Princess Diaries Day in San Francisco
If you grew up during the golden age of 2000s teen Romcoms, odds are you had your (most likely ongoing) phase of absolutely loving The Princess Diaries. I mean who wouldn't want to find out that they are the future queen of some seemingly unproblematic country known for its beauty and pears? And it comes with a makeover? Sign me up! "Just in case I wasn't enough of a freak, let's add a tiara!" I had wild and unruly curly hair my whole childhood so when Paulo took "this and this" and turned it into a *princess* I began my long journey with hair straightening. I have since recovered but my love for this movie has never gone away.
So when I moved to the Bay Area in 2019 I knew I had to find all of the spots in the movie starting with the arm wrestling arcade machine. When the movie was filmed the arcade museum was located at the Cliff House near Sutro Baths but it has since been moved to the Fisherman's Wharf into Musee Mecanique which is a free arcade museum. Well, free admission, you do have to pay to play the games. The museum originated as a private collection started by Edward Galland Zelinsky in the 1930s when he was just 11 years old. It has a huge variety of games dating back from the 1900s to games from the 80s/90s. In the collection, you will also find the infamous masked luchador that the Queen of Genovia herself wrestled on her day off with Mia. It still works and it is incredibly difficult to beat! Musee Mecanique is one of my favorite places to take visitors even if they haven't seen the movie, it's just a very fun and unique way to spend time in the city. After spending time playing with the penny machines you can walk right out the front door to the Fisherman's Wharf and get some of the amazing San Francisco clam chowder in a sourdough bowl, or you can head to Lyon Street and get my absolute favorite sub in all of SF.
You'll be heading to Lyon Street anyway for a photoshoot on the grand rounded staircase in front of Mia's high school. But since you're already there you should also stop into Golden Gate Deli and get a San Franspycho all the way on a Dutch crunch. Golden Gate Deli is very unassuming from the outside but it boasts over 54 made-to-order sandwich options each better than the last. Okay, back to the high school. The building is no longer a high school and is a private residence now but it is marked on the map as "The Princess Diaries School" and just about every time I have passed it there are people taking pictures in front. If you are visiting in the early spring you'll likely see a small patch of Calla Lilies just across the street for even more photo ops. Not to steer you too off course, but if you visit around early April you will most likely be able to see cherry blossoms right down the street in the Presidio at Lucasfilms. It's the only other place besides the Japanese Tea Garden where you can see Sakura in San Francisco, and as a bonus, they are free to visit.
