A first visit to San Francisco

On this year’s trip, I wanted to visit California’s Great America theme park and I also wanted to take a ride on the nearly 100-year-old Giant Dipper on the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. After several iterations of my planning matrix, it was finalised: I would start and end my trip in San Francisco, and visit the city mainly towards the end. However, as Sunday was the only day I could visit the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, I had the opportunity to explore the city a little before the amusement park opened in the evening. In addition, the musical Hadestown had its last performance in San Francisco that day, which made a visit a must.

The previous day’s journey had gone without a hitch, and instead of standing in the immigration queue for three hours like last time, I was in the United States in less than 10 minutes. Although there were queues at baggage claim and the car rental counter, I arrived at the Hotel 1550 close to the airport in the early evening. After a short night, I treated myself to some porridge in the small breakfast room and immediately set off for San Francisco.

I parked in one of the car parks next to the City Hall, which was surprisingly cheap for San Francisco as there was a special rate for Sunday parking. I walked to the theatre and then around town. After a delicious breakfast at the Mason Diner near Union Square, I looked for something to do before the Hadestown matinee and found the Free Walking Tour of Free SF Tour, which was about to start. Mercedes led our international group around the city, with a special focus on China Town. Unfortunately, the tour got a bit lengthy towards the end, so I arrived at the Orpheum Theatre a bit breathless, but just in time.

I liked Hadestown, although the minimalist set was very reminiscent of Come from Away. It took me a while to warm up to the music though. I particularly liked the staging of Wait for Me with the swinging lights. But the more I heard the songs, the better I liked them.

After the performance I went straight to Santa Cruz where I spent the next two nights at the Drift Inn Motel near the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. The motel was simple but very clean and reasonably priced, so I can definitely recommend it.