194
THE AFFLUENT TRAVELER
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Destination Spotlight
M
y husband Jamie and I have come to San
Francisco for a three-day weekend, and
we’re squeezing in as much as possible.
We enter City Lights Bookstore that the Beat Generation
made famous; the first signs we see on the wall read,
“Stash your cellphone and be here now,” and “Educate
yourself. Read here 14 hours a day.” Jamie ducks
beneath an arch with another sign, “Abandon All
Despair, Ye Who Enter Here.”
We next head to the Embarcadero’s free Musée
Mecanique at Pier 45 with its collection of working
antique coin-operated machines including arcade
games, hand-cranked music boxes and miniature
theatres with twirling ballerinas. Jamie plunks a
quarter into a stereoscopic machine which flips
through black and white stills in 3-D of the 1906
San Francisco earthquake and fire. How desolate
the city looks in those photos, and how alive it is now
with soaring skyscrapers, clanking trolley cars, and
unlimited choices for food. Ah yes, food. We grab
some clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl at
Pier 39 and after, slide onto side-by-side horses on
the hand-painted carousel.
Time for an adrenalin rush, the RocketBoat, a
30-minute boat ride which races full-speed up San
Francisco Bay. We’re given ponchos that say,
“Soak in
San Francisco and no charge for the hairdo.”
The boat
whisks us past perfect views of the city towards the
Bay Bridge, but it’s impossible to take photos because
the captain is turning in circles intentionally trying to
soak us all. Returning to the wharf, he slows down
and we watch endless sea lions lazing on the pier.
Nearby is The Aquarium By the Bay where giant
octopi, psychedelic-looking jellyfish and eight-foot
long sharks swim around and above us as we walk
through the crystal clear acrylic tunnels.
Time for happy hour, San Francisco style. Each
night at 5:30 p.m., The Ritz-Carlton on Nob Hill has a
“Fog Lifter” moment in which they roll out a cart with
seasonal libations and toast the foghorn. Also in the
LEFT
(from the top)
Allen Ginsberg’s
Howl
, originally published
by City Lights Bookstore; a walk through one of the clear
submerged tunnels at San Francisco’s Aquarium of the
Bay; North Beach, rich in Italian heritage, compresses
cabarets, jazz clubs, galleries, inns, family style restaurants
and gelato parlors into less than a square mile.
Photo courtesy of San Francisco Travel Association
Photo courtesy of San Francisco Travel Association
Photo courtesy of San Francisco Travel Association/Scott Chernis
