With an unexpected break in my schedule, I decided to give both myself and my significant other a Valentine’s gift – a quick 2-night stay in San Francisco.
February is a good time for a spontaneous trip. Air travel is at a lull and some great fares can be found. It’s a quiet period for hotels with the absence of business travelers, conventions, and vacationers. Room rates are often slashed and it’s a time of year that I seem to get more room upgrades and other perks from desk clerks upon check-in.
After arriving in San Francisco on a half-empty flight at in the late afternoon, there are no crowds to fight while we take the quick and efficient BART train into the center of San Francisco. The department stores in Union Square are lit up in full splendor and they seem to have plenty of sales going on too. We take the short walk up Powell Street to one of the best located hotels in the city – The Sir Francis Drake. It’s a classic older hotel and if you have ever been to San Francisco you will remember it by the doormen in the red Beefeater-like outfits. The hotel has a stunning lobby of Italian Renaissance gilded arches, tall mirrors, crystal chandeliers, and marble stairways that are just not found in the modern glass and steel hotels that I see too much of these days. The Sir Francis Drake is perfect for a romantic stay!
We’re a bit tired after our flight and decide to have Valentine’s Day dinner at Scala, the hotel’s well-regarded restaurant. But it is Valentine’s Day and dinner reservations can be at a premium, right? But because we are hotel guests the desk clerk reserves a table for us but not before giving us complimentary drinks at the warm and comfortable lobby bar. The hotel is beautifully decorated. The plush couch is a perfect place to enjoy a martini with that special someone.
The next day in San Francisco is relaxing and fun. Being as touristy as we can, we hop a cable car right outside of the hotel. There is nothing quite like a ride up and down the hills of San Francisco with the bells clanging on a cable car dressed up like a Christmas tree. We glide through the different neighborhoods admiring different architectural styles and features of this city by the bay.
We don’t have too much of a plan for our day here. We go where the cable cars take us and then head out on foot to some of the more popular destinations of San Francisco: Alcatraz Island, lunch at Fisherman’s Wharf, and anyplace where we can get a view of the Golden Gate Bridge. Because of the season, there’s no need to make reservations at any of the attractions.
If there is a problem that I have with San Francisco is that there are so many good and varied dining choices, it a difficult task to make up one’s mind. It’s difficult to do, but we choose the North Beach area over a tempting Chinatown for dinner tonight. Italian restaurants dominate the scene here. After surveying a few menus we’re enticed by an offer we can’t refuse and sit down for a candlelit dinner.
Our day ends with a final moonlit cable car ride back to our hotel at Union Square. We’ll enjoy one last glass of champagne and wonder where our next spontaneous getaway will be.
Professor Stephen Solosky is the author of “The Traveling Professor’s Guide to Paris”. He runs the website,http://www.travelingprofessor.com and organizes small group tours to Paris, Italy and Peru.
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The Traveling ProfessorProfessor
Stephen Solosky,
author of “The Traveling Professor’s Guide to Paris”
find out about his small group tours to Paris and Italy.
Join me, Steve Solosky, the Traveling Professor (yes, I really am a professor), and let me introduce you to my exciting world of people and places you've always dreamed about.
I've been traveling to Paris on a regular basis for about 10 years now. Sometimes, I feel like I know it better than my hometown, New York City. Over the years I have visited nearly every attraction in Paris that you can think of. I have also visited many "attractions" that I am sure that you have never heard of. I enjoy keeping up on the latest travel to Paris developments and issues and passing them on to you as I receive them. I will also show you how to spend less money and enjoy Paris more.
I recently began bringing small groups to tour Italy. Usually we travel to Rome, Florence, and the Tuscan hill towns of Siena, and Lucca. We also visit Pisa and the Chianti countryside. Everyone loves traveling to Italy.
Learn more at thetravelingprofessor.com.
Recent Articles by Steve
A Romantic Valentine’s Day Stay in San Francisco
