San Francisco is such a wonderful city in which to spend time; there are so many sightseeing attractions, so much character, and a great sense of romance about the city on the bay. But there is no better time to enjoy the only American city built on hills (Boston flattened the three they had long ago) than through the holiday season from mid-December to early January when there are so many events planned, and the streets, buildings, and people are decorated and festive, and the city has an ambiance that makes you want to share it with someone, or many friends and family.
There are many examples of San Francisco’s spirit throughout the holidays as you go about your daily lives, or your holiday visit, or find yourself wending your way through the holiday shoppers of Market Street, Union Square, Fillmore Street, Chestnut Street, and Union Street. But San Francisco conveys its holiday ambiance best when the sun gives way to the cooler evenings and the decorative lights come up. At some point in your holiday travels, as you head to holiday work parties, or the homes of family and friends, head out shopping, take in a play or concert with friends, or head out for long meals to spend some quality time with people you enjoy and love, you’ll likely cross some of these spirit enhancing illuminations scattered throughout this beautiful city:
- Market Street has its giant snowflakes lit up on the “Path of Gold” light poles which first appeared on the streets 92 years ago, in 1916.
- The Hyatt Regency has a world record atrium lobby – literally. And within that massive atrium they always light the place up with hundreds of thousands of lights (300,000 if you’re counting) with a 50-foot tree as the focal point.
- Ghirardelli Square always has a holiday tree, and often has live performance holiday musicians – oh, and they usually have some hot chocolate on hand
- Union Square is decorated with an 85-foot tree and an ice skating rink with a view of Macy’s famous massive wreath, and lights a menorah for Chanukah from December 4th
- The Castro has a 26-foot tree and street decorations
- Civic Center Plaza boasts a 38-foot-tall tree
- The Ritz-Carlton’s lobby holds a 40-foot tree
- Union Street decorates the street with a month of festive tree lights along the Victorian shops
- The Davies Symphony Hall, home of the San Francisco Symphony, holds its holiday Deck the Hall concerts with a lobby tree visible to the outside world
- The Embarcadero has a holiday ice skating through January 4th which if you can’t find the space that your skills require at the Union Square rink, the larger size of this rink might suit you
- The Holiday Lights and Sights Parade features 100 boats festooned with lights and decorations as they cruise at 6pm, December 14th along the northern waterfront, and they remain lit each night while docked at the Fisherman’s Wharf through January 6th
It’s always so enjoyable to be out and about in San Francisco during the holiday season, over Christmas and through New Year’s eve, taking in the holiday decorations and lights, and socializing, but one rarely gets enough before it all passes and you’re into a new year before your know it. So this year, some friends decided to do a two rink ice skating evening. And instead of catching a few fleeting glimpses in our separate lives of those things that offer such holiday spirit around San Francisco, our party decided to do a mobile holiday party and put the two rinks as book-ends to the evening, and split a San Francisco holiday party bus charter to get us around town safely and in a fun, group format, taking the long way around San Francisco between the two ice skating rinks, and catching many of the sights mentioned above, while warming up along the way with some festive onboard cocktails. And while our holiday party charter bus made numerous stops to pick people up and during the itinerary for our group holiday party, it turned out that the best of what the city has to offer was being with friends and the holiday party charter bus concept seemed to be the best part of the night, reinforcing the notion that it’s the journey that’s important, not the destination.
