Can anywhere come close to SF in terms of weekend/day-trips?

[sub]

Can any place come close? Sure. Just depends on what you like.
The places mentioned in the OP's post would be interesting every now and then, but nothing I care to see or deal with on a regular basis.

[MrJester]

Originally Posted by MarketStEl

Very good parallel, except:

You can get very good real Italian food in any number of restaurants in the United States, usually in cities with sizable Italian immigrant communities.

(You can also get dreck in Italian restaurants in those same cities.)

Right. The gap between a New England or SoCal ski resort and a Rocky Mountain ski resort is much bigger than the gap between real Italian food in Boston's North End and Italian food in Italy.