I don’t know what will happen now; we’ve got some difficult days ahead. But it really doesn’t matter with me now, because I’ve been to the mountaintop. And I don’t mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life – longevity has its place. But I’m not concerned about that now. I [...]
Lady of the Avenues (2 of 2): "Can you feel the waves?" she whispered. As a teenager I used to jog through Golden Gate Park, at a time when you wore tennis shoes instead of good jogging shoes because they were still a novelty. There was no harder run than the sprint up Strawberry Hill, in the center of Stow Lake, and [...]
Lady of the Avenues (1 of 2): I have always loved San Francisco. I say this without shame or passion. It is a statement of fact, something unalterable, like the sun rising or the smell of coffee in the morning. This is the city where I spent my childhood and as a boy would walk the streets for hours at night, with [...]
San Francisco, California – Where to Web: The Bay Area has always been at the forefront of the "Internet Revolution," but ironically there are very few cyber cafés in San Francisco – probably because practically everyone who lives here has a PC at home. There are a few places to check your e-mail though. Internet Alfredo is CLOSED. I mention this because [...]
San Francisco, California – Getting Here: Indie Rating – California Rate It BUDGET $– per day What is Indie Travel? My indie travel rating for California: Your daily travel Costs (Optional) – $5 $10 $15 $20 $25 $30 $35 $40 $45 $50 $55 $60 $65 $70 $75 $80 $85 $90 $95 $100 $105 $110 $115 $120 $125 $130 $135 $140 $145 [...]
San Francisco, California – Getting Around: One of San Francisco’s greatest assets, in my opinion, is its compact size. It is a world-class city, but you could literally walk from one end of it to the other in a few hours (assuming you were wearing good boots, of course!). When you are ready to give your feet a rest, however, a [...]
San Francisco, California – December 2000: Santa Fran The Embarcadero Buildings are trimmed in lights, skaters crash and glide beneath the stars at the Holiday Ice Rink, Pier 39 and Union Square have erected their enormous Christmas Trees (hoping to entice shoppers into the giving $pirit), and if you listen closely, you may even hear the Gay Men’s Chorus heralding the [...]
San Francisco, California – Accommodation Redux: Hostel at Fort Mason So far, I have stayed at only one hostel in San Francisco: Hostelling International at Fisherman’s Wharf (aka, Hostel at Fort Mason). If I didn’t feel it was my duty to check out a few more for the sake of the readers of this guide, I would never stay anywhere else. [...]