Small Car Big Time Tours

Seek and ye shall find.
It is easy to stick to favorite restaurants and bars. It makes the decision making process easier, especially after a long week and all I want is a glass of wine in a comfortable place with no surprises to price or atmosphere. What I tend to forget is that the usual places I love were at one time new discoveries.
I discovered Amalie a few weeks ago. It was a night I was searching for a good glass of wine and some good cheese. I started at a place in the Financial District (or the FiDi, as it is known to those who are very busy and overscheduled and to prove it to us lesser mortals must use an acronym at every opportunity. By the way, “San Fran” drives me up the wall as well. But that’s another post. Anyway….) which was way overpriced for both the wine and the cheese plate. The portions on the cheese plate seemed to come from scraps tossed onto board as the waiter rushed by the kitchen, and wine, while good, not worth the price.

Here’s a rule of thumb I usually stick by: if the wine menu doesn’t have at least one glass of wine under $10, go somewhere else. If nothing is under $15, run like the wind. You can get good wine all over the city that won’t bust your budget.
Undaunted I searched for “best cheese plate” and Amalie came up as a favorite several times. And with good reason. It is a lively bar with a large selection of wines by the bottle and glass. The Monday night I was there the special was a bottle of wine and a cheese plate for $35. A steal. The wine was earthy with some spice, not the fruit bomb that is woefully common these days, and the cheese plate had proper portions, not the insulting dainty servings that are also far too common.
The attention to good wine and food served at a reasonable price may have something to do with the French atmosphere of Amalie, and the staff, who are also international. They take good wine and food as a birthright, as an indispensable part of life. I couldn’t agree more.
Amalie 1754 Polk Street (at Washington Street)
Open Seven Days a Week 5:30pm – 2:00am
Happy Hour From 5:30 – 7:00
(415) 292-6916

Yesterday I was driving a guest, Ruth, and her mother, Dotti, near the tennis courts on Hyde St., near Lombard St. As we passed, Ruth said, "That's where I've played tennis before." At that moment, a tennis ball sailed over the fence onto the sidewalk near the MINI. That was a double first: the first time someone mentioned the tennis courts, and the first time nearly being hit by a tennis ball.
Just a sample of the kind of San Francisco Magic that happens with Small Car Big Time Tours.

Small Car Big Time Tours

Another 5-star review. My favorite part is "It was money well spent in the words of my partner, who's a true Yorkshireman so doesn't part with cash freely, so if he thinks Reed's tours are value for money then that's good enough for me. "

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g60713-d4012186-Reviews-Small_Car_Big_Time_Tours-San_Francisco_California.html

tripadvisor.com Ranked #46 of 1,134 attractions in San Francisco. Been here too? Add it to your map!

Small Car Big Time Tours

A new review on TripAdvisor...

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g60713-d4012186-Reviews-Small_Car_Big_Time_Tours-San_Francisco_California.html

tripadvisor.com Ranked #58 of 1,116 attractions in San Francisco. Been here too? Add it to your map!

Thanks to Des and Nikki for letting me show them around San Francisco. It was Nkki's first time here, and her delight at seeing things she had only heard about, along with Des discovering new sites, made for a great tour.

The newest Small Car Big Time Tour blog post is about the Audium--a true only in San Francisco experience. Go and be stunned. To the Audium. The blog post is nice, but hardly stunning.
http://www.smallcarbigtimetours.com/blog/

I recently took Gus and Anna on a San Francisco tour. They're from Brazil (my first Brazilian guests). Anna, by her own admission, loves posting on Facebook, and got out many times to take photos.
Gus, while a native Brazilian, is of Japanese descent. His grandparents wanted to immigrate to the US, but couldn't afford it. Businesses in Brazil offered to pay travel expenses for Japanese people who wanted to work, so they went to South America instead. Fun fact: Brazil has the biggest Japanese population outside of Japan.

Tour Guests are always fascinated that when they are in the Financial District and Marina, they are walking over water.

I recently took Doug and Ann Fleck on a 2-day tour. The first day I took them around San Francisco, then dropped them off at Sausalito. The next day I took them on a tour of Sonoma wineries where the big buses can't go. They must have had fun--they surprised me with a bottle of wine at the end of the day.
Man, do I have a great job or what?

This is Libby and Jen, at the top of Twin Peaks. They were the guests who saw the ottoman fly out the window of the Marriot off Union Square.

A Pell Cup for winners and also-saileds

About halfway down is a story about an ottoman flying out a hotel window. I picked up guests for a tour about 20 seconds after this happened. A was very exciting start to the tour. I had to work hard to top it.


http://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/garchik/article/A-Pell-Cup-for-winners-and-also-saileds-4825801.php

sfgate.com Herbert Claiborne Pell, member of an aristocratic East Coast family, had a huge summer home in Newport, R.I., but spent most of his time in Europe. [...] to ensure that the British challengers did not go home trophy-less, Herbert Pell and his father, Clarence Pell, donated the Pell Cup, a large silv...

Small Car Big Time Tours

Small Car Big Time Tours now has 10 5-Star Reviews on TripAdvisor.
http://www.tripadvisor.ca/Attraction_Review-g60713-d4012186-Reviews-Small_Car_Big_Time_Tours-San_Francisco_California.html

tripadvisor.com Ranked #105 of 922 attractions in San Francisco. Been here too? Add it to your map!

A very cool photo snapped by a friend while on a tour.

Sonoma wineries are a great destination, and even better when it is a boutique winery that is too small for the big buses. This is Brain and Karen O'Hair enjoying themselves at Ram's Head.

This is Brian and Karen O’Hair. We had a full day that included Ram’s Head winery in Sonoma (a wonderful boutique winery too small for big tour buses) and visiting the statue of Yoda in the Presidio.

Cameron, Anna, and Kristi--three southern belles from Alabama in front of Postcard Row. I am promised that when I make it to Camellia State, they will show me around with famous Southern hospitality.

Once again, I am reminded why I love this business. I get to drive around in a fun car in a beautiful city with interesting people. I recently had the pleasure of showing Lyne, Christine, and Erika around the city. They ended the tour in Sausalito, and took a ferry back to San Francisco.

This is Nduja (“en-doo-ya”), a spreadable salami, and perfectly spiced. If you have never had it, and you probably haven’t, you should. Trust me, you want this. You can pick it up (and other porky treats) at Boccalone in the Ferry Building. If you bring it to a picnic or dinner party, everyone will love you. Bring a loaf of good bread to spread it on to double the love.

Tour guests Andrea and Shannon at the top of Telegraph Hill.

Andrea and Shannon, who took a tour April 1st, sent me some photos. I like this one, even with the dude in the background.

Small Car Big Time Tours

We got our first Tripadvisor review! Thanks, Lyn!
http://www.tripadvisor.ie/Attraction_Review-g60713-d4012186-Reviews-Small_Car_Big_Time_Tours-San_Francisco_California.html

tripadvisor.com

[04/02/13]   We're finally on TripAdvisor!

I had a great time showing Andrea and Shannon around San Francisco. Their custom tour included a trip to the Castro, up to the top of Telegraph Hill, down Lombard St, and a stop at Amoeba Records in the Haight. We also drove across the Golden Gate Bridge, and I dropped them off in Sausalito. They took the ferry back to the city, and said the views were beautiful.

Yesterday I had the pleasure of showing San Francisco to Suzanne, Julie, and Mel, three women from Wales, 2 of whom had never been to San Francisco. They wanted to drive down Lombard St. and go down a big hill, so I took them down Filbert St, which is the steepest street in the city (both things which cannot be done in a tour bus.) Afterward, they said the tour was everything they hoped it would be. Glad I could be of service!

This is the new site for my company, Small Car Big Time Tours.
Website: SmallCarBigTimeTours.com
If you have friends or family coming to San Francisco, don't send them on a big bus tour. Let me show them the city, the Wine Country, or anywhere else they want to go in a convertible MINI-Cooper.

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