• Travel

    Random thoughts from a week in San Francisco

    April 5, 2024 /
    1. I realize that my ideal vacation consists of taking long walks somewhere scenic in some way – as the sole meaningful vote stuff decisions tended towards that
    2. the only Biden/Trump stuff was some weird guy dancing in a Trump mask in Union Square – I don’t know if he was pro or con – it seemed very neutral
    3. No Israel/Gaza graffiti at all.  No BLM or “In this house” signs either.
    4. Everything was very clean
    5. I did not encounter a single panhandler
    6. The homeless that were visible in public places were all tragic cases.  There were noticeably more homeless than the last trip, but all kept to themselves
    7. The combination of Golden Gate Park plus Lands End was totally awesome, one of the best afternoons of my life, and it’s odd that no one suggested that until this trip
    8. With a little more preparation and forethought in terms of food and bike rental we could have done everything much cheaper – it’s the add ons that are terribly pricey, not the main course
    9. We spoke to the hotel check-in person for a good 20 minutes when we got there – she more or less planned our entire trip for us when we got there.  I was very happy I had not planned anything before then.
    10. We were explicitly told to avoid the Tenderloin district by more than one person – I saw a little of the outskirts of that from Union Square – and the reputation seemed correct.  I would have explored that a bit more, but I had Marleigh with me
    11. SF is the world’s capital of unleashed, well behaved dogs
    12. It is the whitest city I’ve ever been in this trip – much more so than last year.  I have no idea how that’s possible.
    13. It is probably the best city in the world to be 25 years old, or wealthy 65 years old.  We saw very few kids
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