1,000 Places to See Before You Die

by Patricia Schultz

  LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, TRANSGENDER PRIDE CELEBRATION—During the last full weekend in June, the nation’s largest gay festival attracts a spirited crowd of over 1 million for 2 days of speeches, partying, and colorful entertainment. The highlight is the Pride Parade, which, in its sometimes outrageous glory, wends down Market Street to the Civic Center. You don’t need to be gay to enjoy the fabulous, uninhibited fun. INFO: Tel 415-864-0831; www.sfpride.org.

  WHERE TO STAY

  ARGONAUT HOTEL—A top hotel in the busy Fisherman’s Wharf area (see p. 729), the Argonaut offers water-view rooms, a nautical motif, and extra-comfortable beds and it’s just steps from the cable car, San Francisco Maritime National Park, Aquatic Park’s small beach, and all the mayhem of the touristy Wharf neighborhood. INFO: Tel 866-415-0704 or 415-563-0800; www.argonauthotel.com. Cost: from $185.

  THE FAIRMONT SAN FRANCISCO—As much a grand palace as a hotel, the Fairmont San Francisco stands atop Nob Hill, with fabulous views (particularly from the Tower Suites). The fashionable but unstuffy clientele comes for the first-class amenities and Euro-style chic. INFO: Tel 866-540-4491 or 415-772-5000; www.fairmont.com/sanfrancisco. Cost: from $229 (off-peak), from $369 (peak).

  HOTEL DRISCO—Get away from the bustle and noise of downtown at this small, elegant hotel in Pacific Heights. Built in 1903 and fully renovated, this stately retreat offers the relaxed comfort of an upscale B&B but with the furnishings and impeccable service of a top hotel. Complimentary chauffeur services whisk you to Union Square and other destinations. INFO: Tel 800-634-7277 or 415-346-2880; www.jdvhotels.com. Cost: from $209 (off-peak), from $299 (peak).

  HOTEL VITALE—This hotel, built in 2005, has everything going for it: a marvelous location across from the bustling Ferry Building market (see p. 728), expansive views of the waterfront and city, and a cool, modern aesthetic. The overall experience is of soothing elegance, perfect for a romantic retreat. INFO: Tel 888-890-8688 or 415-278-3700; www.hotelvitale.com. Cost: from $299 (off-peak), from $499 (peak).

  THE RITZ-CARLTON—With its white-columned Classical façade, the Ritz-Carlton is a veritable paean to luxury and a favorite of visiting celebs and well-heeled travelers. Enjoy cocktails and a raw bar in the chandelier-hung Lobby Lounge. Called The Dining Room, the hotel’s restaurant serves modern French cuisine that is lauded as the city’s best. INFO: Tel 800-542-8680 or 415-296-7465; www.ritzcarlton.com. Cost: from $329 (off-peak), from $399 (peak); dinner $80.

  THE ST. REGIS SAN FRANCISCO—The St. Regis is the pinnacle of contemporary design and unabashed swank. The 40-story bastion of luxury is both hip (with top-of-the-line entertainment systems) and old school (many rooms come with butler service). At Ame Restaurant, chefs Hiro Sone and Lissa Doumani, the duo behind Napa Valley’s renowned Terra (see p. 713), showcase seafood that’s part Japanese, part French, and 100 percent delectable. INFO: Tel 415-284-4000; www.stregissanfrancisco.com. Cost: from $349. AME: Tel 877-787-3447 or 415-284-4040; www.amerestaurant.com. Cost: 5-course tasting menu $85.

  EATING & DRINKING

  BOULEVARD—A touch of the Belle Époque on the Bay, Boulevard is a perfect spot for a romantic dinner. It occupies the Audiffred Building on the Embarcadero, the only waterfront building to survive the 1906 earthquake. Its Parisian-style interior is the ideal accompaniment to chef Nancy Oakes’s modern take on French cooking, with such soul-satisfying dishes as pan-seared veal sweetbreads and porcini mushrooms with toasted carrot spaetzle. INFO: Tel 415-543-6084; www.boulevardrestaurant.com. Cost: dinner $75.

  COI—Coi (pronounced kwa, from the antiquated French word for “tranquil”) is an intimate, 48-seat restaurant serving brightly flavored, carefully crafted food full of the terroir of Northern California. Chef Daniel Patterson’s ever-changing 11-course tasting menu reflects the best and freshest ingredients available. This is cooking of great distinction, in which even the simplest foods sing with flavor. INFO: Tel 415-393-9000; www.coirestaurant.com. Cost: 11-course tasting menu $135.

  DELFINA—While more rarified Italian restaurants can be found in San Francisco, none is more beloved than Delfina. The food at this handsome trattoria is refreshingly straightforward, with chef-owner Craig Stoll relying on farm-to-table ingredients and the rich traditions of Tuscan cooking to create dishes that are at once homey, classic, and adventurous. INFO: Tel 415-552-4055; www.delfinasf.com. Cost: dinner $55.

  FOREIGN CINEMA—Talk about a double feature: Stylish, beautifully prepared California-by-way-of-France bistro cooking is paired with classic films projected onto the back wall of the restaurant’s lovely open-air courtyard. Perfect for Mission hipsters, actors, restaurant insiders, and families. INFO: Tel 415-648-7600; www.foreigncinema.com. Cost: dinner $60.

  GARY DANKO—The epitome of San Francisco style, Restaurant Gary Danko offers a dazzling selection of seasonal dishes that each diner builds into his or her own multicourse tasting menu. Choose from glazed oysters with osetra caviar or branzini fillets with fennel puree to create a freestyle epicurean extravaganza. Reserve well in advance, as this is a special-occasion favorite. INFO: Tel 415-749-2060; www.garydanko.com. Cost: 3-course dinner $68.

  QUINCE—In stylish new digs on Jackson Square, Quince now offers its many fans more elbow room to enjoy chef Michael Tusk’s full-flavored, Italian-influenced cuisine. Exquisite ingredients inspire the daily-changing menu, and Tusk’s masterful technique never masks the heady natural flavors. Particularly good are fish and pasta dishes, such as house-made spaghetti with clams, melon, and a splash of espresso to mellow the flavors. INFO: Tel 415-775-8500; www.quincerestaurant.com. Cost: dinner $80.

  ZUNI CAFÉ—A favorite on Market Street, Zuni Café has been a San Francisco landmark since 1987. Chef-owners Judy Rodgers and Gilbert Pilgram continue to craft marvelous Mediterranean-style dishes (such as their legendary brick-oven-roasted chicken for two) that helped revolutionize cooking across the nation. While the menu has evolved, the scene is the same as ever, with a crowd as diverse as the neighborhood. INFO: Tel 415-552-2522. Cost: dinner $55.

  DAY TRIPS

  CHEZ PANISSE & THE BERKELEY FOOD SCENE—Across San Francisco Bay, Berkeley is home to the first University of California campus and has long been known for its progressive politics and culture. The city has also been at the culinary vanguard since the early 1970s, when Alice Waters opened legendary Chez Panisse, the restaurant that helped create “California cuisine” and make “fresh, seasonal, and local” the mantra of American cooking. As well regarded as ever, the redwood-paneled Chez Panisse dining room serves prix-fixe menus, while upstairs the Panisse Café offers a less expensive à la carte menu—all from ingredients supplied by over 80 local farms.

  And as goes Chez Panisse, so goes the neighborhood. Along Berkeley’s Shattuck Avenue, dozens of restaurants, artisan food and wine shops, and other purveyors of deliciousness have taken root. Explore the bounty on a Gourmet Ghetto Culinary Tour. CHEZ PANISSE: Tel 510-548-5525; www.chezpanisse.com. Cost: dinner $75; $30 at the café. GOURMET GHETTO: Tel 415-806-5970; www.inthekitchenwithlisa.com.

  SAUSALITO—The 25-minute ferry ride between the Ferry Terminal and the quaint Mediterranean-like town of Sausalito is considered one of the most scenic in the world, with epic vistas of the Golden Gate Bridge and the San Francisco skyline. Stay at Inn Above Tide for that same inimitable view. Sausalito is a profusion of shops and boutiques and bayfront restaurants: Sushi Ran’s sushi may be the finest in the Bay Area. GOLDEN GATE FERRY: Tel 415-455-2000; www.goldengateferry.org. INN ABOVE TIDE: Tel 415-332-9535; www.innabovetide.com. Cost: from $305. SUSHI RAN: Tel 415-332-3620; www.sushiran.com. Cost: dinner $30.

  POINT REYES NATIONAL SEASHORE—Stretching 30 miles along the rugged Marin County coastline, the Point Reyes National Seashore draws hikers, solitude seekers, and birders to its coastal wilderness; migrating gray whales can sometimes be spotted in winter from the 1870 landmark Point Reyes Lighthouse. One short, easy hiking loop traces the San Andreas Fault Zone. Point Reyes’s gateway villages are loaded with good shops and r
estaurants; near Marshall, Hog Island Oyster Company is a working farm that serves fresh barbecued oysters alfresco. Stay in Inverness at Manka’s Inverness Lodge, a 10-room lodge known for its food, available by room service only. WHERE: 35 miles north of San Francisco. Tel 415-663-8054; www.nps.gov/pore. HOG ISLAND OYSTER COMPANY: Tel 415-663-9218; www.hogislandoysters.com. Cost: lunch $40. MANKA’S INVERNESS LODGE: Tel 415-669-1034; www.mankas.com. Cost: from $215; dinner $60.

  A High Sierra Gem

  YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK

  California, U.S.A.

  “No temple made with hands can compare with Yosemite,” wrote naturalist John Muir, who contributed to the 1890 founding of Yosemite National Park. The park’s dramatic beauty has been famously captured in the photographs of Ansel Adams, from Half Dome, Yosemite’s 8,842-foot trademark peak, to El Capitan, the largest single granite rock on earth. The magnificent Yosemite Falls, another of the park’s highlights, are, at 2,425 feet, the highest on the continent.

  Millions converge in high season on the mile-wide, 7-mile-long Yosemite Valley, cut by the Merced River and guarded by sheer granite cliffs and domes rising 2,000 to 4,000 feet. Avoiding the park’s summertime people-jams is easy: Strike out, whether on foot, horseback, or mule, and explore the wilder 95 percent of the park along any of its 800 miles of trails. The moderately strenuous Mist Trail offers a close-up view of 317-foot Vernal Fall and 620-foot Bridalveil Fall. It is part of the more ambitious, 211-mile John Muir Trail, which snakes through six passes with elevations higher than 11,000 feet as it crosses the backbone of the Sierra Nevada.

  With close to 200 miles of paved roads, there are plenty of pull-offs, such as Glacier Point, that afford spectacular views. And for whitewater rafters, almost every class of rapids awaits on a 28-mile stretch of the Merced River and, just outside the park, the Tuolumne River, with more than 18 miles of scenic Class IV rapids.

  The Ahwahnee, a rustic but luxurious lodge (whose name roughly translates from the Miwok word as “valley that looks like a gaping mouth”), is a 1927 showpiece of stone and native timber, with heart-stopping views. Winter here is a special time, when the lodge’s much loved Bracebridge Dinner brings Old English Yuletide cheer to snow-covered Yosemite. For over 80 years, it’s been a family favorite. Château du Sureau, the area’s other notable lodging, is 15 minutes south of Yosemite. It’s an enchanting ten-room inn with the air of a European country estate, and its acclaimed restaurant, Erna’s Elderberry House, is known for its six-course menu.

  Yosemite’s waterfalls are best viewed in late spring, when they’re at peak flow, and before summer crowds arrive.

  WHERE: 190 miles east of San Francisco. Tel 209-372-0200; www.nps.gov/yose. JOHN MUIR TRAIL: www.pcta.org. THE AHWAHNEE: Tel 209-372-1407; www.yosemitepark.com. Cost: from $299. BRACEBRIDGE DINNER: 801-559-5000; www.bracebridgedinners.com. Cost: $375. When: mid–late Dec. CHATEU DU SUREAU: Tel 559-683-6860; www.chateausureau.com. Cost: from $445; prix-fixe dinner $95. BEST TIMES: May for waterfalls; May–Jun and Oct–Nov to avoid crowds.

  High-Society Glamour and Glorious Skiing

  ASPEN

  Colorado, U.S.A.

  Strip away its celebrity veneer and Aspen shines as one of the country’s best places to ski. Add in a few excellent restaurants, art galleries, and a year-round social scene and you’ll realize why this town is the darling of the rich and famous. Streets are lined with late-19th-century gingerbread homes from the city’s heady mining-town years. And while their price tags may be out of the average visitor’s budget, the peerless views of the Rockies are free.

  Aspen’s four mountains offer nearly 5,000 skiable acres, and all are linked by free shuttle service and transferable lift tickets. Snowmass is the biggie, with 3,128 acres of wide-open groomed runs perfect for families. Aspen Mountain, “Ajax” to locals, is a challenging peak that has a vertical drop of 3,267 feet and 76 variable-terrain ski trails made more accessible by recently improved lift capacity. Aspen Highlands is a favorite with many locals, as much for the hike to the top of the Highland Bowl as for the Olympic bowls, while Buttermilk is the best for beginners.

  After a day on Aspen Mountain, settle in at The Little Nell, the only ski-in/ski-out lodge in Aspen and a snowball’s throw from the Silver Queen Gondola, the longest single-stage gondola in the country. The lodge’s stylish Montagna restaurant beckons with a farm-to-table menu good enough to compete with the views of Aspen Mountain.

  In town, the Hotel Jerome dates to the boom mining years. The Victorian décor is impeccably intact, modernized with Jacuzzis and a heated outdoor pool, and the historic J-Bar is still among the best places in town for people-watching and nightlife.

  You won’t go hungry in Aspen, with options that range from tapas bars to world-class sushi. But head out of the fray to Krabloonik, a tiny log cabin on Snowmass named for the owner’s lead sled dog. Repeat visitors come for the succulent wild game—maybe caribou chops or elk fillets—and dogsled rides into the quiet woods.

  Aspen also lays claim to the title “Festival Capital of the Rockies,” though Telluride (see p. 739) might have something to say about that. A year-round roster of cultural events climaxes with the classical Aspen Music Festival, the Aspen Dance Festival, and Jazz Aspen Snowmass, big enough to warrant two different programs of rock, soul, reggae, and jazz in June and again around Labor Day. Gourmets from around the world lead the festivities when the Food and Wine Classic takes over for three days in June.

  WHERE: 200 miles southwest of Denver. ASPEN SNOWMASS: Tel 800-525-6200 or 970-925-1220; www.aspensnowmass.com. Cost: lift tickets from $96. When: ski season late Nov–mid-Apr. THE LITTLE NELL: Tel 888-843-6355 or 970-920-4600; www.thelittlenell.com. Cost: from $330 (off-peak), from $810 (peak); dinner at Montagna $70. HOTEL JEROME: Tel 800-331-7213 or 970-920-1000; www.hoteljerome.com. Cost: from $249 (off-peak), from $1,055 (peak). KRABLOONIK RESTAURANT: Tel 970-923-3953; www.krabloonikrestaurant.com. Cost: dinner $65. BEST TIMES: Dec–Mar for skiing; Jun–early Sep for hiking; mid-Jun for Food and Wine Classic; late Jun–late Aug for Music Festival; mid-Jul–late Aug for Dance Festival; late Jun and early Sep for Jazz Aspen.

  A Young-at-Heart Mountain Town

  DURANGO

  Colorado, U.S.A.

  “It’s out of the way and glad of it,” cracked Will Rogers. Nestled in the Animas River Valley between the desert and the San Juan Mountains, Durango is not all that inaccessible these days, but its caught-in-time feel, along with plenty of modern-day activities, are a big part of its allure. Founded in 1881, Durango is also popular for its proximity to Mesa Verde National Park (see p. 736).

  Students attending Fort Lewis College give Durango an upbeat air and keep dozens of ski, bike, and camping stores in business. The Durango Mountain Resort has 1,200 ski-able acres and 85 trails on Purgatory Mountain, while kayakers can tackle Class II and III rapids on the Animas River, which flows right through the center of town. Durango is also one of the most popular mountain biking towns in the West; it hosted the first-ever national mountain bike championships in 1990, now held annually around the country. Motorcyclists get their chance when they converge by the thousands during the Rally in the Rockies in early September.

  Mosey over to the Strater Hotel, a handsome redbrick Victorian where Wild West legends Bat Masterson and Butch Cassidy both stayed. Louis L’Amour wrote a few of his Western novels in room 222, and live ragtime music wafts from the Diamond Belle Saloon, decorated with crystal chandeliers and plush velvet curtains.

  The biggest draw for all ages is the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad, the setting for the hair-raising robbery scene in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. In operation since 1882, it once transported workers and precious minerals to and from the former silver-mining camp of Silverton. Now it carries tourists in Victorian coaches along the 45-mile route, ascending 3,000 feet while crossing narrow bridges that span roaring whitewater canyons.

  Durango is also a wonderful starting point for the San Juan Skyway. The 236-mile loop heads t
hrough the beautiful San Juan Mountains north to Ouray and Silverton, crossing five mountain passes. It links up with the Million Dollar Highway, built in 1884, the visual highlight of the journey, before turning back to town via Telluride (see p. 739), Rico, and Cortez.

  WHERE: 336 miles southwest of Denver. VISITOR INFO: www.durango.org. DURANGO MOUNTAIN RESORT: Tel 800-982-6103 or 970-247-9000; www.durangomountainresort.com. Cost: lift tickets $65. When: ski season Dec–Mar. STRATER HOTEL: Tel 800-247-4431 or 970-247-4431; www.strater.com. Cost: from $109 (off-peak), from $179 (peak). DURANGO & SILVERTON RAILROAD: Tel 877-872-4607 or 970-247-2733; www.durangotrain.com. Cost: from $49 round-trip (off-peak), from $79 round-trip (peak). When: May–Oct. SAN JUAN SKYWAY: www.byways.org. BEST TIMES: last weekend in Jan for Snowdown Winter Festival; early Sep for Rally in the Rockies; early Oct for Durango Cowboy Gathering.

  Awe-Inspiring Cliff Dwellings in Desert Canyons

  MESA VERDE

  Colorado, U.S.A.

  Located in the area known as the Four Corners, where Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah meet, Mesa Verde is the only national park in the U.S. devoted exclusively to archaeology: One glance at the centuries-old, intricately constructed homes in the rocky cliffs shows why.

  Members of the Ancestral Puebloan culture (also known as the Anasazi) that flourished here between A.D. 600 and 1300 created masonry dwellings tucked into alcoves along the steep canyon walls. Many of these alcoves face south, allowing them to capture precious sunlight in winter and avoid the summer glare, but historians believe their orientation may have been as much for sacred reasons as for utility.