San Francisco Noobs» Parks

San Francisco Noob Mission in the Parks

Casi — Thu, 27 May 2010 16:52:05 +0000

Although it’s raining like a mo outside today, weather.com says it’s going to be sunny and in the 70’s over the weekend. Although I secretly wished it was going to rain this weekend because I tend to spend money on sunny weekends going to cafe’s, bars, restaurants, boutiques, vendors, and the occasional happy bum donations; I have decided to put on my thinking cap and find something free to do.

I’ve never lived in a city with so many beautiful parks, so I have made it my mission to go to as many parks as possible over the sunny weekend. Below you will find a list of some parks that were suggested to me on twitter, some I have already enjoyed going to, and some I had no idea were even there until I found them on Wikipedia. So help a noob out and vote for your favorite park to hang out with a beer, a book, a park that has great people watching, cute puppies I can ~~steal~~ pet, or any other random reason you enjoy it. I plan on bringing a backpack of all the essentials (so I don’t spend a dime), my bus pass, my new book (you will see a post about this soon + a giveaway. GET EXCITED!), and my trusty phone/camera.

Please leave comments if there are any extra special things I should know about your park suggestion (i.e. stay away from the bum who likes to lick people). Also, pick as many parks as you like, and suggest some that aren’t on the list! I will try to make it to all the most voted. YaY for three day weekends!

Oh yea, and thanks to all the men and women out their who have fought their hearts out for this country. We are all greatful for your service, which allows us to have fun noob-tacular missions!

♥ Casi

RESULTS ARE IN…

#1. Dolores Park
#2. Washington Square/Duboce Park/Marina Green
#3. Alamo Square/Palace of Fine Arts
#4. Corona Heights
Other = Lincoln Park/McLercan Park/Buena Vista

A Noob Mission in the Mission

Casi — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 05:13:32 +0000

Yea, my feet may be freezing from this day filled with rain and no rainboots (I’m pretty sure I’m the only person in SF who doesn’t have rainboots. Hence my noob name!), but this past weekend was so unbelievable it was pretty much impossible to stay in doors! So Sunday, I sent out a twitter request for places to hit up in the Mission, a part of the city I have rarely explored. I’ve heard some not so great things about this part of the city, and I knew I needed some advice so I didn’t end up in a sketchy area where old men blow snot rockets, flies infest stores, or urine takes-over my nostrils. Oh wait….those things are impossible to avoid in the Mission!

After taking the advice of several informative twitter friends I made my way to 16th and Valencia in search of some food! Specifically, Mexican Food! Not wanting to stop at the first place I came across…..which, BTW was really hard not to do since every place I passed by smelled amazeballs…..I walked through several delicious smelling restaurants, amazing antique shops, and intriguing art boutiques.

After stopping at a few too many stores for my growling belly to stand, I decided the next place with food was my final destination! I crawled on all fours into the oasis that was Rosamunde Sausage Grill. Not Mexican food….but seriously, I was STARVING!!! With 25 beers on tap, I knew this was just the place for me! Greg and I ordered our sausage-tacular meals and a pitcher of anchor steam and enjoyed the mariachi mix music the DJ was spinnin’. Yea, that’s right! Mariachi mix music! Am I the only one who thinks that’s weird?! OK, not weird. Just different.

After lunch we enjoyed more street art, which the Mission does not have a lack of, and made our way to Dolores Park. On such a sunny day, how can anyone not be at Dolores Park!!??!! Well, that statement rang true when we arrived and noticed that everyone and their gay BFF was there! I’m pretty sure I over heard someone refer to the top of Dolores Park as “Gay Island.” I call it heaven! People watching heaven! Dolores Park on a sunny day houses the most diverse group of people in the entire city. Yea, my future gay BFF’s hold the majority of the population in this park, but I’m pretty sure there was a little bit of everyone in San Francisco drinking beers and walking the tightrope in this crazy park.

All in all, a great day! Except for the traumatizing situation I had in the 30 minute long bathroom line. I’d rather not talk about it…

♥ Casi

Dances with Wolves Reenactment for My Quarter Century Birthday

Casi — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 19:30:14 +0000

Minus the buffalo. (Un)fortunately we couldn’t find them in Golden Gate Park. Obviously we wouldn’t make good Indians or a good Kevin Costner. Have I told you that half my stuffed animals were named Kevin Costner as a child? The other half were named Patrick Swayze. I can’t believe my mom let me watch Dirty Dancing and Dances With Wolves as a kid. But, oh how I love her for it. Still two of my all time fave movies. LONG LIVE BLUE DINOSAURS NAMED PATRICK SWAYZE/KEVIN COSTNER!!!!

ANYWAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY…..

Last Sunday was a big day for me. First of all, it was my quarter century birthday. I still don’t know how to feel about that. I guess I should feel all kinds of ra-tard since now I’m a 25 year old woman who just ordered a t-shirt from Threadless that says “Rub Me On Your Butt” (I will be tackling mailmen Wednesday morning for my package!) But, whatev-sauce! (oh yea, and I’m a 25 y/o woman who says “Whatev-sauce” and expects people to not judge her for it).

The best part about turning 25 was I did actual archery! Like with a real bow and arrow and everything! Ed the Asian Archery Master schooled us on the basics and actually let us roam free with a bow and arrow on our backs for a full 24 hours! We were like modern day Indians on a hunting trip through GG Park. Luckily for the buffalo, we have very poor tracking abilities! With my mad Wii Archery skills, I was able to get a bulls eye twice! Some say it was luck, but I think they may have underestimated my Wii Archery awesomeness.

After ending hours filled with rogue arrow searching we headed over to the Park Chalet, where we parted crowds. I’d like to think it was for my birthday, but I’m thinking it may have been the intimidating archery equipment we had strapped to our backs.

All in all it was the best day ever which was ended with some intense New Moon watching. Yes, I’m 25!

♥ Casi

Take a look at the adventure filled day we had:

I Live Here: SF – Casi in Sutro Baths and Sutro Heights Park

Casi — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 20:48:12 +0000

I met @JulieMichelle on Twitter after finding her on the site Caliber SF, which she participates in along with a few other amazing photographers in San Francisco.

Last week on a cool sunny morning, Julie and I went out to my favorite spots in San Francisco for a photo shoot to be featured on her site I live Here: SF. This site chronicles the lives of San Francisco dwellers in their favorite parts of the city. As you can imagine, everyone has their own take on their part of the city. But, we all have one thing in common: We ♥ San Francisco!

In my post I focused on my love for the Outer Richmond. We explored Sutro Heights Park and Sutro Baths, all while talking about the beauty of these great spots.

I hope you like my post and Julie’s amazing photography skillz! She truely is amazing and I hope everyone who loves their city as much as I do gets a chance to tell their story on I Live Here: SF.

♥ Casi

Flickr Photo Set by Julie Michelle

The Dark Knight in Dolores Park and Comedy Day

Casi — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 01:11:08 +0000

This last Saturday night we went to our first movie in the park night. XBOX was sponsoring The Dark Knight at Dolores Park. The real adventure was our search for a liquor store in the Castro. We found lots of colorful flags and sexy male underwear stores….what’s up with that?!?! (*sarcasm*) Once we accomplished our mission we headed to the park and picked out perfect seats. We munched on some cheese and crackers, sipped on happy drinks, played some cards, people watched, and prepared for an awesome movie night. There were tons of people enjoying the pop corn, snacks and The Dark Knight. Everyone was really into the movie cheering for the good guys and even the bad guys! How can you not clap for the Joker in this movie!

Sunday was Comedy Day in Golden Gate Park. 30 comics over 5 hours on a beautiful sunny day in San Francisco. It was totally awesome! Especially when Robin Williams came out on stage to accept an award and of course to make the crowd laugh. I can’t wait for next years Comedy Day!

After a lot of sitting on grass this weekend I was actually excited to get home and sit in my comfortable computer chair!

<3Casi

Giants Vs. Pirates – AT&T Park in SoMa

Casi — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 22:45:12 +0000

We went to our FIRST Giants game at AT&T Park in SoMa Wednesday! It was great! We had awesome seats, the weather was perfect, Anchor Steam on tap, friends, and a pickle! Not the food kind of pickle but an actual baseball pickle…never seen one in person (only on Sandlot), so it was kind of exciting! The park is really nice! The field seemed just a bit greener than Dodger Stadium down in LA….weird hu! I know all our friends back in LA hate us now, but don’t worry we’re not big baseball fans so we feel no connection to either team. Now if we are talking basketball…we are FOREVER LA fans! GO LAKERS!

I think we were good luck charms because the Giants beat out the Pirates 1-0.

Another awesome time in SoMa!

<3Casi

Yerba Buena Gardens – SOMA

Casi — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 19:42:40 +0000

Saturday was such a lazy day for Greg and I. We laid in bed until 2p.m. doing nothing (for once)! We had planned the day before to head over to the SOMA area and visit the SFMOMA (that’s San Francisco Museum of Modern Art to all the Noobs out there), Yerba Buena Gardens, and to go check out the Twitter Head Quarters (Yes, we are stalkers). Two out of three aint so bad!

We figured since SFMOMA closes at 5:45 and we would have to pay $10 to get in, it would be better to wait for a not so lazy day where we could get out there early and leisurely walk through the museum instead of speed walking past everything. But, we got some good pics of the outside from Yerba Buena Gardens!

The Yerba Buena Gardens wasn’t exactly what I thought it would be. I imagined tons of flowers and small dirt paths, maybe a little pond in the middle. It was more of a concrete garden if you ask me. There is a beautiful waterfall, great views of the city, lots of big trees, some nice art sculptures, a big grassy area in the center, a restaurant and tea house above the waterfall, and tons of birds! Even though it wasn’t exactly what I imagined it was still a very nice place to sit around and have some lunch while people watching. We didn’t get a chance to check out the restaurant or tea lounge but I definitely want to go back and try out some tea.

As we walked towards Twitter HQ along 3rd St. we walked by more art sculptures. My personal favorite is the self named Mushy Lady!

Twitter HQ wasn’t as exciting as we thought but there was another cute little park across the street where we saw some locals playing bocce ball (we imagined them to be some Twitter executives trying to clear their minds before they go back to make the next big web phenomenon).

We had a great time walking around in SOMA and can’t wait to come back for the Museum!

<3Casi

Alamo Square and the Painted Ladies

Casi — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 23:51:51 +0000

Tuesday was an absolutely beautiful day in San Francisco. A perfect day to eat lunch and soak up the sun at a park. This time we chose Alamo Square. We mostly chose this one because of the Painted Ladies. Greg likes the awesome view of downtown beyond the historic homes and I love the fact that this was the setting for Full House! One of my all time favorite shows…as a kid!

Alamo Square is another great park to bring your dog and your sun tan lotion. We saw more tanners here than Duboce Park, luckily no old men in tiny shorts this time. We saw a woman jamming out to her own soundtrack with her hoola hoop, hot tanning girls (totally ruining my Painted Ladies pictures…even though Greg enjoyed the addition), cute puppies running around, and plenty of grassy areas and benches to chill out on your lunch break. We loved the park and the people and can’t wait to go back!

<3Casi

Duboce Park – Great for People and Dog Watching!

Casi — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 02:30:04 +0000

Before Greg and I went to Zeigeist we decided to head over to the Mission/Castro area a little early and enjoy some lunch at Duboce Park. We brought cheese and crackers, bought a mystery beverage in a paperbag, and sat in the sun. Duboce Park is a great place to bring your dog (and your kids if you have those). There is a doggy park, playground, basketball court, and plenty of grassy areas to kick back and relax (or get your tan on which we noticed a couple of old men doing in their booty shorts!)

We also saw a cute little cafe across the street where we picked up some coffee. The food looked and smelled pretty tasty. And Greg’s Bathroom Report came out to an A+.

Here are some pics (be sure to check out the old man tanning! HOTT!)

<3Casi