When Company Comes to San Francisco: The Basics

UPDATE: This post was the beginnings of a list of things I'd want visitors to see in San Francisco.  As I write about them in greater detail in later posts, I am deleting them from this post.  So this is more of a leftover list that I haven't gotten to yet.

If you have a car, geocaching is a super fun thing way to explore the city’s sights!  

I need to write a post about spending the day (or two) in Golden Gate Park, but the highlights are:

• Rent a segue and tour off the beaten path in the park!  We did this, and it was great! 
• Set aside time to explore the Academy of Sciences.  Grownups dig it too - in fact, on Thursday nights, they have 21+ admission so there are no ankle-biters but there are cocktails. 
• The de Young museum has interesting exhibits, but even if those don't appeal to you, at least visit the observation deck right before closing for pretty sunset views
• Conservatory of Flowers
• Paddle boats
• The carousel and slides (southeast corner of the park, near Bowling Green Drive, MLK Drive and Kezar)
• Stop by the bison paddocks

The Exploratorium just moved to a new location at Pier 15.  It's amazing.  Go. 

From dusk to 2am, the Bay Lights, the world’s largest LED light sculpture (8 times bigger than the Eiffel Tower's light show), will dazzle you with a never-repeating light show across the west span of the Bay Bridge.  It's another great excuse for an evening stroll or dinner reservation along the Embarcadero.  Click here for a map showing the public and restaurant viewpoints.
Mrs Doubtfire's house at 2640 Steiner St.  Great article here about the current owner living in the famous house.  

Other pretty (pack your camera!) views of the city:

• Coit Tower - Great views from the parking lot, and interesting WPA murals inside the tower.  Paying to go to the top of the tower is up to you.

• Lands End trail in the Presidio

• Top of the Lyon Street steps on Billionaire's Row of Broadway

• Gingerbread houses along Alamo Square (best viewed from the south side of park on Hayes between Pierce and Steiner, looking east) 

• Walk across and/or under the Golden Gate Bridge:

• Fort Point is directly under the bridge on the San Francisco side – it’s a nice destination for a leisurely walk down Chrissy Field, and an interesting perspective on the bridge.

• Then drive up the hill and across the bridge – you can go the Visitor Center on the Marin side, or you can drive west up into the Marin Headlands for the classic photo op of you with the GG Bridge and city skyline behind you.

• Top of Corona Heights at 16th & Moraga

Go to a Giants game.  After Sunday games, kids can run the bases for free.  If you can't get affordable tickets, you can watch up to 3 innings for free in the Portwalk arcade on the south side of the park.