Room after room of new and used books built in an old two-story house, Green Apple Books is one of my favorite places to get lost for an afternoon. While they have a second store located south of the Golden Gate Park on 9th Ave, their Clement street store is the original home base.
Great local bookstores are an endangered species, and to survive, they need to be the best of the breed, and that is Green Apple. Their staff recos are legendary, with hundreds of review cards all throughout the store to help find what you didn't know you wanted. Because they sell both new and used books, they maintain a critically quirky inventory which delivers what I most need in a bookstore: discovery.
I can go in looking for a cookbook by Marcella Hazan and emerge 3 hours later with a said Italian cookery tome, plus a biography of Cardinal Richelieu, which has been out of print for 20 years, a remaindered copy of a Michael Ondaatje novel I missed, a guide to Julia Morgan homes in the Bay Area, and some note cards which I always need. Match that level of discovery Amazon - I dare you.
Find your way with 156 Insider Tips from our Local Spotters
My neighborhood park is San Francisco is "Mountain Lake Park." It's one of our last remaining natural lakes,
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You'll sail completely around Alcatraz and then out to sea, pass other boats, and experience the fog rolling into the Bay—a very cool experience.
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Custom-built in Italy, it features more than 30 colorful animals and is the only bay area carousel with artistic renderings of all the SF landmarks!
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"Trouble Coffee" in San Francisco is a category of its own. Let's say it belongs to the 'badass coffee' category. Makes me feel like a rough surfer girl!
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It's an easy hike with trees, ferns, and other bits of nature surrounding the trail. If you stop and listen, you will hear… nothing.
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"Hook Fish Co" in San Francisco is deep in the Sunset Avenues and is perfect for when you have a hankering for some scrumptious fish tacos!
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I love coming to Alamo Square in San Francisco and getting a yummy park coffee from Lady Falcon Coffee Club and their converted 1940s bread truck!
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"The Spire" in The Presidio in San Francisco is one of the many reasons to come visit. A natural skyscraper, it reminds me of Where the Wild Things Are...
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I've never been to a cafe that made me feel as if I had been teleported to another place than "Stable Cafe" in San Francisco... Felt like I was in Italy!
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"Saint Frank Coffee" in San Francisco feels like an airy museum on the inside. I always leave with a few bags of coffee and an iced latte in hand...
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"The Mill SF" with its red brick exterior gets one curious straight away! I come here for their awesome toast, especially the cinnamon sugar toast!
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TIme has almost forgotten the "Presidio Pet Cemetery" in San Francisco, with pet hedge stones & names from when this was an active Army base...
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156 Insider Tips from our local Spotters
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