Entering the City

Our goal was to hit as many spots in Northern California as possible. Then we entered San Francisco and, once you do that, it's hard to leave.

I had been to San Francisco once before. I was eleven or twelve at the time and the trip to San Francisco remains the only Ohanesian Family Vacation. Oh, we went to other trips, but the other trips all involved heading up to Fresno to visit family. Therefore, those excursions don't count.

It was the sort of family vacation fit for National Lampoon, something that could end up in an autobiography should I ever become a person of importance. But I fell in love with San Francisco then and, going back as an adult, I love it all the more.

On Wednesday, we headed up to The City, as the evening newscasters reference San Francisco, to meet up with my cousins for Thai food in the Sunset district. The next day, we packed our things and headed to the Hotel Beresford.

There are three Beresford outposts in San Francisco. We stayed at one of Sutter, near Powell, across the street from one of the many Art Institute buildings across the downtown area. I should have taken a picture, but I didn't and so you will have to check out the website.

This hotel was such a change from the HoJo. Sure, it didn't have air conditioning (even during a heatwave, it's not really necessary in San Francisco, at least for those of us from L.A.) and the wi-fi was virtually unusable, but it was a really cool hotel. The building is small and Victorian in style, with the rooms situated above a pub. The inside is decorated in that quaint, flowery British style. One of the major bonuses is that the minibar is dirt cheap, with beer running at about half the price of what you would find at a bar. Then there is the location. I think we were technically on Nob Hill. It was about two blocks away from Union Square and four blocks from Chinatown. From our hotel, we were able to walk almost everywhere. We hit up Union Square, Chinatown, North Beach, Russian Hill and the Financial District on foot. We hopped on a trolly to get to Fisherman's Wharf and took a cab to an ill-fated club adventure I will document later, but that was about it. For the rest of the week, all we did was walk. And eat. And drink.