Unknown San Francisco

Every time I ever visited San Francisco it was to go directly to my grand parents' house or a specific restaurant or to an event in a designated area.  Sometimes we would walk around China town or do the touristy thing in Union Square, but for the most part I never have had the chance to explore the City.  My parents grew up there so they just took me and my sister exactly where we were supposed to go.

While I was at home during Christmas break I decided to take off one day and just explore San Francisco by myself.  I wanted to get some time to get lost and find some undiscovered areas.  I didn't want to do any of the normal tourist spots, so the night before I googled "unusual things to see in San Francisco."  Here are some excerpts from my adventures...

1.  First stop was the Mission District Murals.  I went to 24th St and Harrison, just north of Garfield Park, to find Balmy Alley.  I guess that certain artist started painting the open spaces in this part of the city in the '70s.  Each painting is colorfully made and they bring a vibrancy to the community.  Every where I walked I heard Latin music blaring from open windows and passing cars.  I expected people to be there when I showed up, but I was the only one in the alley.

2.  I heard that there were "adult slides" somewhere in the city.  There is this tiny park just east of Twin Peaks that has these old cement luges that were originally made for kids I think, but everything the internet said was about adults spending hours just sliding on the slides.  It rained the night before so my butt got a little wet and they were not nearly as fun as the "testimonials" said.   It was also shot on my Blackberry Curve... it's pretty terrible video shot.




3.  I had not been up to the top of Twin Peaks for ever.  I decided since I was so close to check out the view given it was a pretty clear day.

4.  If you guys have spent any time with me you know I drink way too much liquid and always have to pee.  At the top of Twin Peaks they had one of those "famous" San Francisco Self Cleaning Toilets.  It had to be at least a decade since I've used one of those...

and yes... I was still going to the bathroom, taking the picture, and didn't even drop my Blackberry into the self cleaning toilet. Skills my friends, pure skills.


5.  I drove around for a little while and then wanted to go to the Palace of Fine Arts.  I know that this is a touristy spot, but it's definitely one of my favorite places to go.  I love it there.  My sister and brother in law got me a gift certificiate to a local book store in Petaluma, so I decided to finally buy The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon.  I got a chance to do a little reading at the PFA on a little bench in front of the lake.  It was a nice relaxing time.

 6.  The last stop on my trip was to go to one of the 27 San Francisco Public Library locations to pick up a library card.  My brother in law, Mark, is almost finished with his Masters program to become a librarian and he tipped me off that anyone who lives in CA can get a SF library card.  This allows you to access any of their on-line resources.  One of which, is nearly complete on-line programs of Rosetta Stone in 12 different languages.  At Solidarity I cannot even communicate with our parents in Spanish and for seven years I still cannot say much more than "how are you doing."  It's really pathetic.  Hopefully Rosetta Stone will help me out.  Here's me and my fancy new library card.

If you guys want to leave a comment please leave some names (and addresses) of other unusual places to visit while in San Francisco.  I'd love to have more places to check out each and every time I come to the city.