Unreal slice of Heaven nestled in the valley of marin headlands. We hiked from Tennessee Valley to…read moreMuir Beach and decided to hike through the valley on our way back instead of an out and back. What an incredible stumble upon in the midst of our hike. Pictures don't do this beautiful spot justice. It felt unreal when we walked up to the garden then through the zen center. We merely wandered through the grounds, we didn't take advantage of any services so I can't attest to what is available on the grounds besides the incredible gardens. Our round trip hike was almost 10 miles and worth every step taken. Beach, redwoods, valley rolling hills, gardens filled to capacity with beautiful blooms, veggies, and lovingly sculpted grounds. Truly an incredible experience and what a treat to allow it to be open to the public.

I just returned from a weekend yoga retreat at Green Gulch Farm Zen Center. It was my second…read moreretreat here and henceforth second time going here. I was on a digital sabbatical so no photos from my smartphone and no laptop. In retrospect from being there would say it was a lovely experience. It was great to unplug and get out of the city aka San Francisco for a weekend. The farm itself is about 30 acres. Green Gulch Farm Zen Center is affiliated with the San Francisco Zen Center in the City and Tassajara. All three is in the lineage of Suzuki Roshi from the Zen lineage from Japan. Suzuki Roshi wrote Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind and other works. I was primarily with my group here doing our own retreat yet did sit on one talk by a senior Zen teacher which I enjoyed. The talk was followed by an insightful question and answer Satsang aka philosophical discussion and tea. The hiking here is wonderful. They have been an organic farm since 1972 supplying the famous Greens Restaurant in San Francisco. The food here was quite alright. Many vegan options. One improvement would be to simply label the food items vegan or not instead they have symbols donating if the item has dairy or eggs yet majority of the food was vegan anyways. It was tasty and fresh as much of the ingredients are grown on site. The accommodation was comfortable. It was about a mile hike to the ocean to Muir Beach and explored the Tennessee Valley trail for a more challenging hike with amazing vista views of the ocean. I also saw two deer while here. If you get a chance to go to the Green Gulch Farm Zen Center. Go! Recommended!

Black Point Historic Gardens is a beautiful hidden gem near Fort Mason and Fisherman's Wharf…read more The garden has peaceful winding paths, colorful flowers, and one of the best surprise views of the Bay, Alcatraz, and the waterfront. It feels much quieter than the busy tourist areas nearby, which makes it a perfect short escape after walking around Pier 39 or Aquatic Park. I loved the mix of history, greenery, and ocean views. The hillside layout gives it a slightly secret-garden feeling, and every turn has a different angle of the water, boats, and skyline. Great spot for a quick walk, photos, a peaceful break, or a scenic detour. Very underrated San Francisco stop.

I've spent a lot of time this way. It was already a cool physical landscape but this remodel has…read moretotally changed the landscape. It is hard to convey how the space has been transformed with the removal of major trees. Earth has been moved. That is some expensive and regulated work. It looks great now. Total transformation. They took out a lot of trees. It's wide open compared to how it used to be. I love this part of town. Great for active people to have the best views possible.

The area can get a bit windy- bring a jacket! This community garden is huge(compared to other…read morecommunity gardens), has lots of places to sit and overall just peaceful yet stunning. No dogs/pets allowed.

This place is adorable and so fun to walk around. I love seeing how everyone chooses to plant their…read moreplot. But don't get any ideas, the waiting list for a plot of your own is 10-15 years!!!

I found Alcatraz to be quite fascinating and found myself reading up on its history after I got…read morehome from my trip to Alcatraz! I had been here many years ago but last time I don't think I did the audio tour (or I didn't pay attention). I highly recommend picking up a free headset and doing the audio tour because it adds a lot of color to what you are looking at in the prison. I thought they would go too fast but I actually felt like the audio was going at roughly the same pace as I was walking around, although you can always pause or rewind if you need to. The prison feels very somber. You should definitely step inside the open cells to get a sense of how awfully small the space was. The solitary confinement cells were bigger but you were in the dark for like 23 hours at a time which sounded horrible. The two primary events they cover here: the Battle of Alcatraz and the great 1962 Escape were really fascinating to learn about. I actually bought the book "Alcatraz from Inside" by Jim Quillen from the gift shop to learn more about the prison, and my reading experience was greatly enhanced because I had a better idea of what the layout of Alcatraz was after my tour. The outside of the prison is quite intriguing as well. There is a lot of wildlife around. There's also of course breathtaking views of San Francisco. It made you feel a bit somber if you think about this is what the prisoners would see from Alcatraz. The bathrooms were also pretty clean. They only have two sets of bathrooms on the island though, and no public bathrooms directly in the prison. There is no food or drink sold on the island so don't plan on sitting at a nice cafe here. I highly recommend going on this tour at least once!

Alcatraz Island tour is a great self guided experience w audio headphones that guide you through…read morethe inside of the prison. I really appreciated the Native American occupation exhibit, personally it was powerful and moving. From '69-'71, activists Native American 'Indians' from all Tribes occupied the island for about 19 months to protest broken treaties and federal policies affecting Native communities. They called for the island to be returned and wanted to turn it into a Native cultural and education center. As a visiting Native American from the TO Nation, it was hard not to feel deep emotions viewing this exhibit. A must visit in SF, very impactful and informative. "Welcome to Indian Land"

Bay Area Strings played at our wedding and I couldn't have asked for more. During planning, Jen was…read morevery easy to work with, responded quickly to questions, and has an amazing repertoire of songs to choose from. Her team showed up early to the wedding to ensure they had plenty of time to setup, and started right on time. They played so beautifully that I'd would've thought it was a recording had my fiance (now wife!) not mentioned that it was the quartet playing. We performed all our dances with the quartet's music, and they played flawlessly. Jen also rearranged one of the songs to fit our choreography. I would recommend Bay Area Strings to anyone looking for a quartet for any events. Jen is an exceptional Cellist, and her team members are top talent as well.

We used Bay Area Strings for our wedding at the Berkeley City Club, and they were absolutely…read moreincredible. Jen was so easy to work with--responsive, organized, and happy to play all the songs we requested. Having them there truly made the day feel even more magical. They play beautifully and created such an elegant, romantic atmosphere for our ceremony and reception. We received so many compliments from our guests. I would 100% recommend Bay Area Strings for any special event!

Noah and his team are simply brilliant! I had the good fortune to receive some beautiful Paul…read moreMadonna prints from his studio and love them! The attention to detail, recommendation to an equally brilliant framing studio (I LOVE STERLING ART SERVICES!!!) my entire experience from request to final product was simply amazing. Thank you Noah and team! I will be sending ALL my clientele to you and Sterling for their fine printing and framing needs.

Kris & Noah and the entire team at Electric Works go above and beyond. They deliver top-notch…read moreperformance across a broad range of services and products. I've been going to them for probably 20 years and can't recommend them more highly.

I had a framed artwork that broke when it fell and hit the ground. It was a fairly clean break,…read morealong the side joints, but some of the wood framing had chipped. I called four framing shops but none would touch a repair. It was a very large piece and I didn't want to spend $1-2K on a redo. Artistic Picture Framing agreed. It took 3 days, just over $100, and it looks good as new. Amazing!

This review is long overdue. Thank you Artistic Picture Framing for your care, precision, time, and…read moreattention to detail. Rodolfo truly is a joy to work with and is so knowledgable about his craft. Couldn't have pictured (love a good pun) working with anyone else for the first framed piece in our son's nursery. While at a community holiday fare, we bought a super cool piece of art from a local vendor of a map of El Cerrito which includes my husband's work site. It's playful, colorful, and full of joy. After utilizing the Yelp app to find a framing company close by, we found Artistic Picture Framing. After meeting the crew in-person, we knew we were in the right hands. We worked with Rodolfo on choosing the right colors for the piece and chatted about becoming parents, the nursery we were building, and the magic we were hoping to encompass and build around from this staple piece. He captured truly what we were looking for at an affordable rate. Looking forward to utilizing this service for future art, so happy with the outcome!

My husband and I had the privilege of having Eleonora play for our wedding ceremony! Eleonora is…read moreextremely talented, friendly, professional, and helpful! Eleonora made the entire process very easy and stress free. She provided us with a large variety of songs for us to choose from and add to our wedding playlist. Eleonora played so beautifully and elegantly during our wedding, we received multiple compliments about her! I highly recommend booking Eleonora to play at your wedding! She is wonderful!!

Eleonora is wonderful! She did our wedding and it added that extra oomph to the event…read more Highly recommend! :)

A magical little place. When I came here as a kid, the sheer size of this little patch of bay felt…read moreimpossible. No charge for parking, ample first-come first-serve grills and tables, and no permit required fishing off the decades-old mainstay, Paradise Pier. Complete with the best view of the Richmond Bridge out there.

Beautiful park. We came here twice now, once for a baby shower. You can fish or relax on the lawn…read more There are chairs for you with some tables. Lots of picnic areas for gathering. There's a very small beach nearby but it's on the other side of the picnic grounds.