There are a number of opportunities for attendees, spouses and guests of Heart Rhythm 2008 to enjoy tours and activities in the San Francisco area. The deadline for registering has been extended as space is available — please see the M, A & A Tour Registration Form (Microsoft Word document, 56K) for complete details. Note that tour tickets will not be mailed — pick up your tickets at the Tours and Tickets desk in the Upper Lobby, South Building, of the Moscone Center, beginning at 8:00 a.m. on Tuesday, May 13. Choose from the following exciting activities and events:
San Francisco Highlights
The forty-nine square miles of San Francisco are a colorful tapestry of steep hills, picturesque houses, clanging cable cars, fishing boats, summer fog, Chinese pagodas, cosmopolitan cafés, and breathtaking views. Five continents and three centuries blend together on forty-three hills, waiting to be discovered. You will see some of the legendary landmarks of "Everybody’s Favorite City."
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Chinatown Discovery — a Walking Excursion
Discover exotic Chinatown on foot! In downtown San Francisco, the present has been built over the remnants of the past. This is especially true of Chinatown. From the towering steel and concrete of San Francisco’s Financial District, you will pass the historic Lion Gates and be transported into the "city-within-the-city", which recalls the days of early Chinese immigration. The first Chinese settled these streets during the Gold Rush and were swiftly followed by thousands of others. Today, San Francisco's Chinese population is one of the largest outside of Asia.
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Magical Marin
Cross the magnificent Golden Gate Bridge into fabled Marin County, with its astonishingly varied land and seascapes. Driving along the slopes of Mount Tamalpais, deluxe mini-coaches thread their way down the winding mountain road to Muir Woods National Monument, a unit of the National Park Service 12 miles north of San Francisco. It protects 554 acres of forested area populated by Coast Redwood (Sequoia sempervirens), one of the last remaining stands in the immediate San Francisco Bay Area. The average age of the redwoods in the Monument are between 500 and 800 years old.
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Alcatraz: "The Rock"
You will be “sentenced” to a “short term” on the notorious Alcatraz Island Federal Penitentiary. Take a short ferry ride across the chilly waters of the Bay to “the Rock.” Here you will visit the cells once occupied by some of the nation’s most infamous and incorrigible criminals. On this austere wind- and fog-swept island, it is easy to see why few attempts were made to escape into the treacherous bay with its undertows and turbulent waters. An expertly-created audio tour contains interviews with former prisoners and guards from “the Rock,” providing fascinating insight into prison life in the middle of the San Francisco Bay.
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Take Me Out to the Ball Game! San Francisco Giants
Experience the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat as you watch the Giants play at AT&T Park versus the Chicago White Sox! A visit to AT&T Park is an experience even for non-sports fans, with its gorgeous setting on the water — on game days, fans take to the water of McCovey Cove in boats and even in kayaks, often with fishing nets in the hope of collecting a home-run ball. Watching America’s favorite pastime played in “America’s most beautiful ballpark” will ensure an exciting evening regardless of the winning team!
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California Wine Country: Napa
The emergence of Napa Valley Wine Country as a premier wine-producing region is evident by the area’s domination in international wine competitions in recent decades, although the fame of the area’s wines is nothing new. Eminent 19th-century writer Robert Louis Stevenson once described the wines produced here as “bottled poetry.” With its look of old and settled tranquility, this beautiful countryside fulfills every expectation of an ideal wine country, calling to mind the Loire Valley in France.
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La Dolce Vita! An Evening at “Beach Blanket Babylon”
Attend the internationally acclaimed phenomenon, “Beach Blanket Babylon.” A modern version of the Commedia dell’Arte, "Beach Blanket Babylon" has celebrated an unprecedented 27 years and over 11,000 performances on the San Francisco stage. This ever changing show is the most visually exciting and entertaining live performance you may ever see. Its outrageous sets, props and costumes, as illustrated here, have become as much a part of San Francisco as the Golden Gate Bridge.
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Sonoma: Cradle of California Winemaking
The Sonoma Valley is regaining its fame as California’s oldest winemaking region. Few places have more of the character of Old California than Sonoma County, which offers outstanding wineries, family-run farms and a rural charm. Grapes and wine have been companions through all these historic episodes, an essential part of Sonoma from the beginning. The town of Sonoma sprang up around the 21st and final Franciscan mission in the 1830s, whose priests planted the first California vineyards for ecclesiastical wines.
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