SF and Half Moon Bay (HMB) aren't the only awesome places to visit. We'll have more details on specifics for places outside the city on our home page. But here's a quick run down of places we like (or don't) outside the city limits.
Marin: Marin (mah-ren) County just north of SF across the Golden Gate Bridge is gorgeous. Sausalito is a favorite destination but my favorite place is the Muir Woods. One of the closest places to see our famous redwood trees. Sunny weekend days in summer it gets crowded fast with parking near impossible, so go early. The drive there is just as spectacular. Marin Headlands is a great place to take pictures of the Golden Gate Bridge and the SF skyline (if the weather is good). You'll need a car to get to Marin sites (there's a toll coming south on the Golden Gate) but you can see Marin across the bay.
Wine Country: We loves us some wine and CA has a lot of it. In fact despite many parts of CA being famous for their wine, none so much as Napa. Now we love Napa (because we love wine) but it's not our very favorite. We love the down to earth, smaller places and almost everything in Sonoma. We tried to plan our wedding here but man was that a pain. If you you want to get married in CA Wine Country do give us a call so we can tell you some important issues to consider---no one warned us! See our Wine Country tags for more explicit details on venues in the vine. It's darn cute up there and there's tons of places to eat, stay and sip the grape. Whether it's for a day or a few, if you love wine you must go here.
East Bay: Here is where you will find Berkeley and Oakland. BART goes there but has limited reach so if you really want to get about (not just walk around the downtown) you may want a car. You will get the pleasure of crossing the Bay Bridge on your way to/from SF (there's a toll coming back to the city). And view of SF from the East Bay can be gorgeous. You may also get to watch the large and surprisingly swift freighter ships coming into port. For more on the East Bay give us a ring.
Silicon Valley:
San Jose/Campbell/Santa Clara:
Santa Cruz:
Sacramento: Ok this is WAY outside of SF (at least 2 hours) but it's the state capital so I guess it deserves some mention. I've spent some time there lobbying the legislature and for work purposes but it is possible to enjoy Sacto. It's VERY hot in the summer. It's small so don't expect too much. The Old Town is cute as all get out and the airport is far away but small and cheap. Capitol grounds are nice and if you are from CA we insist you visit your legislature (give them hell for us). There's a pretty substantial gay population so Sacto gets a few snaps from Jill for accommodating Her People so nicely.
All points south: We could do a whole other blog on central and southern CA. So if you are headed towards the middle or the south, let us know and we can send you details. We both lived in Los Angeles for many years so we can still rate some of the wheres and whats there. We also have peeps strategically located there to gather intel if needed.
