San Francisco may have swooned, for a while, over the $1,000 tasting menus and college-dropout millionaires of the dot-com boom. But since the economic and tourism slumps, the city not only offers deals to travelers, but its arts scene - as if awakened from a nap - seems refreshed and ready for work. Call it the creative upside of the downturn.
My assignment - or challenge, as I thought of it - was to spend an inexpensive cultural weekend in San Francisco. A $500 budget was to cover a marathon run of the city's arts scene for myself and my husband, Matthew, and food and a hotel.
I wanted to see a play, hear live music, and view as much art as I could process in a weekend. For events, I relied on Citysearch.com and SFArts.org (the latter, sponsored by San Francisco Arts Monthly, is a boon for budget travelers, allowing searches for free events by date).
But we did much more: besides seeing a play, we logged five music performances, a poetry festival, dance recital, walking tour and dinner at a trendy new restaurant. I visited more than a half-dozen museums and galleries. We kept stumbling across artistic happenings; short of hiding in a Gap dressing room, it seemed we couldn't avoid them.
Enjoy this fun look at an arts-centric San Francisco itinerary, which includes two nights stay in a hotel.
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