San Francisco is a great city for walking because if its compactness. The hills keep the exercise factor high, but the views are great! The city's history and geography are dominated by water so lots of interesting and scenic features are related to the bay and ocean-related wildlife in this area as sea lions sleep (they seem to be very good at that), swim, bark, or cavort in the water. For the birdwatchers, anywhere along the bay or ocean will usually afford a good selection of seabirds to observe. The area around Fisherman's Wharf and the cannery give an excellent modern and historic overview of San Francisco's oceanic connection with the fishing fleet and its related set of seafood restaurants, the San Francisco Maritime Museum with its collection of historic vessels and other ships on display.
For more information on happenings around San Francisco, please visit their CityNet site!
First of all, it almost never rains at this time of year. With that taken care of, there is no single description of climate for this area because it is an area of microclimates. San Francisco itself is usually dominated by the movement of maritime fog. This "natural air conditioning" keeps the lid on summer temperatures. The fog (mostly low clouds, but it will reach ground level in some places) moves in for the evening and usually stays through the morning until noon or so giving sunny afternoons. As long as this pattern persists, temperatures stay quite cool with winds off the ocean (daytime highs often get to no more than about 65 degrees F, about 18 degrees C). This pattern is very local, however. Travel in almost any direction will see varying degrees of the same maritime fog combined with warm weather from the interior. In places not reached by the fog, daytime highs are commonly near 100 degrees F (around 38 degrees C), but the humidity is not high. On occasion, shifts in the pressure patterns will keep the fog offshore for a few days, so even San Francisco sees some hot days.
For the local weather in San Francisco, you may want to consult Intellicast's Four Day Forecast before leaving for the Congress.
The Marriott is a large modern hotel that will be able to accommodate all of the Congress activities (note that this is not the only Marriott hotel in San Francisco so be sure to specify it as the "San Francisco Marriott at 55 Fourth Street"). It is conveniently located between the Yerba Buena Center, which has a large convention center, a theatre, and the new San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA), and Union Square, which is the city's primary shopping and theatre area. It is also directly on the main BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) line and MUNI (SF Municipal Transit) giving easy access to other areas of the city and most of the East Bay (Oakland, Berkeley, Walnut Creek, Fremont).
For more information about the San Francisco Marriott Hotel, see the Hotel Information Page. For directions to the hotel, please see Transportation Information.
Most out-of-town visitors will arrive at the San Francisco International Airport. The simplest transportation to the hotel is via SFO Airporter buses. These leave every 15 minutes from 6:15 a.m. (0615) to 11:30 p.m. (2330) and cost $9.00 (as of this writing!) They leave from the lower (baggage) level at the blue pillars. Taxicabs are also available. The fare is based on time/distance metering and will normally be $25-$30 (a 15% tip is normal). At in-between cost and convenience a number of shuttle (microbus) services also operate between the airport and the hotel.
For more information about transportation in San Francisco, see the Transportation Information page.