The Bay Area is a great and beautiful place, and we could go on and on about cool things to do here. We put together a short list of activities and places below which may interest you.

To note, it is not as warm here as you'd think. Bring long pants and a jacket. The wedding is in Vallejo, which is inland and warmer, possibly downright hot. The coast and San Francisco get cool. You can easily drive ten miles in the Bay Area and drop 30 degrees in temperature. Think layers.

TripAdvisor.com is a great resource. For those of you spending a little extra time in the Bay Area, you'll find great articles on San Francisco fun, and the hotel deals listed look to be quite good too.

San Francisco

1. Alcatraz tour - Very cool, interesting, and educational. Ferry over to the island and take a guided tour. Worth the time. You may want to look into booking the tour in advance if you're really serious about going.
2. The Exploratorium is the coolest science/mechanical museum ever, hands down. There's also a guy who sets up near the entrance on weekends and stacks huge rocks on their tips. You must see it to believe it.
3. We really do have a herd of buffalo near the western end of the huge, beautiful Golden Gate Park. On Sundays, the roads through the park are blocked, but the park is full of runners, bikers, and skaters. Particularly impressive are the rollerskate and rollerblade dancers that come out every Sunday with their sound system on Martin Luther King Dr. near 8th Ave.
4. Golden Gate Bridge - it's big, it's orange, it inspires you to wax poetic when its towers are rising out of the fog, it's a great American icon, and you can walk or bike across it if so inclined. It's windier than you'd think.
5. PacBell Park and the SF Giants- We haven't actually been to a baseball game there yet, but we hear that it's awesome.

East Bay

1. Berkeley's Telegraph Ave. - Bohemian Rhapsody
2. Tilden Regional Park - A wilderness that also has park areas. It's ten minutes from our apartment in the East Bay with great hiking, wonderful views of the Bay Area (after a little effort expended uphill), and even an antique merry-go-round and a miniature steam train for kids.

North/East Bay

1. Hiddenbrooke Golf Course - For all you golf afficionados the golf course at our wedding site is an Arnold Palmer-designed course that's open to the public and, reportedly, is excellent.
2. Six Flags Marine World Vallejo - Marine World is about five mintues from the wedding site. Sort of an amusement park/zoo with everything from wicked coaster rides to dolphin shows.
3. The Jelly Belly Factory tour is just up the road from Vallejo and we're told it's quite cool. You get to sample too.
   

North Bay

1. Sausalito - A beautiful town on the waterfront in the North Bay. Sausalito is a great place to mosey, check out small art galleries, eat ice cream, and enjoy the view of San Francisco and the bridges. You can also catch a ferry to Angel Island from here or rent an open-top kayak to explore Richardson Bay.

Farther North

1. Napa and Sonoma - the wine country is gorgeous and the countryside is riddled with great wineries. We enjoyed the cave tour at Kunde Estates.
2. Calistoga mud baths - You squirm, but we can assure you this is a great experience. You've never felt so supple.

South Bay

1. Malibu Gran Prix - Go Karts!
2. Ano Nuevo State Reserve - More elephant seals than you can shake a stick at. Males go without food for up to three months at a time. Pups gain on average 175 to 275 lbs. in their first month. They all make snort-y noises quite a bit. It's quite a spectacle.