{"id":20286,"date":"2016-08-12T16:19:18","date_gmt":"2016-08-12T16:19:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.expedia.com\/stories\/?p=20286"},"modified":"2021-10-28T16:55:11","modified_gmt":"2021-10-28T16:55:11","slug":"weekend-at-the-presidio","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.expedia.com\/stories\/weekend-at-the-presidio\/","title":{"rendered":"Weekend at the Presidio"},"content":{"rendered":"

The olden days are everywhere at The Presidio of San Francisco<\/a>. The sprawling area on the southern end of the Golden Gate Bridge was a U.S. Army base between 1848 and 1994, and was a base for the Spanish and Mexicans for about 75 years before that. Old fortifications and officers\u2019 quarters are everywhere. Hike around enough in the hills and you\u2019ll stumble upon rusty equipment from yesteryear.<\/p>\n

At the same time, the National Park is one of the city\u2019s newest treasures. After more than 10 years of redevelopment, the Presidio is now teeming with new restaurants, new museums, new office space and parks galore. I like to think of it as a base of awesome, especially for families with young kids.<\/p>\n

And during one weekend earlier this summer, my wife, my three daughters, and I checked it out, spending two nights at the 22-room Inn at the Presidio<\/a>, and fanning out on foot from there.<\/p>\n

(If you\u2019re looking for other hotels nearby, try one of these<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

Archaeology galore<\/strong><\/p>\n

I mentioned history is omnipresent at the Presidio, and there\u2019s no better reflection of this than the on-site archaeological dig that\u2019s taking place right outside the Presidio Officers\u2019 Club<\/a> on the Main Post (this is a fancy way of saying the \u201cmain quad;\u201d it\u2019s just down the street from the hotel).<\/p>\n

The program\u2019s primary research focus is the site of El Presidio de San Francisco, the original Spanish Colonial fort occupied by the Spanish and Mexicans from 1776-1846. Since the dig began in 2014, archaeologists have found thousands of artifacts, from pottery shards to old nails.<\/p>\n

[viewfinder-image-small-horizontal]<\/strong><\/p>\n

My wife is an archaeologist, so, naturally, this was our first stop when we visited. We spent about 30 minutes watching the excavation from beneath a shelter to protect us from the sun. When the kiddos got cranky, we wandered back behind the Officers\u2019 Club to the lab to get up close and personal with some of the artifacts and meet some of the archaeologists themselves.<\/p>\n

(Because my wife is a colleague, the researchers gave us a tour on a weekend; normally the lab is open to the public on Wednesdays and free guided tours are at 1 p.m.)<\/p>\n

Fun on the beach<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Presidio also comprises more than one mile of beachfront property along San Francisco Bay. On those rare San Francisco days with more sunshine than fog, this area\u2014dubbed Crissy Field\u2014is a great spot to hang with kids, too, especially because the beach is in the shadow of the Golden Gate Bridge.<\/p>\n

We went down in the morning, and the kids were delighted to get\u00a0away for a few hours combing the sand for shells and other treasures. When we got hungry, we wandered over to the Warming Hut, a glorified deli in an old munitions building. When the kids wanted more of that history, we hoofed it over to Fort Point, an old fort under the bridge that has been converted to a museum.<\/p>\n

Later in the day, when the girls had just about lost it, we walked back along the bluffs and stumbled upon an indoor trampoline arena named House of Air<\/a>. The big girls jumped until their knees wobbled.<\/p>\n

[viewfinder-image-landscape]<\/strong><\/p>\n

Stuffing our faces<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the olden days, when the place was an army base, the best food at the Presidio was served in a mess hall. Today, however, there are top-quality restaurants galore.<\/p>\n

Our favorite of the bunch was definitely the Presidio Social Club<\/a>, just inside the Lombard Street Gate (about a 10-minute walk from our hotel). The restaurant sits inside a building that dates back to 1903 and was erected as a military barracks. We went for brunch and the brown sugar cinnamon roll was larger than my 4-year-old daughter\u2019s head.<\/p>\n

Another restaurant we enjoyed was Arguello, just west of the Officers\u2019 Club.<\/p>\n

Viewfinder Tip: If you\u2019re a Disney fan, be sure to visit the Walt Disney Family Museum<\/a> on the Main Post. The facility spotlights the life and times of Walt Disney himself.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This place is great because it\u2019s an upscale Mexican joint that\u2019s also very family friendly. A spacious patio warmed with heat lamps makes for a fun spot to sit with kids, and invites them to be loud since they\u2019re not confined in the tiny dining room.<\/p>\n

The food, from Chef Traci des Jardins, is amazing; I practically spooned the guacamole straight into my mouth, and the poklanes, or Yucatan bean fritters, were addicting.<\/p>\n

Other fun<\/strong><\/p>\n

Two other highlights of our weekend at the Presidio are worth mentioning here.<\/p>\n

First, we thoroughly enjoyed experiencing the public art installations from Andy Goldsworthy. There are four works in all spread around the Presidio campus, including Spire, a 100-foot-tall tower made of the trunks of 37 Monterey cypress trees. Our girls in particular liked Wood Line, a serpentine line of cypress that snakes 1,200 feet through the Presidio\u2019s largest eucalyptus grove. They walked on it like a balance beam and challenged each other to see who could stay up the longest. The two big kids had so much fun they didn\u2019t even realize they were enjoying art.<\/p>\n

Second, on our last day, we avoided the chilly fog by spending a few hours inside the Presidio Bowling Center. This place is the modernized version of the same facility that opened in the 1950s as a bowling alley for the officers. All 12 lanes have the option of bumpers, which means fun for adults and kids alike.<\/p>\n

What are your favorite cities to visit and why?<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Enjoying San Francisco\u2019s newest piece of history<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":20287,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1814,1782,1816,1875,1788,1810,1868,1889,1776],"tags":[],"authors":[2227],"class_list":["post-20286","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-city","category-destinations","category-food-and-drink","category-history","category-interests","category-museums","category-national-parks","category-san-francisco","category-type-of-vacation","authors-matt-villano","entry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWeekend at the Presidio | Expedia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.expedia.com\/stories\/weekend-at-the-presidio\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Weekend at the Presidio | Expedia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Enjoying San Francisco\u2019s newest piece of history\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.expedia.com\/stories\/weekend-at-the-presidio\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Expedia Travel Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-08-12T16:19:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-10-28T16:55:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.expedia.com\/stories\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/20160323_142813-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1440\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jamie McNeely\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jamie McNeely\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.expedia.com\/stories\/weekend-at-the-presidio\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.expedia.com\/stories\/weekend-at-the-presidio\/\",\"name\":\"Weekend at the Presidio | Expedia\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.expedia.com\/stories\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.expedia.com\/stories\/weekend-at-the-presidio\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.expedia.com\/stories\/weekend-at-the-presidio\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.expedia.com\/stories\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/20160323_142813-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-08-12T16:19:18+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-10-28T16:55:11+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.expedia.com\/stories\/#\/schema\/person\/593dbd40dd1d061c8d049105752b2c5e\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.expedia.com\/stories\/weekend-at-the-presidio\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.expedia.com\/stories\/weekend-at-the-presidio\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.expedia.com\/stories\/weekend-at-the-presidio\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.expedia.com\/stories\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/20160323_142813-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.expedia.com\/stories\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/20160323_142813-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1440},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.expedia.com\/stories\/weekend-at-the-presidio\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Explore\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.expedia.com\/stories\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Type of vacation\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.expedia.com\/stories\/type-of-vacation\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"City\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.expedia.com\/stories\/type-of-vacation\/city\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":4,\"name\":\"Weekend at the Presidio\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.expedia.com\/stories\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.expedia.com\/stories\/\",\"name\":\"Expedia Travel Blog\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.expedia.com\/stories\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.expedia.com\/stories\/#\/schema\/person\/593dbd40dd1d061c8d049105752b2c5e\",\"name\":\"Jamie McNeely\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.expedia.com\/stories\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c6c5fcb9612549bc286e9121c24dc652?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c6c5fcb9612549bc286e9121c24dc652?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Jamie McNeely\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.waveinteractive.com\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.expedia.com\/stories\/author\/jamie-mcneely\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Weekend at the Presidio | Expedia","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.expedia.com\/stories\/weekend-at-the-presidio\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Weekend at the Presidio | Expedia","og_description":"Enjoying San Francisco\u2019s newest piece of history","og_url":"https:\/\/www.expedia.com\/stories\/weekend-at-the-presidio\/","og_site_name":"Expedia Travel Blog","article_published_time":"2016-08-12T16:19:18+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-10-28T16:55:11+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2560,"height":1440,"url":"https:\/\/www.expedia.com\/stories\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/20160323_142813-scaled.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Jamie McNeely","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Jamie McNeely","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.expedia.com\/stories\/weekend-at-the-presidio\/","url":"https:\/\/www.expedia.com\/stories\/weekend-at-the-presidio\/","name":"Weekend at the Presidio | Expedia","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.expedia.com\/stories\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.expedia.com\/stories\/weekend-at-the-presidio\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.expedia.com\/stories\/weekend-at-the-presidio\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.expedia.com\/stories\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/20160323_142813-scaled.jpg","datePublished":"2016-08-12T16:19:18+00:00","dateModified":"2021-10-28T16:55:11+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.expedia.com\/stories\/#\/schema\/person\/593dbd40dd1d061c8d049105752b2c5e"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.expedia.com\/stories\/weekend-at-the-presidio\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.expedia.com\/stories\/weekend-at-the-presidio\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.expedia.com\/stories\/weekend-at-the-presidio\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.expedia.com\/stories\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/20160323_142813-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.expedia.com\/stories\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/20160323_142813-scaled.jpg","width":2560,"height":1440},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.expedia.com\/stories\/weekend-at-the-presidio\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Explore","item":"https:\/\/www.expedia.com\/stories\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Type of vacation","item":"https:\/\/www.expedia.com\/stories\/type-of-vacation\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"City","item":"https:\/\/www.expedia.com\/stories\/type-of-vacation\/city\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"Weekend at the Presidio"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.expedia.com\/stories\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.expedia.com\/stories\/","name":"Expedia Travel Blog","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.expedia.com\/stories\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.expedia.com\/stories\/#\/schema\/person\/593dbd40dd1d061c8d049105752b2c5e","name":"Jamie McNeely","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.expedia.com\/stories\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c6c5fcb9612549bc286e9121c24dc652?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c6c5fcb9612549bc286e9121c24dc652?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Jamie McNeely"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/www.waveinteractive.com\/"],"url":"https:\/\/www.expedia.com\/stories\/author\/jamie-mcneely\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.expedia.com\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20286"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.expedia.com\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.expedia.com\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.expedia.com\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.expedia.com\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20286"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.expedia.com\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20286\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":56890,"href":"https:\/\/www.expedia.com\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20286\/revisions\/56890"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.expedia.com\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20287"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.expedia.com\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20286"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.expedia.com\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20286"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.expedia.com\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20286"},{"taxonomy":"authors","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.expedia.com\/stories\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/authors?post=20286"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}