We are headed there July 4th week. We have a day scheduled to go to wine country. We were going to do the wine train but it only goes to 2 wineries and we are on their shedule. So we have private car and driver for a day. Looking at 3 wineries, maybe a 4th?

And we have a half day Alcatraz trip scheduled. We are staying downtown and the hotel provides bike to ride over to the Golden Gate Bridge so we are doing that. 

Any recomendations? Of course we will do the trolley cars. We have a list of restaurants recommended to us. One of our fellow travellers wants to visit the submarine museum that's there. 

It is a pretty long bike ride from downtown to the Golden Gate and back, Hills!!!  I guess it depends on what "downtown means. When you are in the valley, there is a great resteraunt on the west side of the highway 2 miles north of St Helena called Brasswood that is easier to get in for lunch since it is not downtown and you can find parking there. I ate there last month and the food was special. Scomas off of fishermans wharf is a favorite of locals and visitors and slightly off of the busy streets. If you eat there, ask if there is any fresh fish that day that is not on the menu. Stay out of the lower end of town. SF is really a grand old lady that has seen much better days, but still grand in a lot of places and ways. 

Win

San Francisco Fisherman's Wharf Hotel Deals & Specials (argonauthotel.com)

That's where we are staying. I've been to SanFran before but it was 30+ years ago. I don't remember much about the logistics. The 4 of us are all runners and we plan to run at least one time while there so I think we can do the bikes? If not we'll take a cab.

You will love the Alcatraz tour! on the boat ride out do not stand in the front of the boat (outside)- unless you want to get wet with COLD water!  We also did a bike tour-alot of fun. This was several years ago, maybe you will be on a E bike.  We were told do not rely on trolleys for transportation bc they are always full.  They were right.  We hopped on one finally just to say we rode them.  Crazy busy! Fun trip!

If you are at fisherman's wharf you will be fine on the bikes. I took "downtown to mean the financial district. That would have been a pull. Have fun. 

I understand there's a night visit available to Alcatraz that is super spooky.  

Yes, we saw that. My wife wanted to do the night tour. I did the alcatraz tour when I was there 30 years ago. So I didn't care if we did night or day. But we had a hell of a time booking Alcatraz. Night or day. In fact, we couldn't book it with them. We had to work around it by booking a bike ride to Golden Gate Bridge that includes a trip to Alcatraz. Cost us quite a bit more to do it that way but it was the only way to get advance tickets. We just won't do the bike part. 

Alcatraz direct kept telling us that they might open more slots as restrictions got lifted but that wasn't a sure thing. So we just paid the extra to have tickets in hand. 

We finalized the wineries we are visiting last night. One is underground/cave winery, Del Grotto or something like that?

Sounds like tons of fun.  Being a huge Giants fan I couldn't pass up Oracle Park. 

Our flights got changed on the 4th. Still getting there on the 4th but instead of direct from Nashville we have to fly to Seattle then down to San Francisco.  We will get in ther early evening now. Since we are staying Fisherman's Wharf area is there a restaurant walking distance you would recommend? Google says Scoma's or Fog Harbor. Better choice?

Scones is one of my favorites in the city. 

Do you mean Scoma's? Everything I've read about that place is excellent 

Yes, **** spell check. See my recommendation above. 

You'll fit in.

As would you?

Just remember what Twain said, "The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco" and bring warm clothes!  Enjoy your trip, the beautiful city and Northern California!

Got here yesterday. Great Independence Day celebration down a Fisherman's Wharf last night. Scoma's was great. Going out to run in a few minutes. Wine country tomorrow all day. Beautiful weather but  a little chilly for July. 

I've never been to SF but watch all the Giants games.  Never ceases to amaze me the fans in July and August sitting in the bleachers at night in coats, gloves, knit caps,  and blankets on their laps.  

Probably my favorite city to visit, but I haven't been there in about 15 years.  I'm a little reluctant to go now.  They actually have a "SnapCrap" app that can be used to report piles of human poop on the streets, and it is also used by tourists for avoiding areas with high concentrations of human poop piles.  Things like that and the thought of hundreds of homeless encampments don't do much to draw me back.   Hopefully it will get straightened out.  

Couple of years ago Hunter Pence rode his little scooter to what was then AT&T Park.  Somebody stole it.  

Should have ridden it into the locker room.   

We didn't see any of that. Good thing I don't have that spotter thingy on my phone.

We hired a limo and driver to take us to wine country for a day. Visited 3 wineries. Went to Muir Woods one day. We took the bay cruise under the bridge and around Alcatraz. We did get tickets to visit Alcatraz. We ran 4 miles twice while there. I ran up the big hill from Fisherman's Wharf to the top. 1.8 miles. I was the only one of the 4 to make it all the way without walking some. Great seafood every night. Very good trip. We had a jam packed week. We did the double decker bus tour of the city. Only thing we didn't get to do that we wanted was the cable cars. They are still not running. 

It's a very expensive city to visit. More expensive than New York or Boston it seemed. We did see "tent city" on the bus tour. That was a downer. The Painted Ladies was awesome. If we had more time I would liked to cross the Bay Bridge over to Oakland. But we just ran out of time. 

It was very cold. We bought sweatshirts our first day there and then went back and bought jackets. 

You did not miss much in Oakland. Glad you had a good visit. The City is a grand old lady that sure could use a clean up. I honestly don't see it happening. Too bad.