We're off to spend a fun weekend in the city! Paige and her cute friend, Lauren Reichman, flew in yesterday. The weather is awesome and San Francisco awaits us! I'm not quite as enamored with the Bay Area as I am with Manhattan but I'm always up for adventures in San Francisco! It's Lauren's first trip which poses a challenge: how can you possibly do justice to this place in such a short time window?
If we start by walking Golden Gate Bridge and riding the Cable Cars a newcomer gets a good feel for the gorgeous setting of this city. It's hard to believe that just over 100 years ago the whole city practically burned to the ground!
And, speaking of the past, there was a San Francisco Judge in 1918 who rebuked a citizen in court for using slang when he called the city "Frisco." Judge Mogan stated: "No one refers to San Francisco by that title except people from Los Angeles."
So, among San Francisco residents, the nickname of "Frisco"for the city is taboo! The columnist, Herb Caen, expert on all-things-San-Francisco, thought the name "Frisco" was intolerable and beneath the city's dignity. Unfortunately many tourists aren't aware the name "Frisco" is verboten!
Herb Caen even wrote a book titled "Don't Call It Frisco." And if you aren't familiar with Pulitzer Prize winning Herb Caen (who died in 1997) you've missed out on a classic.
In 1967 a magazine asked Herb Caen to write about why San Francisco attracted so many hippies and beatniks. Caen declined and his answer is quite clairvoyant (considering he stated this 40 years ago). Caen said it's a puzzlement and "I'm damned if I know why San Francisco has been Mecca for so many round pegs in a largely square world."
