Cheap Bastard's® Guide to San Francisco. Secrets of Living the Good Life—For Less!

291 Pages·2011·16.88 MB·English

Secrets of Living the Good Life—For Free! Secrets of Living the Good Life—For Less!
THE
San Francisco is full of free and ridiculously inexpensive stuff—you just need to
know where to look. Leave it to “The Cheap Bastard” to uncover all the ins and outs
and exclusive bargains to be had, and to tell you the real deal with wit and humor.
The Cheap Bastard’s Guide to San Francisco shows you how to fnd free or low-cost:
• Entrance to plays, flms, concerts, comedy clubs, and museums, as well as the
zoo, pools, and other great places for family fun
• Classes of all sorts, including dancing, cooking, photography, and yoga
• Food—from fsh tacos, fried chicken, sushi, and samosas to gourmet food trucks
and San Francisco staples
• Haircuts, manicures, and masages San Francisco
With The Cheap Bastard’s Guide to San Francisco, anyone can enjoy the good life!
Lauren Markham is a writer, educator, and Bay Area native. She writes literary
fction and essays, grant proposals and reports, and journalistic stories related to
education and immigrant rights. She lives in Berkeley, California.
Cover design by Bret Kerr | Cover images licensed by Shutterstock.com
Printed in the United States of America
®
US $14.95 / Canadian $16.95
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Guilford, Connecticut
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Markham San Francisco E2dnidtion
Lauren Markham
Live Large for Less!
Think you have to earn big bucks to live big in the City by the Bay?
Think again.
®
CheaP BaSTaRD’S
San Francisco
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Help Us Keep THis GUide Up To daTe
We would love to hear from you concerning your experiences with this
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send your comments and suggestions to:
San Francisco
CheaP BaStarD’S® SerieS
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CheaP BaSTaRD’S
San Francisco
Secrets of living the good life—For Less!
Second edition
lauren Markham
®
guilford, Connecticut
an imprint of globe Pequot Press
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Guilford, Connecticut
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the
All the information in this guidebook is subject to change. We recommend that you call ahead
to obtain current information before traveling.
Copyright © 2012 Morris Book Publishing, LLC
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form
by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any
information storage and retrieval system, except as may be expressly permitted in writing
from the publisher. Requests for permission should be addressed to Globe Pequot Press, Attn:
Rights and Permissions Department, P.O. Box 480, Guilford, CT 06437.
First Edition written by Karen Solomon.
Cheap Bastard’s is a registered trademark of Rob Grader.
Photos licensed by Shutterstock.com
Text design by Sheryl P. Kober
ISBN: 978-0-7627-7303-9
Printed in the United States of America
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CONTENTS
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix
SECTION 1: Entertainment in San Francisco
Film: Cheap shots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2
Readings: Free Verse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Theater: Cheap seats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Just Plain Free Theater . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Ushering Opportunities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Theater Discounts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Mailing Lists & Discounts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Music: Free Bird! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Bars, Nightclubs & Cafes with No Cover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Bars, Nightclubs & Cafes with Cheap Shows . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Alternative Venues for Free Music . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Free Outdoor Concerts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Low-Cost & Free Tickets to Large Arena Shows . . . . . . . . . . 49
Comedy: Cheap laughs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Free Funnies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Cheap Tickets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
dance: Free Moves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Dance Performances. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Dance Classes & Practice Sessions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
SECTION 2: Living in San Francisco
Food: Cheap eats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Happy Hours . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Food Stores & Farmers’ Markets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Fine Dining on a Dime . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
drinks: Cheap Buzz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Happy Hours . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
Brewery & Distillery Tours . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
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Beauty services: Free style . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
Hair & Spa Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Massages. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
Family Resources: off to a Cheap start . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
General Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
Play Groups & Classes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
After-School Programs & Child Care . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
Kid stuff: Big Fun for small Change . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
Music & Story Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
Rides, Thrills & Amusement Parks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
Museums & Tours . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
Classes & Activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
shopping: Bargains for the Chic Cheap elite . . . . . . . . . . 131
Totally Free Stuff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
Thrift Stores . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
Flea Markets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
Cheap Clothing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
Discount Bookstores . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
Record Stores. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
Cheap Furniture & Home Goods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
Health & Medicine: an apple a day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
Major Medical . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
Alternative Health Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
The Great outdoors: The air is still Free . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
Out for a Run or Walk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
Golf . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
Swimming & Water Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
Other Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
Fitness: Working it out . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
Free & Discounted Gyms. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
Free or Cheap Yoga . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
Meditation: Free Your Mind . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180
learning & lectures: You’ve Got Class . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
vi Contents
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General Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
Arts & Sciences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
Food & Wine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
Spirituality. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192
Technology & Business . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193
Health & Wellness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
Gardening . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
libraries: Free access . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198
pets: Free-Roaming Finds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
SECTION 3: Exploring San Francisco
Transportation: on the Road again . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211
Public Transportation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212
To & from the Airport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214
Bicycles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218
public art, Gardens & attractions: show Me the Monet . . . . . 221
Walking Tours . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222
Murals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224
Cemeteries & Crematoriums . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228
Public Gardens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230
Community Gardens. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232
Art Galleries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233
Museums. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237
So Very SF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239
annual events: street Fetes & Free-for-alls . . . . . . . . . . 242
appendices
a: san Francisco Recreation Centers . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252
B: Bay area Community & Cultural Centers. . . . . . . . . . 256
C: additional Resources for every Cheap Bastard . . . . . . . 258
index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260
Contents vii
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aBOUT ThE aUThOR
Lauren Markham is a writer, educator and refugee advocate who is proud to
call the Bay Area home.
viii
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INTRODUCTION
As a SF native I may be biased, but for my (limited) money the Bay
Area is one of the world’s best places to visit and to make a home. Having
begrudgingly moved away at age 13 to the East Coast, I spent my high school
and college years dreaming of San Francisco and all it had to offer—and all
I was missing—almost nonstop. Just as the West looms large in our nation’s
consciousness—go west! strike gold! be free!—so did San Francisco occupy
my mind for nearly a decade as the land of milk and honey until I returned
to make it again my home.
At f rst I worried it might not live up to the warping of over a decade of
memory and my high-stakes expectations. It did—and I’m still calling the
Bay Area home.
But dang, is it expensive here! As the pioneers could have told us, milk
and honey don’t always come cheap. Returning in my early 20s, having to
pay rent and navigate my way as both a local and a newcomer straight-up
emptied my pockets. It didn’t help that I f rst worked as a teacher and then
with Americorps VISTA (earning a whopping $840 a month) or that I am
currently both a writer and a refugee advocate in the f eld of education.
Needless to say, I don’t make big bucks. Lucky for me, penny pinching has
always come easy—and has, in fact, always felt like the best way to live and
to travel.
And I don’t just say that because I don’t make much money. I say it
because I’ve found pinching pennies to be act of engagement and thought-
fulness. It requires us to pay attention a bit more, and not just to the down-
ticking sum of our bank accounts or the savings that still line our pockets.
More than that, watching our cash connects the resident and traveler alike
to our surroundings, the pulse of the street, the time of day, the source of
our food, the time of year (the weather sure as hell wont tip us off) and,
dare I say it, it makes us pay attention to the other human beings in the
city we inhabit.
By searching out the deals and free locales we are making conscious
choices and engaging with our community assets instead of purchasing mere
packaged experiences—and we’re maybe even hitting up places outside our
normal routines or comfort zones. If it weren’t for my love of fresh farm
veggies and junky treasures, I may never make it to Alemany, for example,
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