Visit San Francisco. Right now.
Mark Twain once commented, “The coldest winter I ever spent was one summer in San Francisco.” Bay area residents can explain how warm inland air draws the cold and foggy marine layer onshore, keeping July and August high temperatures in the fifties. While the rest of North America swelters, “The City” remains bundled in down parkas. Neither Twain nor current San Franciscans divulge one of their best-kept secrets: In San Francisco, summer busts out full-blast in September and early October.
Just a hotel rates drop because the kids go back to school, the sun comes out, the thermometer rises, summer clothing goes on sale, and wise tourists book their flights and hotels for the perfect visit to the city by the bay.
Perfect weather. Uncrowded attractions.
In July, cranky tourists crowd Pier 39, anxiously looking for some hint of sunshine, and asking, “What happened to sunny California?” T-shirt vendors and sidewalk purveyors of crab and shrimp cocktails smile wryly and shrug. In September, sophisticated locals don their sundresses and visit The Buena Vista Café, home of Irish coffee and the best Eggs Benedict anywhere.
In September, weather-wise tourists apply their SPF’s and stroll leisurely through Ghirardelli Square, where hundreds of unique shops beckon, and smiling shopkeepers, finally relaxed after their summer madness, eagerly show-off their best and rarest. Wearing their Wayfarers and clanging their bells extra gladly, cable car operators ply their way up and down the hills, grateful for sunshine at last. Even the frigid trip to Alcatraz is bearable in September, and eager swimmers actually can venture into the waves at Ocean Beach.
Downtown hotels and The City’s finest, most famous restaurants welcome September visitors. And this year the hometown Giants are locked in a fierce battle for the pennant, so that ballgames at all-new and absolutely beautiful US Cellular Field have become a must-see. The Golden Gate and Bay Bridge gleam a little brighter under September sun, when happy visitors begin to understand why Tony Bennet so willingly left his heart in San Francisco.
