I Went There: San Francisco

(One in an occasional series.)

Went to SF for a conference and spent several days down by Union Square and the Tenderloin and the Mission. It was a busy week in SF: the Warriors won the NBA title, Obama came to town to see how I was doing speak at a Mayors conference and it was also some kind of centennial for City Hall. Oh and it was sunny and unseasonably warm for most of the week, which happens only slightly less often than Centennial celebrations.

So it was a happening week in the city. My room at the Parc 55 had a nice view. Union Square is my least favorite part of San Francisco - it is everything shitty about a mall combined with everything shitty about crowded urban areas - but once you got past the mediocre restaurants and aimless throngs of tourists (do they not have a Banana Republic in Germany??) you can wander into the Tenderloin or south of Market for some local color and good foods. The areas do get legitimately sketchy with the mentally ill and drug-addicted homeless but stay out of the alleys and don't be phone zombie and you will be fine.

Spent a Friday afternoon drinking beers at Pier 23, which is pretty much the best way to spend a sunny Friday afternoon in San Francisco. Got to catch up with Ze Newbs and his family in person in the evening. That was superb because it made my trip fun instead of just work. Good times.