San Francisco Bay Area: Your favorite things to do or places to go

[suzzer99]

Santa Barbara. Actually Stinson can get pretty nice in the summer, even swimming temps on El Nino years. And any beach, including Ocean Beach can have gorgeous days. Just never count on it. And if it's been nice for 2 days, it will be disgusting the next.

According to my cousin, who AFAIK is a pretty smart guy, this cyclical phenomenon in the summer is because of the central valley. It heats up, the air rises, and this sucks air from all around, including off the ocean through golden gate. This air turns foggy when it gets near land. The cool air cools the valley down, it stops sucking, and SF is nice for a few days. Then the valley heats up again and the process starts all over.

Which reminds me. the BEST THING about SF is when you get those rare freaky warm spells in the spring or fall. Where it can still be 80 at night and beautifully still. People are out in t-shirts at night. You can hear your neighbors for the first time because everyone is outside and has their windows open. Most magical time to be in the city, especially because it's so rare.

Sort of like in LA when you get that rare crystal clear day and realize you have a view of the mountains from your block. Magical.