January 2011 Hotel Manager's Picks | Sheraton Fisherman's Wharf Hotel

While the rest of the country is focused on slogging thru one of the snowiest winters on record, San Francisco's mild weather makes it a joy to visit year-round. A trip to our famous city this month will also allow visits to the city's major attractions without dealing with the crowds that are common during the summer, without much difference in the temperature.

One of the busiest and well known attractions in North America, Fisherman's Wharf is best known for being the location of Pier 39, San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park, the Cannery, Ghirardelli Square, a Ripley's Believe it or Not museum, the Musée Mécanique, the Wax Museum at Fisherman's Wharf, Forbes Island and restaurants and stands that serve fresh seafood, most notably Dungeness crab and clam chowder served in a sourdough bread bowl.

Some of our restaurants, like Pompeii's and Alioto's #8, go back for three generations of the same family ownership. Nearby Pier 45 has a chapel in memory of the "Lost Fishermen" of San Francisco and Northern California.

To help plan your stay, visit our Local Events page on our website for details of some of the more interesting events that are happening in San Francisco this month. Regardless of what you have planned, enjoy visiting our beautiful city.

What's your favorite spot in San Francisco? Let us know at sheratonsf@ihrco.com or Share on Facebook.

Happy Travels ... Craig Schwan, General Manager

Cavalia
In San Francisco through January 2, 2011, Cavalia is an extravagant production involving magnificent horses from all over the world, riders, aerialists, acrobats and dancers, as well as musicians and a vocalist.

Created by Normand Latourelle, co-founder of Cirque du Soleil, five years were spent on research and then another five conceiving the show and training animals and acrobats before "Cavalia's" world premiere in August 2003 in Quebec.

The production made its U.S. premiere in February 2004 in San Francisco. Since then, "Cavalia" has played to more than 2.5 million people with 1,600 performances.

"Cavalia" has grown to roughly twice its original size since 2004 with a cast of 100, including 45 humans and 55 horses representing 12 breeds, but Latourelle's inspiration began with a single steed. Latourelle recruited the quarter horse Choice, now 23 and retired to "Cavalia's" Sutton, Quebec, farm, as an extra for a village scene in Légendes Fantastiques, a show inspired by French-Canadian folk tales that he produced in Drummondville, Quebec.

Constantly evolving, Cavalia opens under the largest touring White Big Top in the world on November 16 at At AT&T Park. For more information call: (866) 999-8111

Dine About Town
Dine About Town San Francisco returns for the tenth year January 15 - 31, 2011, providing both locals and visitors with an incentive to experience San Francisco's finest restaurants at a fraction of the price. Diners may select from more than 100 participating restaurants offering a two-course lunch menu for $17.95 and/or a three-course dinner menu for $34.95, up to a 25 percent savings off regularly priced a la carte items. The complete restaurant list for Dine About Town San Francisco is posted on San Francisco's official visitor website www.dineabouttown.com.

New restaurants to participate in the January 2011 promotion include Coda Live Music Supper Club; Comstock Saloon; Ducca, Georges Restaurant, Hana Zen Sushi & Yakitori Bar, Kuleto's Italian Restaurant, La Terrasse, Marlowe, Mayes, Moussy's, Ristorante Specchio, Skool, Sociale and Velvet Room (Clift Hotel).

Restaurants that have participated since the first Dine About Town promotion in 2002 include Ana Mandara, AsiaSF, B44, Cliff House, Cosmopolitan, E&O Trading Company, Forbes Island, Fringale, Grand Café, Hornblower, Le Colonial, One Market, Restaurant Lulu, Scoma's and Silks.

Reservations are encouraged and may be made online through a partnership with OpenTable.com. Information is also available by calling 415-391-2000.

Fun Takes Flight at House of Air
A revolutionary indoor trampoline park, House of Air, recently opened in a former airplane hangar in San Francisco's Presidio.

Taking the building's original use for flight quite literally, the new attraction offers a cutting edge array of trampoline structures and programs for walk-in guests with organized classes. Note to any skeptics: these are not one's typical backyard trampolines. The Matrix, House of Air's main trampoline structure, consists of 42 conjoined trampolines.

Larger than a regulation-sized basketball court, it is surrounded on all sides by trampoline walls set at angles to the floor. Visitors have other bounce options: 2X Bowl, a freestyle trampoline concept modeled after skateboard park designs; the Colosseum, 22 conjoined trampolines designed for organized sports such as trampoline dodge ball and basketball; the Training Ground, for performance-based training for top gymnasts, board sport specialists and professional athletes, by appointment or group class only; and the inflatable Air Junior Bounce House for children three- to six-years old.

House of Air, located at West Crissy Field, in the Presidio of San Francisco, is open daily; reservations recommended for weekend use. For information call (415) 345-9675.

Japanese Tea Garden
San Francisco's Japanese Tea Garden was originally developed for the 1894 World's Fair in San Francisco and through the years the Garden has grown into a landmark of San Francisco's Golden Gate Park.

The Japanese Tea Gardens were designed to have a very romanticized look of a traditional Japanese garden. As a result, entering the Garden is like stepping into the world that you see in Asian paintings; a world that exists both inside and outside the hustle and bustle of life.

It is a peaceful, complex place many paths, ponds and a teahouse that features native Japanese and Chinese plants. Also hidden throughout its five acres are sculptures and bridges. About the only sound you hear are cameras clicking. Not only do the gardens have beautiful plants, but they also house many interesting animals as well. Every pond you pass (and there are many), you will find teeming with koi fish, and there are also many exotic birds. 

Teatro ZinZanni
Set along San Francisco's historic waterfront, Teatro ZinZanni is a bewitching evening of European Cabaret and Cirque, Divas and Madmen, Spectacle and Sensuality with Live Music and a Gourmet Five-Course Dinner. Teatro ZinZanni was created by Pacific Northwest non-profit arts and events producer One Reel in 1998 and enjoyed a sold-out 14 month run in Seattle before bringing its antique "spiegeltent" to San Francisco in 2000, now located at its permanent home on Pier 29 along The City's Embarcadero.

Teatro ZinZanni breaks new artistic territory with this intoxicating blend of interactive theater, spectacle, fine arts and fine dining, put together under the artistic direction of One Reel's Norman Langill.

The ever changing cast at Teatro ZinZanni features world-class practitioners of some of the oldest and most time honored traditions in entertainment.  It is truly an extraordinary ensemble, of a caliber unlikely seen anywhere else in the world.

Featured this month is "License to Kiss II", a sweet conspiracy featuring comedian Kevin Kent in his quest to create a confectionary delight. The beautiful Spiegeltent turns into a den for intrigue, espionage and the ultimate candy-coated collusion. In the end, merriment and chaos reign, giving us all a License to Kiss!

For reserations and information call: (415) 438-2668.

Pixar: 25 Years of Animation
Walt Disney's arrival in Los Angeles in the 1920s firmly established California as a magnet for animation artists.

Home to a number of leading studios, the San Francisco Bay Area has emerged as a global center for animation today. Pixar: 25 Years of Animation provides an unprecedented look at the renowned East bay-based studio and showcases the creative work behind its wildly successful computer-animated films.

After its opening in New York and its five-year  international tour, this exhibition comes home to the nearby Oakland Museum. The presentation includes all of the artwork from the original presentation at MOMA, plus art from Ratatouille, WALL•E, Up, and Pixar's latest film, Toy Story 3.

Getting there couldn't be easier, as the Oakland Museum is only one block from the the Lake Merritt BART station. For further information, call (510) 238-2200.