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.
I've never done it, but you can swim at Lake temascal in Oakland. If you want to drive way up into the Berkeley Hills... There are two sets of hills, the Berkeley Hills and then another side of Hills Beyond that... You can go up to Inspiration Point for views of the bay to the west and Parklands to the east.
Tilden Park has things for kids, it's a pretty Park all over the place with hiking trails and picnic areas (and poison oak, beware, so much worse than poison ivy), I think there's a Carousel and I'm pretty sure there's a petting zoo or working farm, something like that. It's been awhile since I've been up there... When I was living in the Hills when I first moved here, I'd go to Lake Anza with my Sunday newspaper and a thermos of coffee. It is swimmable, with a cordoned-off swimming area, and a very gradual sand access into the water that's doable for kids. The Berkeley Rose Garden and its views are on the way there if you're coming from The Gourmet ghetto area.
Thanks for all the suggestions, Java cat! We don't have the kids with us and will probably stick to SF proper, but a trip across the bay to Berkeley or Oakland isn't out of the question.
Does Thursday night for dinner work for most people?
I just remembered that I probably can't do dinner Thursday because I'm going to an MST3K Live event with friends at 8pm.
Thursday is as good a day as any for me. I can't commit to anything at this point, doing anything after work is a little challenging right now.
I just remembered that I probably can't do dinner Thursday because I'm going to an MST3K Live event with friends at 8pm.
If it makes any difference, we tend to eat early -- I would aim to meet around 6, unless that's really unrealistic for everyone else.
Hope we get to see you, -t, but will understand if it doesn't work out.
I might be able to swing it if y'all eat earlier!
Great! Let's plan for 6pm Thursday night... which is, uh, tomorrow! Java suggested meeting at the ferry building, which would be fine by us, I think. Is there a decent restaurant there? My other thought is that we will probably be exploring North Beach that afternoon, and I hear there are some good restaurants there too...
tommyrot, juliana, Java cat, -t, and shrift, I just sent you all a message on FB. Feel free to add anyone else you think might like to join us! Did I miss anyone who expressed interest in meeting up for dinner?
