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Instead of a laundry list of everything going on in the City on the Fourth of July, here are four simple suggestions for thoughtful San Franciscans (plus a few extras, where the parking lots are located and a good resource list at the end of this post):
1) The Fillmore Jazz Festival. Jazz on Fillmore Street goes back to World War II. Ella Fitzgerald, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Billie Holiday, Charlie Parker, John Coltrane and Louis Armstrong all played Fillmore Street.
Today the tradition continues with a well-planned two-day open-air jazz festival with three stages and lots of good food. Check it out. The Fillmore Jazz festival is FREE.
2) A Patriotic Fourth in Golden Gate Park. Would you like to try something from the 19th century? It's the 127th season of the Golden Gate Park Band. Since 1882 the band has been performing traditional American brass band patriotic music. The performance is at 1 PM on the Fourth of July. Combine this with a picnic in the park and it's staring to look like a winner. Here's more about the GGPark Band 2009 season. The Golden Gate Band concert is FREE.
3) Fireworks! The time is approximate - just a few minutes after sunset. Hornblower Dinner Cruises is offering a brunch cruise and an evening Buffet Dinner Cruise, where fireworks watching from the Bay is the after dinner entertainment.
If a cruise doesn't do it for you, then consider watching the fireworks from the Hyde Street Pier. The view will be just about perfect and you will be very close to the action. Admission is free for members of the San Francisco National Maritime Park Assn.
4) Some of you (us) may opt to stay home this year. If so, then consider watching A Capitol Fourth! - America's Independence Day Celebration from the nation's capitol. It is broadcast live and replayed for our time zone on KQED PBS-San Francisco at 8 PM. Here's what they have in store for us:
Emmy and Golden Globe Award-winning film, theater and television actor Jimmy Smits hosts the 29th annual broadcast of America’s biggest and best-loved 4th of July concert, featuring a spectacular fireworks display on the National Mall over the Washington Monument captured by 18 TV cameras stationed around the city.
Barry Manilow will perform a selection of patriotic and celebratory music with the National Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of top pops conductor Erich Kunzel and the Choral Arts Society of Washington, under the direction of Norman Scribner.
Also performing – the Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin, international pop sensation Natasha Bedingfield, the Tony and Grammy Award-winning cast of Jersey Boys, multi Grammy Award-nominee Michael Feinstein and acclaimed classical pianist Andrew von Oeyen.
As a special treat for the entire family, Elmo, Big Bird, Cookie Monster, Oscar the Grouch and more of the Sesame Street gang will be on hand to celebrate America’s 233rd birthday.
The July 4th concert finale includes Tchaikovsky's "1812 Overture" – featuring the U.S. Army Herald Trumpets and complete with live cannon fire provided by the United States Army Presidential Salute Battery. Also featured are the U.S. Army Ceremonial Band, the U.S. Army “Old Guard” Fife and Drum Corps and the Joint Armed Forces Color Guard of the Military District of Washington.
A Capitol Fourth can also be heard live over NPR Member stations nationwide and is broadcast to U.S. military personnel in more than 175 countries and U.S. Navy ships at sea by the American Forces Radio and Television Network.
If you plan to come into San Francisco for the Fourth, here is some useful transit info:
Ferry Service to and from San Francisco Ferry Building:
Oakland & Alameda
The Oakland-Alameda Ferry provides service from the Oakland Ferry Terminal in Oakland's Jack London Square and the Alameda Ferry Terminal in the North Shore neighborhood of the island city of Alameda to the Ferry Building and Fisherman's Wharf.
Larkspur & Sausalito
Golden Gate Ferry operates service from Larkspur Landing in Larkspur and the Sausalito Ferry Terminal in Sausalito both in the North Bay's Marin County.
Vallejo
Service to the Vallejo Ferry Terminal in Vallejo in Solano County is provided by the "Baylink" service of Vallejo Transit.
Bay Farm Island
Alameda Harbor Bay Ferry has a service running from Alameda's Bay Farm Island.
Tiburon & Angel Island
Tiburon Ferry runs between Tiburon Ferry Terminal in Tiburon with an overlay on Angel Island and the ferry building.
Ferry Building Resources:
Ferry Building Marketplace
Days and Hours of Operation
Ferry Building Parking Map
Other Resources:
Pier 39
Fisherman's Wharf
U.S.S. Pampanito - WWII USN submarine
S. S. Jeremiah O' Brien - WWII Liberty Ship
Hyde Street Historical Ship Pier (San Francisco Maritime National Park)
San Francisco Cable Cars
Transit Information for SF Bay Area - Transit 511
San Francisco Information Service - just call and ask - Call 311
San Francisco History Links
Port of San Francisco (S.F. Gov website)
City-owned Public Parking Garages
Ellis-O'Farrell Garage, 123 O'Farrell St.
Union Square Garage, 333 Post/Geary
Sutter-Stockton330 Stockton/Sutter
Fifth & Mission Garage, 833 Mission/5th St. 415-82-8522
Four-Fifty Sutter Garage, 450 Sutter Street
Chinatown Portsmouth Square Garage, 733 Avenue
St. Mary's Square Garage, 433 Kearny Street, SF
Vallejo Street Garage, Vallejo At Powell Street
Embarcadero Center Garages,
Moscone Center Garage, 255 3rd St./Howard St.
Museum Parc, Third & Folsom St. .
AND FINALLY . . .
If you go out to Golden Gate Park on the Fourth, here are some other great options you should know about:
Japanese Tea Garden
A complex of paths, ponds and a teahouse features native Japanese and Chinese plants. Also hidden throughout its five acres are beautiful sculptures and bridges. Makato Hagiwara, a Japanese master classical gardener with a deep appreciation for zen balance, took over the garden in 1895 and his family continued to develop and manage the garden until 1942. That was the year Japanese Americans were rounded-up and slammed into race-based "relocation camps".
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Makato Hagiwara also has a famous invention to his credit. He invented the fortune cookie at the teahouse inside the Japanese Tea Garden as a treat to serve guests along with green tea. I guess this means the fortune cookie is more properly Japanese and not Chinese. You can enjoy some of Mr. Hagiwara's original cookies and sip traditionally-brewed delightfully hot Japanese green tea in the teahouse to this day.
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The Japanese Tea Garden is located just east of Stow Lake, between JFK and Martin Luther King Jr. drives. It is next door to the de Young Museum. For Tea Garden admission info, call . Learn more about the Japanese Tea Garden.
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Conservatory of Flowers
Since 1879, locals and visitors have marveled at San Francisco's Conservatory of Flowers, the oldest glass-and-wood Victorian greenhouse in the Western Hemisphere and home to more than 10,000 plants from around the globe. It was badly damaged by a 1995 storm and closed to the public for eight years, and is finally open again after a $25 million restoration.
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The plant life is spectacular. Located beneath the conservatory dome, the warmest and most humid section of the building, is the conservatory's prized century-old imperial philodendron. The east wing houses the Highland Tropics collection and aquatic plants display (including real lily pads that can hold the weight of a small child), while the west side is dedicated to seasonal flowering plants and educational exhibits (the first, all about plant pollination, features 800 live butterflies that will flit about among the visitors.) Signs are kept to a minimum so visitors can simply soak up the beauty.
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The Conservatory of Flowers is located at the eastern end of the park, just off Conservatory Drive.
Learn more about the San Francisco Conservatory of Flowers.
Learn more about the San Francisco Conservatory of Flowers.
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San Francisco Botanical Garden at Strybing Arboretum
Begun in 1937 with WPA funds ( the WPA was part of President Roosevelt's Great Depression stimilus package) and charitable donations, this 70-acre horticultural extravaganza entices the senses with more than 6,000 plant species. The garden of fragrance -- with signs in Braille -- brings flowers alive with scent alone. The main entrance is on Ninth Avenue at Lincoln Way. Also accessible from the Japanese Tea Garden through the Friend's Gate. Free guided walks are given daily at 1:30 pm.
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The Gardens are open weekdays, 8 am-4:30 pm and weekends and holidays, 10 am-5 pm. Free. Learn about the San Francisco Botanical Garden at Strybing Arboretum.
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de Young Museum
One of the great fine arts museums in the world. Founded in 1895, the de Young Museum has been an integral part of the cultural fabric of the City and a cherished destination for millions of residents and visitors to the region for over 100 years.
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The de Young houses one of the finest collections of American paintings in the United States. Strengthened by the acquisition of the Rockefeller Collection of American Art, the de Young's treasures include more than 1000 paintings that represent a spectrum of American art from colonial times through the twentieth century. Learn about the de Young Museum.
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Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs
More than 3,000 years after his reign, and 30 years after the original exhibition opened in San Francisco, Tutankhamun, ancient Egypt’s celebrated “boy king,” returns to the de Young Museum. This summer the de Young presents Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs, a glorious exhibition of over 130 outstanding works from the tomb of Tutankhamun, as well as those of his royal predecessors, his family, and court officials.
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At the de Young from June 27, 2009 through March 28, 2010. Learn more about the Tutankhamun exhibition.
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National AIDS Memorial Grove
The National AIDS Memorial Grove, located just behind the California Academy of Sciences in a particularlu lush area of the Park, is a dedicated space in the national landscape where millions of Americans touched directly or indirectly by AIDS can gather to heal, hope, and remember. For all the promising prospects on the horizon, AIDS continues to invade our lives, violate our past, and rob us of our comfortable assumptions about the future. The sacred ground of this living memorial honors all who have confronted this tragic pandemic both those who have died and those who have shared their struggle, kept the vigils, and supported each other during the final hours.
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Lunch at the Academy
If you visit the California Academy of Sciences you will have two surprisingly good choices for lunch. The Academy Cafe offers a delightful menu in a comfortable and relaxing setting. The outdoor patio dining is particularly popular (except on foggy days). The Academy also offers a first-class dining experience operated by one of San Francisco's most celebrated chefs, Charles Phan. It is the Moss Room.
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Dining at the Academy: Learn more and see menus here.
Learn all about the California Academy of Sciences.
Learn all about the California Academy of Sciences.
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