Bradman's North America Guide - San Francisco
Selected excerpts by Julie Soller

Excursions Visitors who look down will wonder what's up with the new sidewalk markers, when they see 150 bronze plaques depicting a Gold Rush 49er gracing San Francisco's most historic city pavements; many are already in place. These are the markers of the Barbary Coast Trail, a self-guided walking tour that meanders 3.8 miles from the Old US Mint on Mission Street to Aquatic Park. Along Gold-Rush era streets & Chinatown alleys, the trail connects 20 historic sites, six local history museums, historic pubs & outdoor cafés, while taking in some panoramic views. Sites include the birthplace of the Gold Rush, the oldest Asian temple in North America, the western terminus of the Pony Express, & the largest collection of historic ships in the United States. Because the trail is self-guided visitors can explore as much or as little as they please. To enrich the experience, they may purchase the accompanying Barbary Coast Trail Official Guide - a 32-page full-colour booklet with map ($8.95), or the 274-page guidebook Walking San Francisco on the Barbary Coast Trail ($13.95). For more information, or to order guides by mail ($12 & $18 respectively), call 6415058. Trail guides are also available at the Visitor Information Center, lower level of Hallidie Plaza (Powell & Market Streets). California's sesquicentennial officially marks the 150th anniversary of the discovery of gold in 1848, the Gold Rush in 1849 & statehood in 1850. In the late 1840s, San Francisco was a small frontier settlement of a mere 800 residents. The discovery of gold brought hundreds of thousands of people to San Francisco in what became the greatest human migration in American history. Special events, ongoing activities & exhibits commemorating the Gold Rush continue throughout the summer & into 2000. Free Gold Rush brochures are available from the Visitor Information Center, lower level of Hallidie Plaza (Powell & Market Streets). The Island Hop tour departs daily on Blue & Gold Fleet from Pier 41, Fisherman's Wharf, for Angel Island & Alcatraz. The five-hour tour includes ferry transportation to both islands, all national park & state park fees, the award-winning audio tour of the Alcatraz Cell House & the motorised audio tram tour of Angel Island. On weekdays, the tour departs at 10.00 & arrives at Angel Island's Ayala Cove for the one-hour tram tour. Not as famous as Alcatraz, Angel Island's little-known charms beg discovery, & the curious are well rewarded. The tram tour provides an overview of the island's rich history, encompassing sites such as the nostalgic remains of Civil War encampments, World War II era army buildings, & the 'Ellis Island of the West' - the Asian Immigration Station whose poignant Chinese poetry carved into the barracks is translated & preserved. The fascination of Alcatraz Island, of course, needs no description here. Tickets for the Island Hop tour are available in advance from TeleSails (Tel: 705 5555). Prices range from $18.25 to $31 & children under five go free. Local Heroes Reed Hearon has the Midas touch when it comes to restaurants. He conceives them, opens them, & then leaves them. In 1993 he opened the hugely successful Restaurant Lulu. With its unpretentious Riviera-inspired cuisine, served family-style in a loud, high-ceilinged dining room, Lulu was an overnight hit. But Hearon is no longer associated with Lulu, & the food isn't as good. In September 1993 he opened Café Marimba in the yuppie Marina district. Inspired by his travels in Mexico & childhood in the Southwest, he's been able to create a regional Mexican restaurant with specialty moles & salsas from Oaxaca, the Yucatan & Veracruz. Once again, it's a case of love 'em & leave 'em - Hearon is no longer behind the stoves at Marimba. But the families that pack it night after night don't seem to notice. Hearon's third San Francisco restaurant is still a city-wide favourite: Rose Pistola, named after a beloved North Beach old-timer. Opened in 1996, it was cited as one of the year's best new restaurants by Bon Appetit magazine as well as winning the James Beard Award for best new restaurant in the country. That year, Hearon also won Chef of the Year awarded by San Francisco Focus magazine. Unusual Ligurian cuisine & stylish decor keep it going strong. His latest restaurant creation, Black Cat on Broadway (also in North Beach) opened in 1998 & features a downstairs jazz lounge. Black Cat's untamed menu serves a wild array of Hearon's favourite foods from his Mexican, Italian, American & Chinese pantheon. You might find pappardelle with buffalo mozzarella next to Singapore-style curried rice noodles or rich man's burger (seared steak tartare) on a toasted bun. Take it from a local: get to Black Cat before he's gone again. Local Issues San Francisco's South of Market district (SOMA) is under more construction these days than in decades. Already home to the Moscone Convention Center, the Museum of Modern Art, & Center for the Arts at Yerba Buena Gardens, the area is quickly becoming a fully-fledged destination neighbourhood. The following significant cultural & major entertainment centres will be completed over the next few years: Autumn 1998 is the scheduled opening date of a new Children's Center at Yerba Buena Gardens. The flagship attraction, 'Zeum', is a $56m high-tech arts & production facility for ages 7-17, a fitting addition to a neighborhood already christened 'Multimedia Gulch' by the Internet press. In addition to Zeum, the Rooftop of Moscone Center is the site of an educational Children's Garden, a National Hockey League regulation-sized ice-skating rink, a 12-lane bowling centre & a 10,000 sq ft child care centre. The entrance at Fourth & Howard Streets will house the restored 1903 carousel from San Francisco's long-gone amusement park, Playland-At-The-Beach. Adjacent to Yerba Buena Gardens at the corner of Fourth & Mission Streets, a four-storey shopping & entertainment centre is under construction & scheduled to open in the spring of 1999. This is Sony's Metreon, a 350,000 sq ft complex which will include 15 movie theatres, a 600-seat IMAX theatre with 3-D capabilities, a Sony store, the Discovery Channel flagship store, Microsoft showcase store, & interactive play areas based on popular children's books. The San Francisco Giants will be playing ball in the year 2000 in their new home stadium, Pacific Bell Park. Located just seven blocks from Moscone Center along the waterfront of San Francisco Bay, the state-of-the-art ballpark will seat 42,000. The corridor between the San Francisco Marriott hotel on Fourth Street & Saint Patrick's Church on Mission Street will become an inviting retail walkway called Yerba Buena Lane, lined with a lively variety of restaurants & shops. Completion of Yerba Buena Lane is projected for 1999. This walkway will help connect the Union Square shopping district to the SOMA museum/entertainment district. Airport Improvements November 1998: San Francisco International Airport scheduled to open a new, centralised rental car facility, housing eight rental car companies & 6,000 vehicles. Spring 2000: A new International Terminal will open at SFO, adding 26 new gates to accommodate wide-body jets. Autumn 2001: A new Airport Rail Transit (ART) system will debut at SFO, moving 4,000 passengers per hour to nine stations & a proposed 10th station at the site of a future hotel. Maximum wait for a train: five minutes. Autumn 2001: Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) electric rail system will be extended 8.7 miles to Millbrae with a stop at SFO's new International Terminal & the airport's ART system. Travel time between Downtown & SFO will be approximately 29 mins. Major Retail Developments November 1998: Macy's West flagship store will unveil a new façade & grand entrance on Union Square. Spring 1999: The renovated Pacific Building at Fourth & Market will reopen with an Old Navy flagship store (a division of GAP) & other retail establishments. 31 December, 1999: Celebrations are being planned at Union Square & throughout San Francisco to welcome the new year, the new decade, the new century & the new millennium.

Copyright Monomax Ltd. 1999

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