/trv/ - trv » Thread #1041925

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Traveling West

Anonymous Wed 14 Oct 2015 22:44:27 No.1041925 View Reply Report Delete

Quoted By: >>1042457 >>1043562 >>1044499 >>1044547

Hey /trv/, I usually lurk on /b/ and /g/ but tonight I come to you all for advice if you would be willing to give that too me.

Im from the North East (US) and Im planning on traveling West (US) with destinations like Kansas City, Denver, Yellowstone, Seattle, Portland and various cities in Cali. I dont plan on Traveling alone, Ive already been to Europe and Im finally deciding to see whats on the other side of the US.

I ask for advice, tips, or even stories about travel West no matter where youre from. Im just planning to go when I have the money. So yeah, places to eat, places I SHOULD see on the way through the West. What do.

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 16 Oct 2015 02:32:03 No.1042364 Report Delete

Quoted By: >>1043758

it looks like you're only going to visit NorCal so I'd suggest heading to San Francisco.

I've got DAYS of info on SoCal since I've lived here forever, but it looks ike it'll be outta your way.

only advice for frisco is don't go to it's little tokyo. it sucks. the chinatown is WAAAAAAAAAY better.

PLUS Napa has cool wine country. It's honestly beautiful around that whole area. I'd suggest heading through Santa Rosa on the way down there. GORGEOUS

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 16 Oct 2015 07:51:43 No.1042408 Report Delete

Quoted By:

I'm Dutch and I spent about a month traveling through the Canadian and US rockies last year. Yellowstone is an absolutel must. It's beautiful, it's alien, it's stunning. One of the most amazing places I've ever visited. We were staying near West-Yellowstone and from there we either took the north or south loop through the park on any particular day and made countless stops along the way. It's best explored by car. Artist Point was so beautiful. As were Upper, Midway and Lower Basin with Old Faithful , the Grand Prismatic Spring, Morning Glory Pool etc. It's just other-worldly.

We also liked Glacier national park in northern Montana. It borders the Canadian Waterton Lakes park, which is also great. The Going To The Sun Run, when open, is a fantastic drive and the parks offer great hiking options. It's also near Flathead lake, which is worth a visit.

We also stayed in Seattle. Cool place, liked the markets, but other than that we were glad we weren't staying there for more than 2 nights. Mount Rainer is really beautiful though.

What I would recommend is to go a bit further North. From Seatttle you can take a ferry to Vancouver Island in Canada, which we absolutely loved. Victoria is an amazing place to be and we also really loved Cathedral Grove, Pacific Rim National Park and Tofino. You can go whale watching, go on loads of beautiful short hikes to the beaches or take a boat trip looking for bears and sea creatures. We did a trip to Hot Springs Cove too. For the excursions we did there we went with Prince Of Whales (Victoria) and Jamie's Whaling Station (Tofino).

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 16 Oct 2015 08:19:56 No.1042420 Report Delete

Quoted By: >>1043500 >>1043771

I did a trip at Vancouver Seattle and Portland, shit was so cash. Northwest is great if it's not raining. Here's what I did, I only had a day or so in each place so I didn't go too in depth

Portland

Voodoo doughnuts
International rose test garden
Multnomah falls
Visited various small businesses

Seattle

Olympic national park
Space needle
Bill and Melinda gates foundation visitation center
Original Starbucks
Other stores at pike's place
Fremont Troll

Vancouver
Capilano suspension bridge
Crepes for breakfast (Canadian thing apparently)
Vancouver aquarium
Granville Island
Stanley Park
Canucks stadium

It's a great part of the country. I'm from the Midwest so it was nuts seeing mountains and crazy cool nature. Enjoy your trip anon I'm jealous

Anonymous

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Anonymous Fri 16 Oct 2015 10:27:10 No.1042457 Report Delete

Quoted By: >>1043756

>>1041925
When are you planning to go? That would hugely impact the experience at Yellowstone, for example. I took my family to the park January of last year -- it was amazing, but required some preparation, and was a wildly different experience from that had by an uncle of mine who went in the summer.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sun 18 Oct 2015 18:08:33 No.1043198 Report Delete

Quoted By: >>1043762

agree with San Francisco being a good place to visit if you're coming to NorCal. Post what kind of stuff you're into and I can recommend some stuff to do there. I've lived in the Bay Area for 10+ years and spend a lot of time in SF.

Anonymous

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Anonymous Mon 19 Oct 2015 03:28:23 No.1043315 Report Delete

Quoted By: >>1043324 >>1043493 >>1045184

Not OP but I'm also planning on travelling west. Can someone tell me some parks in the southwest? I want to see something other worldly, as if im on Mars or something.

Also, is it possible to camp at these parks? Are animals a threat?

Anonymous

Anonymous Mon 19 Oct 2015 04:55:19 No.1043324 Report Delete

Quoted By: >>1043428 >>1043481 >>1043502

>>1043315
Go to Yellowstone instead. It is in one word other worldly.

But I'd say Zion and Bryce Canyon are quite special too. Different special though. Amazing but not as alien. Maybe The Wave is.

I'd also give places like Yosemite and Sequoia a go.

There are campsites in or near all of them. Bears are always dangerous, but if you read up, prepare and take the right safety measures you'll be fine.

Standing next to say a massive buffalo is just plain stupid. I'm assuming you won't do that. Same goes for Elk.

Cougars, those are dangerous. But generally avoid people. They set up warning signs when they're sighted in an area.

Anonymous

Anonymous Mon 19 Oct 2015 12:32:03 No.1043428 Report Delete

Quoted By: >>1043481

>>1043324
>It is in one word other worldly.
Did you do that on purpose?

Camping is possible in most (all?) national parks, but may require prior arrangements, check with the park in advance of your trip.

In the parks that feature a lot of animals, they are, of course, potentially a threat. Not being a dumb-ass who wants to hug the bison and not doing dumb shit like leavign Delicious Picnic Basket in your campsite to attract the average bear should reduce the danger to acceptable levels -- but animals do what they do, there are no guarantees.

(In the national parks, as most everywhere else, the most dangerous animal is walking on two legs and probably has a cell phone.)

Anonymous

Anonymous Mon 19 Oct 2015 15:23:57 No.1043481 Report Delete

Quoted By: >>1043485

>>1043324
I do plan on going to Yellowstone I was just curious about the southwest.
>>1043428
Are you implying the real danger is other humans trying to murder me?

Anonymous

Anonymous Mon 19 Oct 2015 15:32:39 No.1043485 Report Delete

Quoted By: >>1043514

>>1043481
No, I am implying that, with common sense, the danger from animals is lower than the danger from people -- which is also pretty low.

I am also subtly implying that spending a lot of time worrying about "will gophers trample me" might not be the best use of your limited worrying hours.

Anonymous

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Anonymous Mon 19 Oct 2015 15:53:49 No.1043493 Report Delete

Quoted By: >>1043502 >>1043514 >>1045243

>>1043315
Go see the salt flats, painted desert and I dunno the grand canyon?

if you want to travel more mid-west, then you get all of the gorgeous rock parks in Utah - such as Arches (seen here) and there are even sanddunes in southern Colorado

Anonymous

Anonymous Mon 19 Oct 2015 16:11:24 No.1043500 Report Delete

Quoted By:

>>1042420
I don't know about the Japanese garden man. Totally overpriced and boring. Not really much to see also, you just walk in and walk out.

Now Multnomah Falls, Cannon Beach, and Mt Hood National Forest...now we're talking

Anonymous

Anonymous Mon 19 Oct 2015 16:16:05 No.1043502 Report Delete

Quoted By:

>>1043324
Yeah Utah is fucking great, Arches, Zion, Canyonlands are fantastic.

I went to Yosemite earlier this year and it totally blows. It's too well developed, has too many fucking tourists, and just overall the opposite of serenity. I camped out there so I got to know what it was like all day and night. It had so much folk there, it felt like a public park rather than a national one.

>>1043493
Honestly, Arches has to be one of my favorite national park. It was totally quiet and really out there man.

Anonymous

Anonymous Mon 19 Oct 2015 17:05:28 No.1043514 Report Delete

Quoted By:

>>1043493
Thanks. My plan is to drive to threw the southwest to cali then up to Portland and back around so I'll definitely be able to go to the parks already mentioned.

Are there any parks that are spooky? I heard rumors about skinwalkers in joshua tree national park. I don't believe these stories but would like to feel a little uneasy just for fun.
>>1043485
I'm not too worried just curious.

Anonymous

Anonymous Mon 19 Oct 2015 20:32:00 No.1043562 Report Delete

Quoted By:

>>1041925
If you end up going to southern california, you must visit venice beach. It is probably one of the most out there places that show a peculiar piece of california culture. And if you do, eat some food from jody maronis(if your not a vegan), and have some chili cheese fries from tommys burgers.

Anonymous

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Anonymous Tue 20 Oct 2015 14:07:08 No.1043755 Report Delete

Quoted By:

OP here, thanks for the feed back guys. I've been planning on this for awhile now. If I like it enough I might just stay there. I plan on going with a group of friends so that will make shit even more cash. Again, thanks for the feedback and tips and Im happy most of you arent the average /b/tard.

Anonymous

Anonymous Tue 20 Oct 2015 14:09:32 No.1043756 Report Delete

Quoted By:

>>1042457
Sometime this upcoming summer in the down season. I mean, thats what other people have recommended, considering it's "down season" when the west isnt flooding with AS MUCH old people trying to escape the cold in the East.

Anonymous

Anonymous Tue 20 Oct 2015 14:20:38 No.1043758 Report Delete

Quoted By:

>>1042364
OP here, thanks anon. It is dearly noted. B-)

Anonymous

Anonymous Tue 20 Oct 2015 14:24:27 No.1043762 Report Delete

Quoted By: >>1045101

>>1043198
OP here, I like any kind of food (Sushi, any Mexican, fucking love coffee, etc.), art is a pretty good interest too, scenic horizons like fucking mountains or bodies of water; out of everything I fucking love Architecture. When I went to Berlin my mind was fucking blown from the Soviet inspired architecture. I mean, I wont find it in the West obviously, but any kind of alien Architecture that may reside in the West that doesnt reside in the East, please tell me.

Anonymous

Anonymous Tue 20 Oct 2015 14:49:27 No.1043771 Report Delete

Quoted By:

>>1042420
OP again, holy shit, thanks anon. Ive noted all of this and Im beyond excited. I do have another question though; Money, how much should I bring? Is all that you just recommended a trip youve been on yourself?

derp_commander !!SSXdvR3LCoa

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derp_commander !!SSXdvR3LCoa Fri 23 Oct 2015 02:03:22 No.1044499 Report Delete

Quoted By:

>>1041925
Consider travelling by train. It's a wonderful way to see the country, and the degree of service is a cut above any airline for a fraction of the price. Plenty of legroom, and real food.

Anonymous

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Anonymous Fri 23 Oct 2015 06:50:55 No.1044547 Report Delete

Quoted By: >>1045145

>>1041925
I worked at Yellowstone for a summer, taking hotel/camping reservations.

Definitely make a visit. Lots of cool thermal features and unique things you won't see many other places in the world.

Yellowstone's larger than Delaware & Rhode Island combined. With one day, you can visit most the major sights but you'll feel rushed. If you have the time I recommend at least 2 days - and make sure to do some hiking.
If you plan to stay inside the park, book at least 3 months in advance for hotels, or 1 month in advance for camping. There's some spots just outside the park (like West Yellowstone, MT) which are at comparable prices, but it takes a while to drive around the park.

This all assumes you're coming between may and october. Much of the park is closed winter & early spring, though you can make winter reservations for a hefty price.

There's a bunch of sunbathing elk at Mammoth on the north end. It's fun to watch stupid tourists get charged at.

Anonymous

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Anonymous Sun 25 Oct 2015 09:46:27 No.1045101 Report Delete

Quoted By: >>1045218

>>1043762
Wow, we have a lot of the same interests! It's 6:44 AM right now but I'm going to research some stuff and make a huge post with recommendations tomorrow. Coffee, sushi, Mexican food, art, views, views of the water in particular, and unique landmarks are some of the things SF is really good at.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sun 25 Oct 2015 10:59:16 No.1045115 Report Delete

Quoted By:

You can stop in Santa Cruz for a couple of hours or a night or two (depending on how fast you are moving) on your way down the coast (its 2 hours south of SF).
- Drive up to the university and walk around (parking is free on the weekend but less students)
- Walk around downtown
- Eat at Los Pericos
- Nice forests around there at Henry Cowell, Big Basin, cool meadows and sea views at Wilder Ranch
- Good breweries: Discretion, Santa Adairius, New Bohemia
- Boardwalk is famous and could be fun but I think its kinda corny
- You probably could camp on the beach somewhere nearby

Also Big Sur is a state park south of Monterey where you can camp on the beach, or trek 10 miles to a hot spring and camp there

Anonymous

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Anonymous Sun 25 Oct 2015 14:07:32 No.1045145 Report Delete

Quoted By: >>1045264

>>1044547
Not OP, but I wanted to get your response to this -- I was there in January, maybe much of the park was closed but We got into Lamar Valley to see the wolves and moose and all sorts of shit, got to Mammoth Hotsprings, up to all the stuff around Old Faithful, from there down the river to West Yellowstone -- it was plenty to see and do, it was beautiful in the snow, and it was, critically, not like being in LA at rush hour.

Other people in the family who went in the Crowded Season felt like they had wasted a trip and hated the experience of sitting in traffic for hours to visit what was supposed to be a nature-paradise.

I'd love to go back, but I have no interest in being unable to move for cars and people.

What would be interesting to hear from you would be your opinion on when might be good times to go when the weather would not be too cold, but the crowds maybe not too bad.

Pic of Iceland because my Yellowstone pics are not on this device.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sun 25 Oct 2015 14:28:53 No.1045152 Report Delete

Quoted By:

This is my first visit to /trv/ (I'm usually on /k/, but it's being boring right now, so I'm poking around other boards) - I live in Portland.

If you want some shit to do, the guy who said Multnomah Falls had some good ideas. Voodoo Donuts is a tourist trap these days, though.

If I were you, and had a few days to play with, I'd spend one or two days in the city, and the rest at the coast, for that beach-town experience.

In the city, breakfast at Sanborn's or Helser's is a must, visit the rose garden, as suggested, and mill around downtown. It's easy to walk, and there are an abundance of distractions, both highbrow(art museum) and lowbrow(Yamhill Pub - punk bar).

Get lunch from some crazy food cart. They are everywhere, and offer a lot more than you'd expect. I still have yet to try the Transylvanian food cart, but there IS ONE.

Have a drink at the Portland City Grill, atop one of the taller skyscrapers in town, and take in the view. Eat a real dinner at Jake's ($$$) or go across the river and do gourmet pizza at Apizza Scholls, or fusion sushi at Sushi Mazi. (less $)
Finish by having a dessert at the Pied Cow or Rimsky-Korsakoffee House. (cheap)

Next day, hit the road to the coast. Get a lumberjack breakfast at the appropriately-cheesy Camp 18 restaurant about halfway there (coast's about an hour drive from town), and head South on hwy 101 for a scenic coast drive. Stop for lunch in one of the little towns you pass through. If possible, hit up the Tillamook factory for some cheese curds and delicious ice cream. Do a big seafood dinner. Throw a dart, you really can't hit bad seafood, but I'd recommend Kyllo's in Lincoln City.

I got more, but those are the big ones, if time's at a premium. I believe 4chan etiquette requires me to call you a faggot, so have fun, faggot.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sun 25 Oct 2015 16:20:58 No.1045184 Report Delete

Quoted By:

>>1043315
Death valley national park

Anonymous

Anonymous Sun 25 Oct 2015 19:27:11 No.1045218 Report Delete

Quoted By: >>1045221

>>1045101
Alright, starting with coffee. I really enjoy coffee and the variety SF has is really fantastic. These are only opinions, and I'm not claiming to be a food critic or anything. I can say I've been to all these places in person at least.

If you want black coffee with sugar, Bereka Coffee is a great choice. It's a hole in the wall run by a mother and her daughter, and the coffee itself is incredibly smooth and complex. Not "complex" like an adjective a marketer puts on the menu to fill space, but full of subtle flavors you can taste. They know their shit and will talk with you about it while they make your coffee.

If you want a sweet mocha or something to kick you in the ass, hit Chestnut Street Coffee Roastery. The Ghirardelli chocolate they use makes it taste like the hot chocolate everyone remembers having as a kid, with a double shot of coffee added. Then a half hour later you're ready to run a fucking marathon.

Speaking of food, Le Marais Bakery. You want a latte? Done. Espresso? Done. Fucking incredible brown sugar coffee with a croissant so fresh it'll disintegrate in your hands? Shove that shit in your mouth and taste heaven. Get there early before they run out of baked goods and homemade syrup for their coffee.

All three of those places are in the Marina, one of the nicest areas in the city and where some of the best food is. They're also a short walk away from the Presidio and Palace of Fine Arts, both of which are beautiful.

Outside of the Marina, Sightglass coffee in the south of Mission area has fucking incredible black coffee and cold brew lattes. Ignore the Portlandia vibe the place has if you hate that and get your coffee to go.

If you're out late and want something to keep you going, Royal Grounds in Russian Hill is open until 12 on Saturday and until 11 on every day except Sunday.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sun 25 Oct 2015 19:52:17 No.1045221 Report Delete

Quoted By: >>1045225 >>1045229 >>1045230

>>1045218
Royal Grounds isn't the best place in the city in my opinion, but it's not bad.

Blue Bottle is really popular in the city, but don't get overhyped. I got some expecting the best coffee anywhere and it fell short.

I haven't been to Philz Coffee, Four Barrel Coffee, or Trouble Coffee, but all of them are popular with locals. Trouble Coffee in particular is famous for cinnamon toast. SF is full of really good coffee.

In terms of Mexican food, you are really in fucking luck. I haven't gone to enough places to know where the "best" Mexican is yet, but this place is really famous for it. Finding the best burrito in SF is like finding the best BBQ in Austin or something. You can look on Google and probably go well.

That being said, there are a few places I can recommend. Tacolicious in the Marina is a really good choice. Every kind of delicious taco you can think of, queso and chips, mixed drinks like you'd expect, and unique drinks without alcohol that are way better than they have any right to be.

Nopatilo is another good one, although personally I like Tacolicious more. It's an offshoot of one of the city's best restaurants, and it's exciting as hell. This place is authentic and familiar, but puts an innovative spin on a lot of classic Mexican food. It has a really trendy feel to it, which adds to the atmosphere if you like that.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sun 25 Oct 2015 20:19:25 No.1045225 Report Delete

Quoted By: >>1045227

>>1045221

>Finding the best burrito in SF is like finding the best BBQ in Austin or something

Stop.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sun 25 Oct 2015 20:26:20 No.1045227 Report Delete

Quoted By:

>>1045225
I'm not trying to say anything about BBQ, only that SF is famous for Mexican and burritos. I heard Austin has really good BBQ from a friend IRL and that's why I said that.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sun 25 Oct 2015 20:39:34 No.1045229 Report Delete

Quoted By:

>>1045221
Finally we come to Señor Sisig, which is difficult to describe. On the one hand, I don't want to overhype it like people overhyped Blue Bottle for me. On the other hand, fuck it. This is some really fantastic Mexican food. The pork nachos and tacos they have blow everything else out of the water. Technically it's a food truck and not a restaurant, but that only gives me an excuse to segue into talking about one of the coolest food related things in the city. Off the Grid at Fort Mason.

Off the Grid is what happens when you take enough food trucks and stalls from around the city to make a kind of circle of delicious with an opening for people to enter, throw in assorted alcohol, and make it not suck. That's the key. It doesn't suck. The crowd at Off the Grid is full of some surprisingly respectful and friendly motherfuckers. It's thin enough that you're not getting pushed around and full enough that the place doesn't look dead. The live music is loud enough to hear and not loud enough to be annoying.

More often than not the trucks and tents have really good food. The Chairman has delicious steamed buns and pulled pork. Johnny Donuts has some of the best baked goods in the city and can sometimes have some of the best coffee. Jeepney Guy's smoked Adobo is really good. How many ways can I say that in the same paragraph? The food is really good. The Boneyard, the Creme Bruelee Cart, and Sugar and Spun, are all good and in the latter two cases cases innovative. Señor Sisig is the star in my opinion. That's not even getting into the other crazy stuff they have there, like Korean chicken and waffle sandwiches and ice cream tacos. If you want crazy, you have it. There are some trucks that aren't that great, but you can tell which ones those are by seeing if they have a line. If people aren't lining up and it isn't late enough for trucks to start running out of their popular food, be careful.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sun 25 Oct 2015 20:43:51 No.1045230 Report Delete

Quoted By: >>1045242

>>1045221
Finally we come to Señor Sisig, which is difficult to describe. On the one hand, I don't want to overhype it like people overhyped Blue Bottle for me. On the other hand, fuck it. This is some really fantastic Mexican food. The pork nachos and tacos they have blow everything else out of the water. Technically it's a food truck and not a restaurant, but that only gives me an excuse to segue into talking about one of the coolest food related things in the city. Off the Grid at Fort Mason.

Off the Grid is what happens when you take enough food trucks and stalls from around the city to make a kind of circle of delicious with an opening for people to enter, throw in assorted alcohol, and make it not suck. That's the key. It doesn't suck. The crowd at Off the Grid is full of some surprisingly respectful and friendly motherfuckers. It's thin enough that you're not getting pushed around and full enough that the place doesn't look dead. The live music is loud enough to hear and not loud enough to be annoying.

More often than not the trucks and tents have really good food. The Chairman has delicious steamed buns and pulled pork. Johnny Donuts has some of the best baked goods in the city and can sometimes have some of the best coffee. Jeepney Guy's smoked Adobo is really good. How many ways can I say that in the same paragraph? The food is really good. The Boneyard and Sugar and Spun, are both delicious and in S&S's case innovative.The Creme Brulee Cart is worth checking out. Señor Sisig is the star in my opinion. That's not even getting into the other crazy stuff they have there, like Korean chicken and waffle sandwiches and ice cream tacos. If you want crazy, you have it. There are some trucks that aren't that great, but you can tell which ones those are by seeing if they have a line. If people aren't lining up and it isn't late enough for trucks to start running out of their popular food, be careful.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sun 25 Oct 2015 22:06:37 No.1045242 Report Delete

Quoted By:

>>1045230
I would recommend you a ton of sushi restaurants if I could, but I haven't gotten into that part of the city's culture. The good news is that San Francisco has the largest and oldest Japantown in the US, and there is no shortage of places to get high quality sushi, ramen, and related dishes. Google and other Anons will be able to give specifics better than I can right now.

Views won't be a wall of text like the last few posts, because a great view is something you can see. Here are a few. http://imgur.com/a/wmGSC

Left out of that album are the views from Coit Tower, Land's End, the edge of Lincoln park, Golden Gate Overlook, the Sunset from the top of the Tiled Steps, and lots of other scenic points that I haven't seen.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sun 25 Oct 2015 22:30:22 No.1045243 Report Delete

Quoted By: >>1045262 >>1045332

>>1043493
Are the stars really like that to the naked eye or did they use some special camera lens to capture more starlight?

Anonymous

Anonymous Mon 26 Oct 2015 00:22:40 No.1045262 Report Delete

Quoted By: >>1045265 >>1045267

>>1045243
Finally we come to Architecture. San Francisco has some really cool stuff, some really unique stuff, and some really weird stuff. Sometimes they're all the same thing. I'll start listing the stuff I know of, which is by no means a comprehensive guide. Only recommendations. I haven't visited all of these places.

The Palace of Fine Arts. Not only does it have a really unique history that boils down to "Let's build something huge to show the world we aren't dead from an earthquake," it is insanely awe inspiring when seen in person. It's hard to grasp the actual scale of it until you're standing under the dome and leaning against the pillars, but when I saw it for the first time my breath was taken away.

Alcatraz. If you're into architecture, what's more unique than a prison built on an island surrounded by sharks? The inside isn't as impressive as the outside in terms of uniqueness, but it's still worth checking out if you're interested in the history. Plus you can tell people you did it when they ask you, because it's one of the first things people ask.

Alamo Square park. If you've ever seen Full House, this is the row of houses they showed in the intro. The Painted Ladies are iconic of the city's style, and if you stand in the park facing them you can see the city skyline stretching out behind them. Reports of hands waiting to be held or lights coming to carry people home remain unsubstantiated.

Chinatown. It's a tourist trap, but it's a really beautiful one. The architecture is so distinctive and colorful that it could easily be confused for a movie set. Beware that eating in Chinatown is traversing a minefield of subpar places designed to cater to tourists. The only place that loosely counts as a restaurant I can recommend is the tiny Golden Gate Fortune Cookery. Have you ever wanted to see what a fortune cookie factory looks like? No? Fuck that, go anyway. They give free samples right off the line and sell cookies that are still hot from baking.

Anonymous

Anonymous Mon 26 Oct 2015 00:30:54 No.1045264 Report Delete

Quoted By:

>>1045145
Nice!
Yeah, I've heard great things about winter at Yellowstone, albeit I was only there in the summer.
Winter's obviously going to be the least crowded time of year, but at the end of the "summer" season, some of the lodging closes down a week or two earlier than the others (so I imagine it'd likewise be less crowded). Early October is probably a good time, but pretty much everything (including most of the roads) gets shut down by late October.

Anonymous

Anonymous Mon 26 Oct 2015 00:44:55 No.1045265 Report Delete

Quoted By: >>1045267

>>1045262
The Sutro Baths. In the 19th century, this was the largest privately owned swimming pool in the world. Now it's a huge seaside ruin with a fantastic view of the coast.

The Academy of Sciences. Besides being a really cool museum if you're into any kind of science, the building has a meticulously designed living roof and an entire rainforest biosphere dome built inside of it. It could be cool to see.

The Exploratorium. Remember when I said the place above this one was cool if you're into science? FUCK that place. This one is better. Completely unrelated to architecture? Definitely, but this was the only place I could mention it. They have a miniature cyclone chamber, a robot arm you can challenge to a balancing game, and an instant gameshow setup! Every Thursday night they serve drinks and only let adults in.

Old Ship Saloon. The city's oldest bar, and it's built into the wreck of a ship that crashed more than 150 years ago. No idea how good the food and drinks are, but architecturally speaking it sounds fun.

The places below are definitely cool, but aren't destinations or big landmarks like the other places. They're still extremely cool and unique, but not filled with other things to do or always centrally located.

Vaillancourt Fountain. If you want alien and weird, check this thing out. It's weird enough to be a point of argument among some people in the city who don't know what the artist was thinking.

Urbano Sundial. It's a 26 foot tall sundial built over a tiny pool and surrounded by grass. Why is there a sundial in San Francisco? Because somebody wanted a landmark to build houses around.

450 Sutter Street. This is crazy. If you've played Bioshock or seen any of the art, this could legitimately be something you'd find in Rapture. A ridiculously ornate lobby that pays homage to Mayan designs and Art Deco. The security guards are more than happy to let people in and talk about the specifics of the designs. Google this one and see what I mean.

Anonymous

Anonymous Mon 26 Oct 2015 01:19:30 No.1045267 Report Delete

Quoted By:

>>1045262
>>1045265

Lol I asked about stars

Anonymous

Anonymous Mon 26 Oct 2015 12:32:45 No.1045332 Report Delete

Quoted By:

>>1045243
That's a long exposure, if it is not a shop.

A dark-sky star field is impressive as fuck, though.

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