the squatter...

there is a man in the cube right behind me. it's a squatters cube - hoteling if you must. he's from new york city and he started his visit last week. his family tagged along for a little SF adventure. they all went home over the weekend, but he is back this week. it seems the SF adventure wasn't what they'd hoped. here a just a few of the gripes I had the pleasure of overhearing along with some helpful commentary.

it takes so long to get anywhere - for instance 2 hours to get from Larkspur (via ferry) to the hotel in Union Square. most of this was likely due to your inability to read a readily available ferry/muni schedule. besides - we had no fog so that ride across the bay was probably pretty spectacular.

there wasn't much for the kids to do at G-R-DELI square. Ghiradelli (that's gear-a-deli) square is a lovely group of mostly artistic shoppes and fancy restaurants. perhaps a guidebook (even a cheap one) would have lead you to a kid-friendly venue - like 101 at rush hour.

they weren't really impressed by the food. known eating establishments...Cheesecake Factory, Rainforest Cafe, Hard Rock Cafe and McDonalds. hmmm...in a city known for it's fabulous local fare you've chosen to eat at the nationwide chains - and then complain that the food in San Francisco isn't impressive. it's difficult to fathom. you could have even gone to local chains like Max's or Mel's and eaten better food. again, I might suggest a guidebook - even a cheap one.

the zoo was so small and unimpressive. okay, granted you have children who need to be entertained, but the zoo?? you traveled 3,000 miles across the continent to visit a zoo? this is not San Diego who is world-famous for their zoo. if you've been to one zoo, you've been to all zoos (except maybe San Diego.)

have you people never travelled before? it sounds like you're onto a recipe for travel disasters - not just SF. think about it - it's not that hard. if you had friends in visiting NY, where would you take them? I've never even been and I can tell you that I wouldn't eat at chains or visit the zoo.

sheesh!