San Francisco, InterContinental Mark Hopkins San Francisco by IHG

Home of Karl the Fog.

San Francisco: Your Gateway to Wine Country

Living in San Francisco means you're never more than an hour away from world-class wine tasting. The city serves as the perfect launching pad for exploring California's most celebrated wine regions, making it a dream destination for both urban adventurers and wine enthusiasts.

Just across the Golden Gate Bridge, Napa Valley beckons with its prestigious cabernets and chardonnays. The scenic drive through rolling hills dotted with vineyards takes about an hour, transforming your weekend from city streets to sun-drenched terraces. Sonoma County, equally accessible, offers a more laid-back vibe with diverse varietals and family-owned wineries that feel refreshingly intimate.

The beauty of San Francisco's location isn't just proximity—it's variety. You can start your morning with coffee in the Mission, spend your afternoon sipping wine overlooking Napa Valley, and return for dinner in Chinatown. This seamless blend of urban sophistication and rural charm makes San Francisco uniquely positioned as both a world-class city and the ultimate wine country basecamp.

Whether you're a local or visiting, San Francisco offers the best of both worlds.

The first rainbow pride flag was created in 1978 by artist and activist Gilbert Baker in San Francisco. Baker designed the flag at the request of Harvey Milk, the pioneering gay rights activist and politician, who wanted a symbol for the LGBTQ+ community.

Baker's original design featured eight colors, each with symbolic meaning: hot pink for sex, red for life, orange for healing, yellow for sunlight, green for nature, turquoise for magic/art, indigo for serenity, and violet for spirit. The flag debuted at the San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Parade on June 25, 1978.

Due to fabric availability and production costs, the design was later simplified. Hot pink was removed because the fabric was difficult to obtain, and turquoise was dropped to create an even number of stripes for better display on street poles. This resulted in the six-stripe version (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple) that became the standard and is widely recognized today.

Baker hand-stitched the original flags with the help of volunteers, and the rainbow design quickly spread beyond San Francisco to become an international symbol of LGBTQ+ pride and solidarity. The flag represented a shift from previous symbols like the pink triangle, offering a more positive and celebratory representation of the community.

Cross over the Golden Gate Bridge into Marin and your off to wine country.

Russian River and Alexander Valley have got to be my favorite wine country areas. These are know for being small family run wineries, which allow for a more personalized experience while enjoying the beauty of the redwoods and unspoiled nature.

The great thing about knowing which wineries are the best is knowing when you can pick your own grapes.

The InterContinental Mark Hopkins San Francisco transforms New Year's Eve into pure magic, offering an unparalleled celebration high above the city streets. This legendary Nob Hill hotel, a San Francisco icon since 1926, becomes the ultimate vantage point for welcoming the new year in style. Here I booked a one night stay so my friends and I were able to enjoy space away from the crowds and relax in style in our large hotel suite. The hotel was elegantly decorated from Christmas and made the night festive with the amazing amenity they delivered to the room.

Koda the Frenchie gives this hotel 3 paws of approval; comfy art deco style couch and plenty of people in the lobby to pay attention to him, along with his name on a welcome board for other fur babies that were staying.