Commentary

I always wanted to see California.  My cousin, trish, gave us a great tour of LA, the beach and Hollywood.  She is one great tour guide.  My thoughts.

Except for the beach, it was dirty, rundown and not what I was  expecting.  The roads were small, no trees, Grumans Chinese place where the stars put their hands and feet was tiny, rundown and unkempt.  Hollywood
And and Vine had no trees in downtown.  So I am thinking staging for what we see on TV and in the movies.

San Francisco was unusual. Homeless on every corner, in fact, my friend tripped over one and fell! We saw protests for teachers, and petitions for the homeless.
We took a hop on hop off bus tour which is always great to get the lay of the land.

Our hop off was Fishermanà's Wharf. It is a tourist trap. Just 5 minuts after crossed the square a person. Was stabbed to death!
We ate at the Grotto and it was outstanding!

A couple of notes.
  If you think you  are a navigator COME TO CA it will humble you.  There are no street numbers,  no directonals, if you ask for directions, expect to be flexible.
In addition, maps do not match!

Today we found people who could give correct directions.  One was a liquor store owner in Daly and the other a postal employee.

We left San Francisco somewhat disillusioned. We hiked Chinatown, and found a tourist mecca not even a Chinese restaurant! We walked Fisherman's Wharf, dirty and in our case full of police, found magnificent  beaches and toured the Golden Gate Bridge.
I decided I  would never miss San Francisco if I never saw it again!