June 23-25 ● Marriott San Francisco ● San Francisco, CA
The 2009 Annual Convention/ Expo will be held at the San Francisco Marriott, located in the heart of downtown, near the Financial District and Union Square. Amenities include Wifi in public areas, a spa and fitness center, as well as four distinct eating options. Mission Steak is open all day with a full menu for breakfast and lunch and steakhouse offerings in the evenings. The View, located on the lounge level, is only open in the evenings and serves cocktails and light snacks. Bin 55 is the lobby level bar and lounge, serving starters, salads, and light entrees. The Fourth Street Bar & Deli offers casual lunch and dinner options, such as sandwiches.
Travelling to and from San Francisco
San Francisco International Airport is located roughly 13 miles south of downtown San Francisco. Servicing 60 domestic cities on 21 airlines, the airport accommodates tens of millions of passengers annually and is a major hub for United Airlines and Virgin America. Ground transportation options to and from the airport include subway service and taxicabs – a one-way subway fare is roughly $5.15, while a one-way taxi fare is roughly $40.00.
Oakland International Airport is also located conveniently outside the city, roughly 20 miles from downtown. Offering flights on 9 airlines including Southwest Airlines, Oakland International Airport provides a low-cost alternative to San Francisco Airport. Take advantage of EEI’s special discounted rates by calling the following toll free numbers:
Dress Code
The dress code for all Convention/ Expo activities is business casual. Golf shirts, slacks, and casual dresses or pantsuits are appropriate for the business sessions and social functions, including the Grand Event.
Weather
Keep in mind the weather in San Francisco when packing. While June is considered summertime on much of the East Coast, it is still fairly mild in the city; the average high is only 66°F. Light jackets or sweaters are recommended for early mornings and evenings.
San Francisco
San Francisco is the fourth most populated city in California, but serves as a financial and cultural hub on the West Coast. A melting pot of different peoples, the city offers visitors an unlimited number of restaurants and cultural experiences. Located on a peninsula between the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay, there is much to see and do in this beautiful city!
Neighborhoods
The neighborhoods of San Francisco manifest the diversity of its residents through architecture and tone. See the colorful and beautiful Victorian homes near Buena Vista Park or the “Painted Ladies” in Alamo Square. Visit Fisherman’s Wharf for a seafood dinner or browse the marketplaces. San Francisco’s Chinatown, the city within a city, is the oldest Chinatown in the US and one of the largest. Enjoy a “dim sum” lunch, a cup of tea at one of the many tea bars, or watch as fortune cookies are prepared on Ross Alley.
SoMa/ Yerba Buena, also known as South of Market or South Beach, is an area concentrated with museums and art galleries. The second largest memorial to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in the country can also be found in the neighborhood, on the grounds of the Yerba Buena Gardens. Haight Ashbury which was home to the famous “Summer of Love” movement, has become a commercial center in recent years, full of boutiques, cafes and restaurants.
San Francisco is also known for its hilly appearance. Several of the city’s hills provide excellent, panoramic views including Nob Hill and Telegraph Hill, with the lookout atop Coit Tower. Russian Hill is a residential neighborhood with shops and restaurants. In addition to the beautiful views found here, this area also contains Lombard Street, considered the “most crooked street in the world”.
Union Square is the retail and cultural center located just around the corner from the headquarters hotel. This section of the city is an upscale shopping mecca and has many restaurants and cafes. Culturally, the neighborhood is home to many art galleries and the theater district of San Francisco. The cable car turnaround area at the intersection of Powell and Market streets is another place of interest in the neighborhood.
Visit the San Francisco Convention and Visitors Bureau for additional ideas and information on the city.
Venturing Outside the City
While there is certainly plenty to keep you busy within San Francisco’s city limits, the opportunities in the surrounding areas are practically endless.
To the north, the Napa and Sonoma Valleys of Wine Country are located a little over an hour’s drive outside the city. Here you can enjoy the vineyards; go hot air ballooning, hiking, and bicycling; or enjoy the spas, hot springs, and petrified forests in the area. Along with the many varieties of wine you can sample, the restaurants in this area are highly recommended.
For those more interested in nature: head inland to see the redwoods near Mount Shasta, the beautiful Lake Tahoe area, or Yosemite National Park. The state capitol, Sacramento, is a great place to stop on the way to Lake Tahoe. Mount Shasta is several hours from the city, and Yosemite is located roughly 4 hours outside San Francisco. Visit the National Park Service for additional information about Yosemite.
Two hours south of San Francisco, discover the city of Monterey and town of Carmel-by-the-Sea. A place known for John Steinbeck’s influence, Monterrey boasts a wonderful aquarium and historic Cannery Row. Nearby Carmel is home to the famous Pebble Beach golf course and the Carmel Mission, a working parish church. Or venture along 17-Mile Drive for spectacular views of the coast and its wildlife.
Museums
Golden Gate Park is not only a green respite in the middle of urban San Francisco, but it also houses several wonderful museums. The park is home to the de Young Fine Arts Museum, the Conservatory of Flowers, a Japanese Tea Garden, and the famous Tulip Garden with its windmill. The Fine Arts Museum holds several permanent exhibits and traveling collections. One popular travelling exhibit, the King Tut and Pharoahs exhibit, will open in June 2009. The Conservatory of Flowers is home to 1700 species of tropical plants and proudly bears the title of the oldest existing public conservatory in North America.
Outside of Golden Gate Park, San Francisco offers many other museums to see. The Museum of Modern Art is located in the SoMa neighborhood. In the Union Square area, the Xanadu Gallery is the only building in the city designed by architect Frank Lloyd Wright. The gallery’s circular interior layout is similar to and based on that of the Guggenheim Museum in Manhattan.
The Asian Art Museum at the Civic Center has over 17,000 objects in its permanent collections, which cover various regions of Asia. The Cartoon Art Museum has over 6,000 pieces in its permanent collection and houses a research library facility. After receiving an endowment from Charles Schulz, the creator of Peanuts, the museum became fully operational in the 1980s. The Cable Car Museum is located in the cable car barn and powerhouse at the intersection of Washington and Mason streets along the Powell-Mason cable car line. The museum provides a history of the cable car and several antique cable cars from the 1870s are on display.
Parklands
Golden Gate National Recreation Area contains 60 miles of coastline both in and around San Francisco. Here you can see the famed red Golden Gate Bridge or take a hike along San Francisco Bay. Golden Gate Bridge is roughly 1.7 miles long and is open to both pedestrians and bicyclists during daylight hours. While early summer temperatures make swimming unlikely, there are several beaches along the shore with access to various activities. Baker Beach provides beautiful views of Golden Gate Bridge; you can see remnants of a shipwreck up close at Lands End Beach; and Ocean Beach, the longest stretch of beach in the area, is the perfect place to walk, fly kites, or fish in the surf. Visit the National Park Service for further information and ideas.
Named for the conservationist John Muir, the Muir Woods National Monument is home to California’s coast redwoods. These giants are part of the tallest growing tree species on Earth, can live to be over 2,000 years old, and are a local native tree now only found in northern California and Oregon. The park is located several miles outside the city, and shuttles are available in summer months. Visit the National Park Service for further information.
Historically, Alcatraz Island was the site of the first lighthouse and fort built on the West Coast of the United States. During the mid-twentieth century, the island housed the federal penitentiary and several infamous inmates. And more recently, during the late 1960s and early 1970s, the island was occupied in protest by a group of American Indians. Private ferries provide access to the island on a daily basis. Reservations are highly recommended as tickets do tend to sell out.
Visit Alcatraz Cruises for further information regarding scheduling and tickets. For further historical information, visit the National Park Service.
Getting Around the City
There are several modes of transportation in San Francisco. The BART system of underground trains has stations within the city proper as well as in Oakland and beyond. Both of the international airports that service the city have stations on the BART system. MUNI is the city’s combination of public transportation types, including light rail trains, street cars, cable cars, and buses. This transportation is only available on the San Francisco peninsula itself.
While in San Francisco visitors should take the opportunity to experience the cable cars. The three lines in the downtown area operate along Powell-Mason and Powell-Hyde Streets, running north-south, and California Street, running east-west. Also famous is the turnaround area and beginning of the north-south cars at the intersection of Powell and Market Streets.
Golden Gate Transit runs a ferry operation between the city and Sausalito, and the city and Larkspur in Marin County. Also available are leisure or scenic ferries, linking downtown San Francisco to Angel Island and the town of Vallejo. Visit Baylink Ferry for more information.
EEI Staff Contact