Jeremy Leonard
By Matthew Richard Poole
If America hosted a prom, San Francisco would be the queen. And it's not just another pretty face. We've got more culture than a yogurt shop, the top restaurants in the nation, and the world's best (and sexiest) baseball team -- GO GIANTS! San Francisco is also the hot city to visit for 2013 when America's Cup rolls into town. Here are five things you didn't know about Don't-Call-It-Frisco.
Photo caption: ACsailingSF's passenger racing yacht in San Francisco, California.
Just about everyone knows that the 34th America's Cup will be hosted in San Francisco in 2013, with 72-foot wing-sail catamarans whizzing around the bay (when they're not crashing). But what you don't know is that a company called ACsailingSF (tel. 855/227-3201; www.acsailingsf.com) has debuted San Francisco's first passenger racing yacht, so visitors can now join a professional crew for a swift, heart-racing America's Cup-style experience. Guests don't need any prior experience with sails, jibs or anchors as they will sail under the expert guidance of a crew that sailed for the ORACLE Racing team, which won the 2010 America's Cup. Excursions sail from PIER 39 to the Golden Gate Bridge and around Alcatraz. Tickets are $129 for adults, $69 for children and $349 for a family of four.
Photo caption: ACsailingSF's passenger racing yacht in San Francisco, California.
The Inn at the Presidio, 42 Moraga Avenue (tel. 415/800-7356; www.innatthepresidio.com), the first hotel in the Presidio of San Francisco, is the city's only new hotel to open in 2012 (and it's very cool). Once one of the oldest military posts in the country, The Presidio is now an urban national park set in a major metropolitan area. Historic Pershing Hall, previously the post's bachelor officers' quarters, has been transformed into 22 spacious guest rooms, 17 of which are one bedroom suites. Room rates range from $195 to $350 per night.
Photo caption: The Inn at the Presidio in San Francisco, California.
Prepare to be moved! The new 8,000-square-foot Earthquake exhibit at the California Academy of Sciences, 55 Music Concourse Drive (tel. 415/379-8000; www.calacademy.org) delves into the science behind earthquakes. Occupying the entire west hall of the Academy, the exhibit features a number of large-scale installations, including a walk-through model of the Earth, an enclosure for live baby ostriches (yes, there are surprising connections between earthquakes and ostriches), an earthquake simulator resembling an old Victorian home, and an interactive obstacle course designed to teach earthquake preparedness. The exhibit is kid-friendly -- or experience it without kids but with a cocktail on Thursday nights for the Academy's popular Nightlife party series, 6 to 10pm (no children allowed, and no drinks permitted inside the quake house).
Photo caption: The new Earthquake exhibit at the California Academy of Sciences. San Francisco, California.
We bet you didn't know that one of the top Disney museums in the world is in San Francisco. The Walt Disney Family Museum, 104 Montgomery Street in San Francisco's Presidio (tel. 415/345-6800; www.waltdisney.org), is a 40,000-square-foot space featuring the newest technology and historic materials and artifacts, and through April 2013 they're presenting a special exhibition of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs: The Creation of a Classic, celebrating Walt Disney's first animated feature-length. The exhibition features more than 200 works of art including conceptual drawings, early character studies, detailed story sketches and animation drawings.
Photo caption: The Walt Disney Family Museum in San Francisco, California.
If America hosted a prom, San Francisco would be the queen. And it's not just another pretty face. We've got more culture than a yogurt shop, the top restaurants in the nation, and the world's best (and sexiest) baseball team -- GO GIANTS! San Francisco is also the hot city to visit for 2013 when America's Cup rolls into town. Here are five things you didn't know about Don't-Call-It-Frisco.
Photo caption: ACsailingSF's passenger racing yacht in San Francisco, California.
Photo caption: ACsailingSF's passenger racing yacht in San Francisco, California.
Photo caption: The Inn at the Presidio in San Francisco, California.
Photo caption: The new Earthquake exhibit at the California Academy of Sciences. San Francisco, California.
Photo caption: The Walt Disney Family Museum in San Francisco, California.