Visiting San Francisco is always an adventure, with its steep hills, cable cars, fascinating landmarks and colorful people. Many of the landmarks are well known and visited by the multitudes of tourists who come to the city each year and are the ‘popular’ tourist destinations. There are other equally fascinating and fun things to see and do in the City by the Bay that are not so well known but are equally memorable without fighting the crowds or spending a small fortune to enjoy them.
Tucked away in the densely populated Eureka Valley neighborhood is the Seward mini-park where a morning (or afternoon) of fun awaits! The mini-park has the most wonderful slides, long and winding or straight and fast which makes these great for racing your friends. These are not your average slides, but were designed with adults in mind. On the grounds of the park there are also beautiful gardens to stroll through for a relaxing moment between trips down the slides.
Japanese Tea Garden, San Francisco
A rather odd but fascinating point of interest is found in Buena Vista Park, located in the infamous Haight Ashbury area. As you are enjoying the lovely park setting, take a close look at the materials used to pave the drainage gutter that runs through the park. A number of years back, the Lone Mountain Cemetery which used to be located within the city was closed and the occupants relocated to Colma. Not wanting to waste any useable materials, the City decided to put the headstones from the old cemetery to use in paving the drainage gutter in Buena Vista Park. If you look closely, you can still read the inscriptions on quite a few of the pieces.
For the beer connoisseur, what could be better than free beer? Anchor Brewing Company offers a wonderful tour of the brewery, educating visitors on the history of the brewery and the beer making process. After the tour they host a beer tasting where guests are given a chance to spend a relaxing break and enjoy a couple of cold ones on the house.
Almost everyone loves ice cream, right? Then a definite must on an unconventional tour of San Francisco is a visit to the original Swensen’s Ice Cream store that is located at the same address at Hyde and Union Streets where they have been serving up some of the tastiest ice cream around since 1948. Although Earle Swensen started his business with only the three basic flavors, strawberry, chocolate and vanilla, over 180 flavors have been created and added to the menu since then. The company may now be a huge international success but you can still visit the place of its humble beginnings and enjoy a Sticky Chewy Chocolate cone.
For a fun conclusion to your day, stop in to Brain Wash Cafe and Laundry. Yes, it is a laundry, but in true San Francisco style it is also unique. You can enjoy a great meal, a cold beer or a glass of wine and even participate in open-mic night or enjoy varying entertainment with no cover charge required which is something you don’t find often in the city.
There are plenty of other unique and interesting things to see and do in San Francisco and they are just waiting to be discovered.
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