North Beach will be having a Jazz Fest on July 20th through 27th so mark your calendars for some jazzy nights at your favorite beach with no sand.

Kicking off on Sunday, July 20 and spreading over the next week, the visionaries at Sunset Promotions and festival founder Alistair Monroe bring you what has been lovingly referred to as the “Soul of San Francisco.” The festival boasts an annual attendance of over 50,000 and an abundance of free and all-ages programming, making it San Francisco’s foremost urban music festival. In its fourteenth year, this locally produced festival presents musicians who continue to push jazz into the future, while honoring its glorious past.

via nbjazzfest

Jerry Garcia Amphitheater?  Well, I didn’t know there was an amphitheater dedicated to Jerry Garcia but I guess there is one!

The Jerry Garcia Amphitheater, located at 45 Shelley Drive in John McLaren Park, is one of the most spectacular performance venues in San Francisco.  The Greek-style amphitheater is situated in a bucolic setting away from urban noises.  With its outstanding acoustics and generous green room facilities, the theater is appropriate for all kinds of musical and dramatic performances.  Groups interested in renting the facility should contact the Department’s Permits and Reservations office at (415) 831-5500.

via sfgov

This July 4th, I might be headed out to Tank Hill, located somewhat next to Twin Peaks.  I doubt I can see Fireworks as well than being in downtown but it sure beats the traffic and parking tickets.

My new favorite high point in San Francisco is called Tank Hill, because it was once the location of a huge municipal water tank. Today it’s a protected park with a gorgeous day and night panoramic view from the Golden Gate Bridge and the Marin Headlands all the way across the city and down to the East Bay. I heard about Tank Hill from a fantastic weekly newsletter called Weekend Sherpa, which reveals secret spots around the Bay Area for all kinds of outdoor activities. (Kay Merrill, a family travel planner who lives up on Larkspur, put me on to Weekend Sherpa.)

via concierge

Tank Hill on Yelp

Here’s a video of it:

Click Here to View in Full Screen Mode

Lake Merced is perhaps one of the best jogging trails in San Francisco along with the Golden Gate Bridge trail.

I am lucky to live right next to the lake so I jog this 2.5 - 5 mile path everyday.  The jogging path is big too so you can take your baby with you too.

Lake Merced is surrounded by beautiful golf courses such as the Olympic Club and Harding Park GC, both known as one of the best golf courses in the world.

This area of San Francisco is probably the most quiet part of the city, where you can jog and enjoy some scenic views.

Here’s some pictures I took today while jogging:

Sunset district is the part of San Francisco that is next to the ocean, basically the whole west part is mostly sunset.

Why is it called sunset?

Because the sunsets and you can see it everyday if you live in a high rise apartment or a house on a hill.

Of course, you can always head over to ocean beach too.

Parkmerced is a big complex of high rise apartments in the SF Sunset district area.  This is where I live.

Now, Parkmerced is actually adjacent to San Francisco State College, which makes it great place for college students to live but you do have to face some party noise and lots of construction.

Although I do have my complaints, it’s not that bad when you live on the top 12th floor.

So, if you ever decide to go live at Parkmerced, make sure to get 12th floor.  (The best time is around Summer time between July and August, you should be able to get a 12th floor apartment with an ocean view. )

Right now, I pay about $1800 in rent plus covered garage parking for a spacious 1 bedroom apartment.  The living room is fairely large and diamond shaped so it’s nice.

Sunset district is much cheaper than anywhere else in the city plus there’s lots of really cheap to-go chinese food as there are so many chinese restaurants, they are all competing so you pay less.

Sunset is also a lot less crowded and there’s more parking.  But, don’t expect it to be easy, anywhere in the city it’s a tough contest to find parking.

Other than the view, I guess my next plan is to move out right next to the Ocean and get a small house someday so I can walk to the beach.

Here’s some shots from the 12th floor at Parkmerced:

(Click to enlarge)

Well, today I had chance to go take a panoramic picture of one of San Francisco’s highest peaks, the Twin Peaks.

I didn’t do a super great job of Photoshopping the pics but at least you can enjoy 270 degree view of San Francisco from one of the highest points in San Fran.

Download 14Mb High resolution version here

As a resident of San Francisco, I have to admit that I do see cable cars everywhere near downtown but I never got a chance to get into the details.  Although there’s great public transportation, (and I should take advantage over it) I am biased and have to resort to taking my car everywhere.

Well, I did site hop onto this blog post explaining in details about cable cars and how they are the only remaining manually operating cable car system.

Check it out as you will learn a little about “gripman” and how it’s not easy to become one.

Did you know that the San Francisco cable car system is the world’s last permanently operational manually-operated cable car system? It’s pretty amazing. Driving and maintaining the cable car takes a lot of man power and manual labor. Man powered turntables turn the cable cars around at the two ends since these cable cars can only run straight.

via mylifeisyummy

Oops, I guess SF Film Festival ends today. Last day to go so if you need to, go today!

via sf.metblogs

At fisherman’s wharf, you can meet all the most famous people in the world by visiting the world famous Wax Museum.

Look at the 3 famous people I met today, isn’t that cool?

Yes, Yao Ming does look real….

Impeach Bush!

That doesn’t even slightly look like Tiger, they must have had the heater on too long…

I did spot these refurbished World War II amphibious boat/car thingee. Yes, I highly recommend going this route if you need a quick 80 minute review of San Francisco in general.

Of course, there are lots of other options like the Segways, electric bikes, and go-carts if you have more time.

San Francisco Duck Tours - Experience San Francisco’s newest attraction and
a better way to see San Francisco, on board one of DUKW’s, (we call ‘em Ducks!) an original, refurbished World War II Amphibious landing craft.

Bay Quackers is a fun-filled, memorable 80-min Surf & Turf Duck Tour of San Francisco and the Bay.

See North Beach, Chinatown, Union Square, Soma, McCovey Cove, San Francisco Bay, Coit Tower and more while quacking your way through the city.

You can check out BayQuackers.com here.