Our Perfect SF Summer Day

Welcome to The REAL San Francisco Podcast! In this episode, Baxter Smith and Alexander Fromm Lurie talk about what makes a perfect summer day in San Francisco — from morning workouts and bike rides across the Golden Gate Bridge to brunch, beach walks, live music, family time, and the hidden gems that make this city unlike anywhere else.

San Francisco summer is never one-size-fits-all. One perfect day might start with Pilates, cycling through the Marin Headlands, and brunch at a favorite neighborhood spot. Another might mean a slow morning in the Sunset, coffee on the way to Ocean Beach, surfing, pizza with the family, or catching live music at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass.

This episode is a love letter to the outdoor lifestyle, neighborhoods, food, beaches, music, parks, and spontaneous magic of San Francisco. Baxter and Alexander share their favorite ways to enjoy the city — from Ocean Beach bonfires and Fort Funston views to China Camp sunshine, Marin hikes, cold plunges, farmer’s markets, and the local spots that make everyday life in San Francisco feel special.

If you love San Francisco, are thinking about moving here, or want a local’s guide to experiencing the city during summer, this episode is for you.

Topics we cover:

The perfect summer day in San Francisco

Ocean Beach walks, surfing, bonfires, and cold plunges

Biking across the Golden Gate Bridge and into Marin

Favorite brunch, coffee, pizza, and neighborhood food stops

Family-friendly summer activities in the Sunset and beyond

Live music, street fairs, farmer’s markets, and San Francisco festivals

Fort Funston, Baker Beach, Crissy Field, Aquatic Park, and hidden beach gems

Why San Francisco lifestyle and real estate are deeply connected

Subscribe for more conversations about San Francisco real estate, local lifestyle, neighborhood culture, and the people and places that make this city special.

Stay informed. Stay connected. Stay Real San Francisco.

Chapters:

00:00 Welcome to The Real San Francisco Podcast
00:15 Your Perfect San Francisco Summer Day
00:28 Starting the Day with Fitness
01:00 Biking Across the Golden Gate Bridge
01:24 Brunch, Ocean Beach & Family Time
02:34 Street Fairs, Festivals & Neighborhood Energy
04:01 Dinner, Date Night & Live Entertainment
05:55 The Reality of a “Day Off”
06:30 Baxter’s Ideal Summer Day with Family
07:21 Coffee, Ocean Beach & Surfing
08:24 Hardly Strictly, Music & Sunset Neighborhood Stops
08:55 A Kid-Free Reset: Massage, Coffee & Pastries
09:27 Beach, Music, Food & Relaxation
09:58 Best Beaches in San Francisco
10:29 Ocean Beach Bonfires & Sunset Moments
11:46 Marin Day Trips & Tennessee Valley
12:05 China Camp, Sunshine & Escaping the Fog
13:01 Fort Funston, Whale Watching & Wildlife
14:41 Surfing, Paddleboarding & Cold Plunges
15:55 What’s Your Perfect SF Summer Day?
16:16 San Francisco Lifestyle & Real Estate
16:24 Like, Comment & Subscribe
16:34 End

#RealSanFrancisco #SanFranciscoPodcast #SanFranciscoSummer #SFLifestyle #OceanBeachSF #SanFranciscoRealEstate #BayAreaLiving #GoldenGateBridge #SFNeighborhoods #SanFrancisco

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Welcome to the Real San Francisco Podcast, where the pulse of the city meets the truth of the market. We go beyond the headlines to bring you stories, data, and insider takes from those who live and breathe the city we love. Ready to get real? Here we go. Welcome back, the Real San Francisco Podcast. I am Baxter Smith.

SPEAKER_02 0:19

I'm Alexander Lurie.

SPEAKER_01 0:21

And today we are talking about the perfect summer day in San Francisco.

SPEAKER_02 0:27

Summer loving. So perfect summer day for me is going to start with some exercise. So either it's going to be group-based fitness because that's where I'm inspired to work out harder. It could be like an Orange Theory Fitness class or a berries or Pilates, gotten really in the Pilates. Or and probably I would actually do both. I'd do Pilates and then I'd go right into biking. Nice. A little triathlon. I would go right over the bridge. Hopefully it's not too windy of a day. Love looking at the mouth of the bay in Alcatraz, right? Obviously staying focused on the road, but it's beautiful. And then hit Hawk Hill, go on up, and then drop into Rodeo Beach. And then you can actually climb and ascend, uh, sort of on the other side of where Tennessee Valley would be, right? So you're sort of hugging that whole area in Rodeo and then uh loop back around through the tunnel in Sasolito and then back over the bridge. You can do that round trip in like an hour and a half, easy, you know, from where we live in Buena Vista. So by this point, it's probably 10:30, 11, right? If I have like a 7 a.m. start and back by 11, that's right around when my wife will be waking up. I'm kidding, Danielle, you'll be up before then. Um, I meet up with Danielle, we have brunch. We love brunch. I mean, who doesn't like brunch? So we'll go to one of our spots. We we've been really digging the spot um near us. That's my jam with like J A M. Oh, right. It's so cute. It's only open on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. And really nice owners, and the food is awesome. Really like that. Um, so we probably hit let's that's my jam. And then we're taking our dog, Wooly, to Ocean Beach and we're having a family walk. So it's kind of an outdoor day, right? Like we're taking advantage of the rays, we're taking advantage of summer. And so Wooly is literally just gonna run up and down chasing birds on the beach. Um, and we'll probably be out there for about an hour, hour and a half, and then Danielle and I will like grab a seat at some point. We'll do a little walk, then we'll grab a seat and just watch our boy, you know, our our boy. We refer to our dog as our boy. I know you'll make fun of me. Some of my friends make fun of me, but that's who we have is our son right now. Uh until our real one arrives. It's your current child. Our real one arrives in September.

SPEAKER_01 2:34

So that's your summer day changes.

SPEAKER_02 2:35

Then the summer day is all about diaper changing, staying at home, trying not to cry. I'm kidding. So um, and then by this point, it's probably You not the child. It's like two-ish, right? And so then we're um we're likely to go hit like a festival, right? Like an outdoor street fair type of thing, like low-key, like a neighborhood fair. It could be like something on Union Street, something North Beach, Telegraph Hill, um, something on like in Polk Gulch. Like there's all sorts of little cool neighborhoods. Like it might be a farmer's market that we hit, you know. This is a weekend. Yeah, weekend. This is often farmers markets often like ideal days on a week, yeah. But like, but like two-ish, like we're going to something. So we're we've got, you know, exercise, you got some us family time, then we're sort of interacting with community, like you know, midday. And now that takes us to like forest. Then we're gonna go home and just like mellow out, maybe do some life management. No, that's not fun. But we're gonna like, we're just gonna go.

SPEAKER_00 3:29

Ideal day.

SPEAKER_02 3:29

No, like we're just gonna ideal day, homework, uh, work, uh, cleaning the house in the refrigerator, getting yelled at, yelling at somebody. No. Um, yeah, yeah. Uh sound familiar to Baxter? Is this a home baxer?

SPEAKER_01 3:43

Yeah, like yelling at somebody. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Just go on.

SPEAKER_02 3:46

Ideal somebody I go out in the street and I was gonna get home, you know. Let's say we get home 4, 4:30. Then it's just like we're gonna mellow out for a little bit, just like have our own space, our own time. Like, I like I need to recharge. Danielle will, I might go honestly just sit. I'm gonna read a little bit. Danielle's gonna read, mellow out, whatever, you know. And then at that point, it's like 5:36. And um, and then it's like, we're probably gonna go out and either we're hitting dinner with friends or ourselves. Um, and we're gonna go to just like one of our like neighborhood, you know, haunts. Um, there's some awesome places in our hood, and or we'll go out with some friends. And then, like, if it's like my ideal night or ideal day, like maybe I'd go to Katonia if it's ideal, because I love I love the, you know, that restaurant's amazing in Jackson Square. And then I'd probably go to a magic show. Really? Yeah, I mean, I'm just saying ideal. I'm not like going to a magic show every week or even every month. Okay. That's your new gym.

SPEAKER_01 4:39

That's your new gym. Actually, magic show.

SPEAKER_02 4:41

That's my jam. Camera guy's laughing too.

SPEAKER_01 4:43

I I love I actually had friends go to a magic, they were like, we're going to a magic show, and we were like, oh, with your kids? Yeah. And they're like, no, we're going to adult.

SPEAKER_02 4:52

So it would either be in yeah, joking aside, it would either be like it would be some sort of performance. So it might be a magic show or it could be live music.

SPEAKER_01 4:58

Like, have you been to the I mean you obviously have been to the magic shows.

SPEAKER_02 5:02

Yeah, I've been to like I've probably been better on three of them in San Francisco. Look, over the course of like the last 10 years, 15 years as an adult in the living in the city. I've you know, been to three shows, but I've loved them and they're awesome. And I have that's a side conversation, but um, or live music. I'd probably choose a little bit of live music just because you know it's like, I don't know. I just I think there's nothing much better than just like a good band at night and like you know, nice warm air and a band. And and so maybe we'll hit the independent, or maybe it's like an outdoor venue. Uh, we were just at the Greek last week. We went to Bob Dylan last weekend, which was amazing. Um, so we would we would do something and and probably with friends, but it might just be like a romantic night, just you know, my wife and I, you know, our own date night. So then, you know, that's like that's a full day. I mean, that's like a high, you know, that's a big day, uh uh heavy charging day. Um note clients, uh, that's not realistic for the days we have because of you, and we're often on calls and doing work, and Baxter will tell you, even when I'm on vacation, I'm like, you know, you know. But we'll say we're gonna say that, like, you know, somehow, you know, I have a day off. That's like my and that is a realistic uh ideal day. Like, I know it's like stat, but it's like healthy living, connection with like my wife who, you know, my our family, and just connect like having like music and all that, like that stuff's also fun.

SPEAKER_01 6:30

Yeah. And you know, it's the ideal day, it's tough because I have three kids. And so is it a camp day? Is it a non-camp day? Like what is that?

SPEAKER_02 6:43

The ideal day is he drop them off and pick them up like the next day.

SPEAKER_01 6:47

But I think the ideal day does include the family, so it's a non-camp day. So maybe the kids let us at least sleep until, you know, and we're recording this in the summer, and that is like, do we sleep until seven? Do we do they wake us up, which usually doesn't happen? So we you know, we sleep until seven, and then I think summertime, and so living in the sunset, summertime, sometimes it's foggy, less than people think now. It's some we get these glorious days. Yeah. And so let's say it's a glorious, true summer day, get up, leisurely breakfast at home, and then we walk down to the beach and the coffee shop on the way down, you get a coffee, you walk out to the beach, meet friends at the beach. Ideal, ideal. If we're down there on the beach, I bring my surfboard and there's some surfing to be had while I'm down there. And then in the afternoon, you go home and that like being in the sun and running around on the beach, kind of tired for the afternoon. Uh, we love pizza. And so, do you order some pizza, bring it home, and then have that just like leisurely dinner and then watch a movie? Like, that's kind of like the leisurely sunset summer day. But then if we're talking about like fall summer, then you know, is hardly strictly, is hardly strictly going on. So then is it do you go and have the beach and or do you do we have the farmers market on Sunday? So it's is it farmers market, then you go down to the beach for a little bit, then you go have some lunch and go to Hardly Strictly, meet friends at Hardly Strictly, hang out at Hardly Strictly, hear music, then go from there, have a little dinner out in the sunset or in the Richmond, and then go home after that. I mean, it's just it's I think weather dependent. It's what's going on because you know, to be able to go to the beach and a music festival in the same day, yeah, that's pretty epic. And so I think that's uh and then yeah, if the kids are going to camp, then are we leisurely? Are we going to Toasis and getting a little massage and going to that's on division? B Petisserie and getting some coffee and a pastry and but Toasis is great.

SPEAKER_02 9:12

I gave my wife a gift there and she like loved it.

SPEAKER_01 9:15

Oh just it's the easy you know, you can go to Kabuki and you can do the whole thing, but then you could just walk in and you just walk in and get your toes diet. Or you got a chance or something like that. It's great.

SPEAKER_02 9:27

So you and I have a lot in common. We both had beach. Yep. We both had music. Yep. We both had some relaxation. Food, some good San Francisco food. Both had food. Um I I probably over-index on the working out.

SPEAKER_01 9:42

Um that I just build into my surfing.

SPEAKER_02 9:45

Oh, that's the surfing. So we're both working out.

SPEAKER_01 9:48

That's a physical exercise.

SPEAKER_02 9:50

So there's a lot, yeah, there's a lot there. And it's funny because both of us we both put ocean beach in there. You walk to ocean beach, that it's so nice that you can walk there.

SPEAKER_01 9:59

And the beach is the you know, you figure you're going to the beach in the summer, and but that's not always a given in San Francisco. But I think people underestimate you can go to the beach in whatever way.

SPEAKER_02 10:09

Yeah, I mean there's beautiful. There's a bunch of good beaches in the city too. Because you got bakers right there, you got ocean, yeah, then you got sort of like uh like Chrissy Field, like that beach area there, which is great. You have Aquatic Park, which is more, you know, smaller, but like that still functions. Then like, you know, you could wrap around the other side of the city. There's actually some like hidden beach gems in the city. And um one of my favorite memories for a great summer evening was a bonfire on Ocean Beach.

SPEAKER_01 10:35

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 10:35

Like absolutely absolute amazing. And it was, it might have been like a hardly strictly, it was like a perfect hardly circuit day, which often isn't I you know, it's the weather is a come and go, but it was like hit the hardly circuit, which ends at like seven and then transition right to the beach.

SPEAKER_01 10:51

And then if you can get sunset in there, you oh you get the sunset at the beach. Boom.

SPEAKER_02 10:55

So you're you you ideally you've got a good pal who's been like holding down, you know, a bonfish bonfire spot, you know, like you gotta sort of like five, six hours, like hold that. A lot of people have started just sort of building their own fires without the proper pit, which is like you don't do it, but it's not it's not the right thing because then there's ash everywhere, it's not not cool. Please pick up your trash when you go to the beach. Yes, no bueno when people just leave their stuff. Like we're we're not here, like people aren't here to like pick up after you. Like, we should pick up after ourselves. Anyway, the beach is epic, and so like that day that we'll come down there and pick up after you.

SPEAKER_01 11:33

We'll do we'll do that for you. Just let us know. We'll pick up your trash for you.

SPEAKER_02 11:38

Yeah, yeah, yeah. But I I think I think that is an awesome day. Now, here I'm gonna sprinkle a little uh curveball in there. I you know, I already sort of teased a little bit about going into Marin for the bike ride and say that you could go deeper into Marin. You could do like a Tennessee Valley hike with a level on. Like, have you done Tennessee Valley in Mill Valley?

SPEAKER_01 11:56

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 11:57

Oh, so beautiful. Now, if you want to venture further, you can hit Stinson Beach or you could do Mount Tam.

SPEAKER_01 12:02

I got another. Yeah. So when the sunset gets gloomy, which it does in summer, headed a little north or a little south. Where my wife, Kendra, where she grew up going, China Camp. Oh yeah. You know China Camp? Yeah, in Center Fell. Yeah, and that is just and it's a little cove in. It's beautiful. I went there for summer. And it's just biking there is great. When it gets a little bit foggy, you can jump over there and get some 80 degree sunshine.

SPEAKER_02 12:30

Yeah, they've got what's that beach right there that you can pay five McNears Beach, is that what it's called? Yep. Five bucks to get away.

SPEAKER_01 12:36

And you can get the, you know, you can get pots, the kids love getting popsicles there. So you go out there, get some sunshine, get some popsicles. And then one of the greatest things about not one of the greatest things, but one of the nice things about San Francisco, especially with the way things are going with the weather, is you know, it could be a hundred degrees outside the city, and it's nice to go out there and experience it. And then it's nice to drive back into it.

SPEAKER_02 12:58

It is nice, it's air conditioning. Um, Fort Funston, another place. Absolutely. If you have not been to Fort Funston, you must go. It does get a little windy, and you see these hang gliders like jump off the cliff there. It's unbelievable.

SPEAKER_00 13:10

And there were whales off of it. You can have like a whale expedition onto a whale.

SPEAKER_02 13:14

Yes, you pay for that. It's a robotic whale. No, uh, so we went, uh, there are these like whale watching excursions that you pay for, you know. And uh, we went, my buddy and I went, and it was an awesome boat ride. It was a beautiful day, no whales. Okay. Then literally, like three weeks later, I'm just standing right to the left of Golden Gate Bridge, sort of like on the way down to Seacliff El Camino del Mar, right at the top there, and I'm seeing spouts everywhere at the mouth of the bay. And I'm like, this is better than any whale, you know, watching expedition ever. I mean, I must have seen like 11 or 12 whales and they're breaching, and it was it's so beautiful. So I think the wildlife different seasons seeing the bird migrations, the whale migrations, dolphins out there, they're dolphins and then surfing. If you're ever surfing with that wildlife, I was uh I think it's called uh Fort Point. Is that what it is? Right at the base of Golden Gate Bridge, which you know, I I'm not a very good surfer. I shouldn't have been there, and it's a little terrible. Get a little gnarly territory. It's also a little territorial. Now, this is like, you know, 15 years ago, and I was, you know, whatever, 25 and thought I could do it. And and I I was okay, but I just got out because it was not friendly. But there was a dolphin that just popped up about 20, maybe 15 feet from me, and it it actually scared me. I thought I was like, there's a shark, you know, in the water. But it was so magnificent to see that.

SPEAKER_01 14:38

And they're great surfers.

SPEAKER_02 14:39

It's amazing. And so all I think all of this, like I think we've now upgraded our ideal summer day. Like, I think some water is great. Stand up paddleboarding. If you're not a surfer, stand-up paddleboarding can be good. So a little harder to do that in San Francisco, yeah, admittedly, but but go out to uh to China camp. Yeah, go into Marin and do that. Go up paddle board out. You can do it in Saucelito. Yeah, I mean, Sasolito's got that protected little you know, cove in in there um right right by Strawberry Village, and that's like a great place to go, right where the houseboats are and things. Yeah, the other thing that I'll throw out there, if you haven't done this, that could be a fun way to jumpstart your day. If you're a little tired, gotta get the cobwebs off, is jumping in the water, like without a wetsuit. Just jump in cold plunge, cold plunge in the bay.

SPEAKER_01 15:25

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 15:25

And um you'll get a little tingly for a little while, and it is like it like resets your whole immune system, I feel like. Yeah, at least for me. I just found it so cathartic. And yeah, you've been wishing.

SPEAKER_01 15:36

I mean, you've been going in there all the time. Oh, I anytime I can, I go and well, I go to Ocean Beach and I jump in the water, but anytime I can just run down there, even just it's just a quick reset. Sometimes, you know, mid-morning, middle of the day, just to run down there, jump in, jump out. So nice. It's a yeah, it's a wonderful thing to do, and that's living near the water. Yeah, near the ocean.

SPEAKER_02 15:55

Cool. I think we've touched on some like ideal summer activities. We want to hear from you. What is your ideal summer day look like? What are some must-dos? What are some things that we haven't chatted about?

SPEAKER_01 16:06

Yeah, what are we or what do we not know about? Yeah. Tell us somewhere if you want to hear some secret San Francisco summerless spots.

SPEAKER_02 16:12

Yeah, there's some pearls out there. So thanks for tuning in. And uh, if you're interested in more about San Francisco and San Francisco real estate, Baxter and I and our team are here for you.

SPEAKER_01 16:22

Like, comment, subscribe.

SPEAKER_02 16:25

Whatever it is on our screen. Yeah. Uh, thanks for tuning in. We'll see you next time. Enjoy the summer.

SPEAKER_00 16:30

See ya.