| When traveling to most cities of the world, | | | | Plaza Hotel at $180 a night. We had a |
| finding discount accommodations when arriving | | | | rollaway brought for my two children and |
| to your destination is always a possibility. | | | | spent the rest of the day recuperating for |
| Not so in the diverse and complex city of | | | | our previous nightmare. |
| San Francisco. From the hills of Daly City | | | | |
| to the plains of Berkeley, the environments | | | | That evening, we ventured out to walk around |
| and people are so diverse that your vacation | | | | the Streets of San Francisco and I must tell |
| could with one dial of the phone be a | | | | you it was scary. There were destitute |
| paradise made in heaven or an inferno | | | | people lurking at every doorway, down every |
| designed in, well you know, that other place. | | | | alley, sleeping above the street vents for |
| | | | warmth. This was a haven for the homeless |
| Families making their hotel reservations at | | | | and I am not sure where the tourist fits in. |
| the smaller hotels that dot the periphery of | | | | It was both sad and a frightening, |
| San Francisco might be able to land a | | | | especially since coming from an isolated |
| bargain, but find they may find themselves | | | | small town in Minnesota. I passed out |
| sharing accommodations with other crawling | | | | quarters to those asking as if I were passing |
| critters that would make even the toughest | | | | out flyers for a corner store. |
| among us parents squirm. | | | | |
| | | | We eventually found a Starbuck near Union |
| I did this once. I came to San Francisco on | | | | Square and quickly ducked in. After a family |
| a budget and thinking to wing my | | | | meeting to discuss our situation, we decided |
| accommodations; I found a phonebook and | | | | to catch a trolley car and make a dash to the |
| booked a motel for $59 a night. Well, the | | | | famous Fisherman's Wharf and Ghirardelli's |
| minute I saw the hotel along a poorly lit | | | | Square. We scampered out of Starbucks and |
| side street I knew we were in trouble. This | | | | caught the next trolley. It was a wild ride |
| hotel was something I would expect to see in | | | | straight up and straight down a city built on |
| medieval Europe, not in actuality. But it | | | | a mountain. We all screamed with joy. We |
| was late and we succumbed to our basal | | | | spent an enchanting evening among all the |
| instincts for sleep and it was 'just one | | | | tourist shops, street performers and family |
| night.' But the bed was so grimy we actually | | | | attractions that populate Fisherman's Wharf. |
| slept on the floor, and the occasional voices | | | | We bought a big pound of fudge at a fudge |
| we heard in the alleys were so hair razing I | | | | shop and drank coke and champagne until late |
| don't think sleep was an option for any of us | | | | in the evening. |
| - and we were in their 'best room!' | | | | |
| | | | Our lesson from all this, at least regarding |
| The next day I called numerous hotels in San | | | | San Francisco hotel reservations, make your |
| Francisco city proper. You know, where the | | | | hotel reservations in advance. Don't waste |
| Trolley Cars roam and the street performers | | | | time looking for a hotel room when you get |
| perform. I found a number of places, | | | | there, the city is just too big. Since |
| ranging from the low 100's and going up to | | | | writing this, we went to San Diego. I booked |
| the high 600's. We got in our car to make | | | | all our accommodations off a website called |
| our investigation and inspected one hotel | | | | which featured discount hotel reservations |
| after the other, some dark and dank and some | | | | with pictures and prices clearly explained. |
| bright and classic. We settled on the Grant | | | | Check it out. |