Glad to hear some people are considering attending the show! It's really a first-class show, and this year the displays are going to be astounding. Apparently you'll walk across a scale version of the Golden Gate Bridge, surrounded by orchids.
Re: Getting to the show. San Francisco is notoriously difficult to drive in. Fort Mason is located on the Northern coast of the city, in the Marina District. There is a pay parking lot right there which I highly recommend - it isn't that expensive, and you'll be glad later when carrying all those plants back to your car. Otherwise, street parking can be a little tricky, but I've had the best luck heading west on Green Boulevard, which is the north-most road, next to the bay. You want to stay away from heading East, as that's back towards Fisherman's Warf and the heavy tourist zone - driving in that area on the weekends is painful.
http://transit.511.org/static/provid...2201020525.gif
This is a link to the large MUNI map of the area, showing the bus lines. The BART train will get you downtown from South Bay or the East Bay, from there the Quickest route is to get off at Van Ness station and head north on the 49 or 47 bus lines. Alternatives are the 30 line, which goes through Chinatown which takes quite a lot time, or the 28 line, which comes east to west when approaching Fort Mason. The 28 will get you the closest to the venue, but none of the others are a very long walk at all, and if the weather is nice, it's a lovely area.
If you're driving to the venue, Van Ness is also a good, direct route to take. You'll go north on Van Ness, turn left onto Bay street, Right onto Laguna, left onto Green, and you'll see an entrance to the parking lot of Fort Mason on your right. If you find yourself along a strip of green and passing up all the boats, you've gone too far, but it isn't that difficult to park and walk back or turn your car around and park in the Fort Mason lot.
I hope some of this helps! I'm glad to answer any questions about getting around SF that you might have. I know the city can be rather intimidating if you aren't familiar with the area, and I'd hate to think of people staying away from the show for that reason.
Some food options in the area -
Last year there was food and drinks available on site at the expo. This really helped, because I sent my bored partner off to have a glass of wine while I continued to shop.
There's an incredible gourmet vegetarian restaurant called 'Greens' right in Fort Mason. It's on the pricy side, but they also have a cafe which sells sandwiches and most importantly - COFFEE.
The Safeway across from Fort Mason has a great deli which does sandwiches and salads.
You can also take a short walk up to Lombard (not the curvy block you've probably heard of), and Union Street for more dining options.
-Tristan
Pacific Orchid Expo! Who's going?
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