NYC and Philly are super close msbelle.

West coast (San Diego, SF, Portland, Seattle) - keep the week of 10/15 in mind? I'm doing a lightning thing with a couple people. NOVA- I'll be in your area for a book festival on 10/14... augh I should just make up an events page probably. Hmmm.

Also if you're near Philly on 9/26 there will be cupcakes and a new book at B&N Rittenhouse

West coast (San Diego, SF, Portland, Seattle) - keep the week of 10/15 in mind?

*ears perk up*

OK, I'm finally ready to make some plans! First off, should we pick a night next week to try to get a group together for dinner? Looks like it would potentially be the Zmayhem, juliana, tommyrot, Java cat, -t, and shrift. Anyone else? How about Thursday night, since that looks like the one night juliana could make it?

Second, what should we see while we're in town? A partial listing of things we tend to like would include: art/architecture, weird museums, historical/literary landmarks, walking tours, good food, adult drinks, ice cream.

Kate ACK I wanna see you but I leave the Tuesday on a three week trip! Do not like.

Boo!

Thursday night is ok with me. I've been busy and stressed so I have no detailed plans yet so anytime is ok with me.

Epic, SD may be a restaurant event with Kevin Hearne co-hosted by MG ^^ but it may mean tickets.

I have one loose connection at MG, I'll put a word in next time I talk to him, just in case.

I almost went to -t's performance, but at about 3:30 CA time my body just crashed from the stress of flying and driving. Sorta felt better, but then cracked a filling eating tapas (yummy raw salmon and cream cheese on hard toast).

Stupid hard toast. But I think my mouth can survive until I get back to Chicago.

I can do Thursday! Traffic from Marin to East Bay is beyond horrible, Bumper to Bumper crawl from Corte Madera across the bridge from 3 p.m. on... So I might take the ferry to San Francisco and Bart somewhere, or drive over early to the East Bay and do something else and then Bart.

Which leads me to ask, what about meeting at the ferry building?

Side note, there is a farmers market at the ferry building 10 to 2 on Thursday. It is such a fun place to be during a farmers market. The Saturday market is kind of a mob scene but still fun. [link] For kids, the Exploratorium is almost Nextdoor.

I'm retired, and except for my Daily Yoga, I'm pretty free. Let me know if you'd like me to be a tour guide Tommy or Kate. Marin has Cavallo Point, Rodeo Beach, Marin, Mount Tamalpais, Stinson Beach, the Marin Civic Center, which is the only public/ gov't building that Frank Lloyd Wright actually built, Mission San Rafael, Wildcare, the cute little towns of San Anselmo and Fairfax, Mill Valley, the north part of Marin has Oolompali Park... Cavallo Point has restaurants and bars but also a lot of places where you can just sit and bring your own food and drink and admire the spectacular view of San Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge and the Bay. Though I always make a point of buying an iced tea in their little gift shop, deli. Rodeo Beach is the closest most easily accessed Pacific Ocean Beach in Marin, and Fort cronkhite and the marine mammal Institute, with a rescue and Rehab Center that has Public tours, is right there. If you want to get to Muir Woods you have to do it first thing, because the parking lot fills up fast, although I think that there's a shuttle that runs from the Manzanita Park and Ride lot.http://marintransit.org/routes/66.html Um. I worked in the East Bay for 25 years and I lived there in the late 70s and early 80s. The Oakland Museum is the lovely bit of architecture once you're inside the walls imho. North Berkeley is where I lived, you have UC campus grounds to walk around, The Gourmet ghetto, which is epicentered at Shattuck and Vine by the anchors Chez Panisse, the cheese board Collective, the juice board Collective, and then Shattuck has a kajillion little shops and restaurants all the way into downtown. Sparky and her Hub lived over there, you could check with them. Oh there's Fat Apples restaurant on Martin Luther King and Rose Street, and if you walk a block and a half or two blocks down Rose Street, right before you get to King Middle School, you can turn and walk into the Urban Garden that was created by Alice Waters of Chez Panisse. If you keep going through it, you come out on Hopkins Street where there's a community swimming pool in case anybody wanted to swim.

East Bay-- The agency that I worked for was located in the west wing of The Claremont Hotel for 4 years, The Claremont Hotel is fun to go visit and there are spectacular views, and there's a Peet's and a bakery and a cute little restaurant called Rick & Ann's across the street. And my dentist.

Consuela runs up in the Redwoods in the Oakland Hills pretty regularly, I think you'd have to Ping her in natter, maybe, for recommendations. Oh I'll send her an e and see if she's aware of this discussion.

Oakland downtown and up Telegraph Avenue has developed into lots of different cool little areas and neighborhoods. There's a kid thing right on Lake Merritt called Children's Fairyland, and then if you walk East from there you will come to the Rotary Center, which is a wildlife center.