San Francisco Adventure

He who would tell a tale must look toward three ideals: to tell it well, to tell it beautifully, and to tell the truth. W. E. B. Du Bois

This site is an outgrowth of the many walks I've taken in San Francisco with friends, talking non-stop, and it serves no purpose except to please me and, hopefully, to amuse you, by a stream of tales.
Not being as talented or as wise as Mr. Du Bois I will merely endeavor to tell these as well as I can, to protect their innate beauty, and to include as much truth as seems reasonable.

Some cities, like Paris or Moscow are made of history and architecture. Others, like York and Odessa, are just a few thousand tales in a trench coat. San Francisco is one of those tale cities. Sure, history and architecture do happen here on occasion1, but if you learn about them here it'll be by accident.

For instance, I will stay carefully away from discussing the United Nations, and the only thing I will tell you about US Presidents is that in San Francisco Hayes ate duck, Wilson was greeted by 60,000 schoolchildren (can you imagine the noise?) and Harding died.

Instead you will read about Lincoln Beachey who was brave, and Fremont Older who was honorable, about poor mad Sarah Althea Hill and wise Mary Ellen Pleasant, about the fruitless success of William Leidesdorff and enduringly successful failures of Agoston Haraszthy.


Are all of those tales true? Better - they are legendary!

There's a source for everything I write, but when two sources disagree I pick the one that makes for a better story, and I'll only skip a good story if there's absolutely no evidence for it whatsoever, and sometimes not even then.
For example:
Did Agoston Haraszthy really strangle a wolf with his bare hands2? I've heard it said, and no one proved the opposite, and it fits what we do know about him. So I'm going to tell you that he did, but, much as I'd like to, I will not claim that it was a rabid dire wolf or that anyone has seen the pelt.


That said, there are many people who wrote and continue to write fascinating and well-researched books and articles about San Francisco.
Check out the Resources tab for my favorite links and books - but do it later.
For now, follow me - there's a really cool tale right around the corner!


1The first known drive-by shooting in USA happened in San Francisco in early 1830s. The victim was on his way to court to testify. The street was crowded, yet there was not a single witness that the law could find.
2 Was he truly a Count? Was he eaten by crocodiles?


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TECHNICAL STUFF
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OK, you say, but how does it all actually work? Here's how:

  • Each guide has a specialty and will go only to places that match that specialty. For instance, Biff will only go to locations associated with films.

  • You can choose to see all locations instead, or to see handicapped-accessible locations by using the drop-down at the top of the page

  • Handicapped-accessible in this context means you can drive up to it or I have personally stood there and believe that I could get to it in a wheelchair without assistance. Because of this restrictive definition many locations that some wheel-chair users and most elderly or pregnant people could technically get to will not be listed as accessible.
    You know your needs better than I do, so please use your own judgement.

  • Once you get to a location you'll see a list of nearby locations that are available to your guide, if you've chosen a guide. If you don't see anything nearby that interests you - try viewing all locations

  • You can also click on the map, and pick a new location from it.

  • Once you've picked a location you can click "get directions here" to get directions from wherever you are.

  • The only food places I include are both really good and historically interesting. There are lots of places in each of the neighborhoods that are just really good. There's probably a great little coffee shop right around the corner. Food trucks are generally good as well.

  • My neighborhoods are very loosely defined.

  • I did my best to include only non-copyrighted pictures, which is why all location pictures are AI-generated or my own photos.

  • For actual people, if there is a good likeness I used it, if not I used an AI image and the description will tell you so. In some cases the portrait you'll see will be different from the top search results. That means I don't believe the commonly used image to be accurate or trustworthy.

  • I very much want to know if there's a good story I missed or if there's something you think I got wrong, so please write to me at [email protected]



    • Start at the Hotel View the Map Resources