Rolling Traveler

This week’s city was San Francisco, but the main focus was getting around the city, not what there is to see and do. Today’s post is the first to focus on things to do and places to go in the city: as always for a Sunday post, it’s an ecclectic mix of facts, reviews and ideas, and by no means a definitive tourist guide. In later posts, I will revisit San Francisco to talk about specific neighborhoods and complete the picture of this great city. For now, here is my San Francisco Seven.

Going to the cinema can often be a literal pain in the neck due to the placement of the wheelchair berths. When auditoriums are being made accessible, there are only a few places realistically available due to the placement of the doors and steps, so the berths are commonly in the front row or just a few rows back at the entrance level, and also often at the extreme right or left. The IMAX theater in the AMC Metreon on 4th and Mission is one cinema you can go to without having to look up the whole time: although the main doors to the auditorium are at the level of the front row, there is a second set of doors at the back, and wheelchair users enter through these. The wheelchair berths are in the best spot in the house: in the center of the very back row. You do need to see a member of staff to get in through the doors at the back of this auditorium, but it’s not hard to find someone. The theater rates an Excellent for overall accessibility, and the IMAX experience is definitely worth it if you’ve never been before.

The best gyoza I’ve ever had are served in a Japanese restaurant that’s off the beaten track but well worth a visit: Moshi Moshi on 3rd and 18th in Potrero. The recipe is the restaurant’s own: the secret to the excellent flavor and texture is the ginger. Getting there is easy: the T Third line of MUNI Metro has an accessible stop on Third and Mariposa, just one block away, and the restaurant has a fully accessible front area including restrooms, and only a small step up to the back area, rating a Very Good overall. There is a full Japanese menu including sushi, and a full bar, and the staff are very friendly. The owner, a charming man, is often there in the evenings, and he loves to chat and have a drink with the regulars.

Familiar to viewers of the US sitcom Full House and to anyone who’s ever had a San Francisco-themed calendar, the row of beautifully decorated Victorian houses called the Painted Ladies at 712-720 Steiner Street are a must see for anyone who wants to get a sense of the early 20th century look of San Francisco. Unfortunately, without a car, it is difficult for manual wheelchair users to get to see the Painted Ladies properly. The streets around Alamo Square Park are steep, and the park itself is difficult to cross unaided.

Reader Singe du Trois recommended a great long walk for tourists along the Embarcadero, from the Aquatic Park, through Fisherman’s Wharf and the Ferry Building, all the way to AT&T Park, home of the San Francisco Giants. It would be very ambitious to try to do the whole stretch in one day, but each stop on the way is definitely of interest to tourists. Fisherman’s Wharf is the least accessible of the four, rating only Satisfactory, as many of the shops and stalls are too small to accommodate wheelchairs comfortably, and there are several areas of steps. The sea lions that lie on rafts in the sun at Pier 39 are the highlight, but unfortunately difficult to see from a wheelchair due to the crowds and the positioning of the walls and barriers. The Ferry Building is a functioning ferry terminal, but the main concourse of the building is given over to an indoor gourmet market with some good restaurants and a great wine store. It rates Excellent for accessibility.

If you’re looking to buy music or movies, go to Amoeba Records on Haight Street near Stanyan. Housed in a former bowling alley, the store stocks a huge range of music, movies and TV shows, including many rare titles. The store is fully wheelchair accessible, rating a Very Good; the aisles are wide and the CD racks and shelving units relatively low, which means you can do most of your shopping unaided: only some of the wall shelves in the DVD room and the top shelves of the CD racks are out of reach to the average wheelchair user. There are plenty of staff on hand, and they know their stuff. Even if you’re not looking to buy anything, the store is still well worth a visit, as there’s often signings, live shows and DJ events: just be sure you check the listing for the San Francisco store, not the Berkley or Hollywood stores.

Going to the beach in San Francisco is not really an option for most wheelchair users. The long stretch of Ocean Beach on the city’s west side could be made more accessible if the few ramp access points to the beach were better maintained, and if a few boardwalks were put down on the sand to accommodate non-beach wheelchairs; as it stands, wheelchair users can only stroll along the car parks above the beach. There are also several small beaches on the Bay side between the Golden Gate and Bay Bridges, but most are at the bottom of steep hills or cliffs, and thus are difficult to access even for able-bodied visitors. The only consolation is that the weather in San Francisco is rarely beach-going weather, so unless you had your heart set on a stroll down a foggy wind-swept shore, you probably won’t feel that you’ve missed much.

Speaking of which, the San Francisco weather is unpredictable, so pack accordingly. The day can start out dull and foggy and stay that way, or the clouds can give way to blazing sunshine by lunchtime. It tends to rain in winter and be cold and gray in summer, and the spring and Fall tend to get the most sunny days, but there are no hard and fast rules. To complicate matters more, the city has very localized weather patterns: the west side of the city with the Pacific coastline can be foggy and cold while just over the hill in the Castro and Mission, the sun is splitting the rocks. The key is to dress in layers and remember your waterproofs, and not to expect the Hollywood image of Californian weather.

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