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Locals Talk
Jayson Wechter
San Francisco
- When I took the Hotel Matchmaker test these are the words I selected:
- dventurous/Active, Creative/Eclectic, Rustic, Young-at-heart/Whimsical Visionary/Artistic
- My favorite activities include:
- Wandering the alleys and back streets of North Beach, Chinatown or Telegraph Hill while smoking a good cigar; watching French or American film noir (especially those filmed in San Francisco), or just about anything that screens at the Castro (429 Castro 621-6120) or Balboa Theaters (3630 Balboa 221-8184); bicycling around and over San Francisco's many hills; star gazing from atop Mount Tam.
- I was born and raised in:
- New York City
- I currently live:
- San Francisco
- What do I do to make a buck?:
- Treasure hunt organizer / private investigator
- 5 things I love about the San Francisco Bay Area:
- 1) The viewing area above Sutro Bath ruins during a storm, where huge waves crash on three sides of you, and the spray splashes up and smacks you in the face like a cold ocean kiss.
- 2) The walk from Burritt Street at Bush and Stockton (where Sam Spade's partner was killed in "The Maltese Falcon") into the Stockton Tunnel, then north into Chinatown, where the sidewalks are thronged with people buying bok choy, garlic, squids and whole fish from the bustling shops along Stockton Street.
- 3) The easy accessibility of nature: you can bicycle for thirty minutes and be across the Golden Gate Bridge and into the Marin Headlands, an unspoiled series of hills offering some of the finest vistas on the West Coast.
- 4) The Castro Theater (429 Castro Street 621-6120), a grand 1920s film palace with its original Wurlitzer organ. It is home to numerous film festivals, and screens rarely seen classic gems from the 20s, 30s and 40s, along with outstanding independent and foreign films.
- 5) Critical Mass, the leaderless, last Friday of each month bike ride that begins at Justin Herman Plaza near the Ferry Building and celebrates the joys of self-propelled travel. It is as diverse and eclectic as the Bay Area, with no set route or definition. And like so many vibrant ideas produced here, it has been duplicated around the globe.
- My favorite local hidden treasure you shouldn't miss:
- The Seward Park slides. These two 80' long slides are hidden in a tiny sliver of a park on Seward Street (located between 19th and Douglas). They wind their way down a hill, offering young and old alike a thrilling few seconds of giddy descent. The park doesn't close, but you need to keep your whoops of delight muffled at night so as to not disturb the neighbors.
- My perfect day spent in the San Francisco Bay Area:
- We'd start with the view from Corona Heights, which offers a craggy, windswept vista almost as expansive as that from Twin Peaks, but without the T-shirt vendors and loud car stereos. Then to Portsmouth Square (Kearny and Clay Streets), where the city began in the 1830s when it was known as Yerba Buena. We'd follow the original shoreline (now filled in and home to the Financial District) along Battery and Montgomery Streets, walking above the hulks of abandoned sailing ships buried beneath our feet, down Hotaling Street (named for the whisky merchant whose warehouse was saved from the fires of 1906), and up to City Lights Books at 621 Columbus Avenue (362-8193) for browsing and remembering the spirits of Kerouac, Ginsberg and the other beat writers. Lunch at Yuet Lee at Broadway and Stockton (982-6020) then coffee at one of the outdoor cafes along Columbus Avenue. We'd bicycle out Bay Street into Fort Mason, past Crissy Field, and into the Presidio, riding down to historic Fort Point. Then across the Golden Gate Bridge and back, and out through Seacliff and past the Legion of Honor (100 34th Avenue 750-3600) and to wander on foot through the Sutro Bath Ruins (Point Lobos and Great Highway). We'd catch the view of the ocean inside the Camera Obscura behind the Cliff House, walk up to Sutro Heights Park, then down to the Great Highway and to the Beach Chalet (1000 Great Highway, 386-8439) to see the WPA murals, and to have dinner while watching the sun set over the pacific.
