second the loch lomond. the tidepools in santa cruz at natural bridges are better though.

re: outdoor in San Francisco Bay Area the sheer volume of things to do outside in the bay area makes it difficult to create a list of what's good to do. ANYTHING is good. Head North, South, or East and you'll find something awesome.

I like Esperpento.

a few more outdoor things...

Kitesurfing in Alameda (great place to take some lessons and just fly around the bay with the cityscape behind you)

Mountain biking like anywhere... but might as well rip all over Mt Tam where the sport was invented!

Sail out the gate and explore the farallons.

Roys Redwoods for some frisbee after a nice brunch at the Two Bird Cafe out in west marin.

I might have missed it somehow, but how has no one mentioned Chez Panisse ? While I think it has gone a little bit downhill in recent years, it's still an incredible dining experience.

As for my other random culinary favorites in the Bay, I really, really like Legendary Palace in Oakland Chinatown, St Francis Creamery in the Mission (couldn't find a link, but it's quite the popular spot), Kirala in Berkeley for Japanese food, and the gem of them all, Cinque Terre Restaurant , which is unquestionably the best value for Italian food in all of North Beach, and comes close to rivaling some of my fave spots in Boston's North End.

Oh, and I should mention that if you are after a serious espresso, try Cafe Nefeli in Berkeley , which routinely ranks in "Best of" Espresso lists for the United States.

why? Oakland rocks but I haven't really had problems at SFO and I fly a lot.

I'd like to add Slanted Door to the list of good restaurants. Pricy vietnamese/fusion in the ferry building on embarcadero. delicious.

My wife and I used to live at Mason and Clay, and I miss the Saturday routine of waking up after a Friday night that concluded with a Hurricane nightcap at the Tonga Room inside the Fairmont (yeah, pricey, but the water feature is pretty cool and it was a block from my apartment). Walk to down to Stockton and see the craziness that is Chinatown on a Saturday morning, up to Green with a stop at Little City Meats to pick up some sausages and a steak for Sunday. Walk up to the Ferry Terminal Farmer's market, get a roasted chicken and a grilled peach and eat it on the south side of the building. Catch BART to the Mission and stop off to get a haircut from one of the cute latinas that give the best $15 haircuts in the world, then do the week's vegetable shopping since the veggies are 1/3 the price of those at the farmer's market or Whole Foods. Stop at La Taqueria for a Carne Asada taco, then catch a cab back to the apartment.

The afternoon was filled with going to the beach, or Golden Gate Park, or Angel Island, or a Giant's or A's (I know, I know) game. Dinner at either Nob Hill Cafe, Italian food in North Beach, or at Bow Hon at Grant and Washington, which is one of a very few places where decent Chinese food is available on Grant street.

Saturday nights we spent in North Beach at the bars.

San Francisco is awesome.

I was hoping you were talking about civilian flying! If anybody is interested in it, I'll be in the Bay Area around late April and I'll have a seat open. I plan on doing some flying into the SF area, but pretty much just an aerial vineyard tour and possibly, depending on what plane I get, some beach touring. Obviously, I would like to add that flying in the Bay Area and especially into the Napa Valley is absolutely incredible. I fly a lot faster and stupider almost every day, but I wouldn't trade a single minute of that stuff for my Bay Area experiences.

Crepes on Cole in Haight Ashbury is great.

I've heard Phoenix Hotel is very hip but it's in a horrible neighborhood - (Tenderloin district)

are you offering a plane ride (from a presumed fighter pilot)???

what's this gonna cost?! sounds once in a lifetime...

Ja,

Slanted Door is great. Nationally acclaimed Vietnamese food.

Everything is great (only thing I think is just so-so is the ahi tuna entree), here are my favorites:

Crispy Imperial Rolls
Fresh Spring Rolls
Braised Beef Short Ribs

Chicken Claypot
Shaking Beef
Catfish Claypot
Roasted Seabass
Noodles w/ Dungeness Crab Meat
Steamed/Roasted Whole Fish

Spinach, Chard, Kale, Bok Choy, etc. all delicious
Lemongrass Tofu

If you don't have reservations, you can get to the bar early and eat there. The counter bar has a full menu. The lounge area of the bar has a small apps/rawbar menu.

If you want to have Slanted Door food but not pay for an expensive meal out, check out their to-go place Out The Door - they have locations at Ferry Building and the new San Francisco Center on Market.

They have cheap basic rice/noodle dishes that are great. Apps like the imperial and spring rolls, pork buns, etc. They also have to-go kits of some of the entrees like the shaking beef and claypot that you can take home and make. And my favorites, delicious Vietnamese sandwiches - the Saigon Roast Pork is so good. Great way to have their food at bargain prices.

The Tonga Room is awesome.

I used to live on Clay between Taylor and Mason. Sweet views but kind of pain getting around up and down all those hills, also not much street life. I moved to upper haight and liked it a lot better for all the easy stuff to walk to and good food.

SFO is not even the worst airport in the Bay Area. That "honor", by a long shot, belongs to that 60s/70s throwback, SJC.