Advice you can taste. Adventure you can feel.

Dim Sum, Picnic, Museums and Buffalo?

The Real Summer in the City Experience One…

First stop, Good Luck Dim Sum on Clement Street. Not only is it fast and delicious it is

Shrimp dumpling time

easy on your wallet and the ultimate hangover cure. So what to do? (1) Wait in the line that always looks long, but moves fast. (2) Fill out your ordering sheet while you are waiting… make sure to get the shrimp dumpling, pork bun and green onion pan fried dumpling… you probably want to order about 10 dumplings per person in your party.  (3) See what dumplings they are making fresh and order at least one of each.  Don’t worry, they’re cheap… try something new! (4) People move quickly here, so make sure you are ready to go when you get to the counter and if there are a few things you don’t recognize, just point and ask.  Who knows, it may be your new favorite thing!

The ideal picnic spot

Next, drive to the Botanical Gardens in Golden Gate park for your dim sum picnic. Find a nicely shaded spot in one of the many lovely groves, sit, and relax.  Another great spot is the Roosevelt Pond where you can sit on the water and people-watch.  When you are done eating take a brisk walk around the grounds of the gardens or the pond and enjoy your slice of nature in the city.

Climb the tower

Either way, complete your stroll at the deYoung museum. Purchase a ticket and hold on to it (The ticket will get you into the Legion of Honor as well, which is your next stop). Now remember, this isn’t a museum day. The weather is beautiful outside so make this a brisk visit and experience the Deyoung’s backyard sculptures, the rarely clear view from the top of the tower, and of course walk through their featured exhibit(s).

Feed me!

When you are done, head to the Legion of Honor. On your way drive through Golden Gate Park and pass the field of buffalo.  Yes, we have buffalo in Golden Gate Park… the zoo ran out of room.

A Palace in SF?

Once at the Legion show your de Young ticket and proceed to their featured exhibit(s) with a quick walk through the lovely halls, making sure to get a glimpse of the abstract gallery where you will see a few original Picasso and Dali paintings.

Sunset at Lands End

Finish your day with a short coastal walk in the late afternoon light. Just walk straight down the hill, towards the coast, from the Legion of Honor and head to Lands End for one of the most memorable San Francisco sunsets you can ask for and can rarely get any other time of the year.

3 Activities for a Cold & Wet 3 Day Weekend

Cold wet weekends in San Francisco are never fun… especially a three day one and on-top of that one with the big “L word” day smack in the middle of it. So what are you going to do this weekend? Do you have your Valentine’s Day plan together? Perhaps Weotta can help…

Museum hopping with a bit of Burmese

We have some pretty fantastic museums in SF and rainy weekends are the perfect time to do some museum hopping. One of our favorite combos is to start out with the DeYoung and end up at the Legion of Honor. Not only because one ticket gets you into both, but because they really are an ideal pairing of taste and style. Plus, if you go to the Legion of Honor right before closing on Saturday, you may get to hear them playing the organ; it fills every hall, bringing the artwork to life in an amazing way. Afterwards, continue your day of art and culture with a bite of Burmese food at nearby Mandalay or Burma Superstar. For those that haven’t had Burmese, it is like a combo of Indian and Thai, but with its own unique flavor. Some of our favorite dishes are fermented tea leaf salad, samusas soup and curry lamb. Both restaurants do a nice job, aren’t expensive, and are pretty much on the same level, but they are almost always packed. Don’t know what it is about SF residents, but we love our Burmese food. If you still have energy afterwards and it isn’t raining too hard head over to Sutro’s at the Cliff House to watch the rough seas . Last minute V-day addition: Get some flowers in there, dress a little nicer, and go to B-star (slightly upscale Burmese place). After dinner head to Nopa for cocktails and dessert, a 5 min cab ride away. They do amazing mixed drinks, always have great wines by the glass and fantastic unique deserts. Get a gin drink with caprock gin and checkout their sopaipillas (kind of a fancy donut… perfect for cold weather) .

Tahoe

Cold rain in SF usually means lots of snow in Tahoe… so you could get out of town, fight the crowds and the weather, and hit the slopes at Heavenly, Squaw Valley or Kirkwood. Last minute V-day addition: Get a nice bottle of red wine, some fine dark chocolate and a fire can go a long way after an exhausting day in the snow.

Takeout extravaganza

Hunker down (ever wonder what Hunker means?) and have a different type of takeout… pizza, Thai, Chinese, and perhaps sushi each night of the three day weekend. At least do Thai… both Basil Thai and Chai-Yo are good choices. This is the perfect opportunity to snuggle up in front of the tube for some mind-numbing entertainment. Try not to spend the whole day indoors… at least walk out to the restaurant.  Last minute V-day addition: Forget about takeout and cook together Saturday night… experiment and try something new. Perhaps wild mushroom and asparagus risotto or French onion soup with sourdough… both good, cold weather classy foods. Top this off with a nice Syrah and you are good to go. If you want to add a little something sweet touch to the evening with some adult hot cocoa.

Hope this helps you get through this long perhaps quite rainy weekend with a smile

Happy Valentine’s Day from the Weotta team!