San Francisco 2025

Ezra and Waymo were the highlights of our recent trip to San Francisco. Other aspects of the trip were more problematic. My husband and I wanted to meet our newest grandchild, Ezra, but scheduling was tight and somewhat last-minute. In our rush to confirm our air travel, we also reserved a hotel room without adequate vetting. After a deposit was paid, we reviewed the website more carefully and determined the hotel only had tiny rooms where the bed adjoined walls on three sides, making it difficult for the second occupant to get in and out of bed. As two seniors who often get up during the night, this would not work, and we needed to request a refund of our deposit. Not a good start to our trip planning. Luckily, we were able to book a room at a bargain-priced Holiday Inn Express. It turned out to be in a convenient location, clean, friendly, and included breakfast, a welcome bonus. For the most part, we were willing to overlook upkeep issues, such as a strange stain in the bathroom and damaged headboards which appeared to be patched with some sort of duct tape.

Our ride to the airport went smoothly but not the check-in process. With boarding passes in hand, we headed for the self-check-in area, where we waited for an open machine that was also functional. After numerous tries, we could not get the device to accept our boarding passes. We were then directed to wait in a long line to check our bags. Never mind that we had chosen to fly first class, my husband was using a cane, and we had submitted a prior request for a wheelchair. When we presented our boarding passes to the clerk, she was also unable to get them to work, so new ones were printed. We were directed to wait for the requested wheelchair. The only further problem was boarding the plane. Our new boarding passes, printed by the check-in clerk, were also rejected. The gate attendant printed replacement boarding passes and we were on our way, only about 30 minutes late despite the holiday crowd.

On prior trips to San Francisco, we had taken BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) to get from the airport to our downtown hotel. Due to recent mobility issues, we decided not to do that this time, even though we had our fully funded Clipper cards with us. A wheelchair attendant met us at the gate in San Francisco, helped us get our luggage, and guided us to the Lyft pick-up area, assistance we greatly appreciated.

Lyft served us well throughout the trip. We rode with Lyft 11 times during our 5-day stay and once with Waymo. As far as we could tell, all our drivers were immigrants. One said he did not speak English when we asked a question, leaving us somewhat uneasy in case a problem arose. One driver received a low rating from us because he constantly looked down toward the floor of the car, where his GPS instructions were located, almost missing a significant lane change to avoid early exit from the freeway. For the most part, the drivers were prompt, courteous, friendly and competent. Based on their names, appearances, accents, and the stories they shared with us, they were from Mexico, South America, the Middle East, South Asia and East Asia. We couldn’t help but consider the anxiety they must feel on account of the current political environment, with frequent public expressions of animosity toward immigrants.

Waymo was a unique ride and a first for us. Our daughter encouraged us to give the driverless vehicle a try, telling us how satisfied she and her husband were with the Waymo experience. The fee was about twice as much as we were quoted by Lyft for our short ride, but we took Waymo anyway for the experience. As the car approaches, the initials of the proposed passenger are displayed on the top of the car. A button on the phone app allowed us to open the door of the car. A voice inside the car then provides safety information, much like instructions at the beginning of a plane flight. The most important instruction seemed to be “Do not touch the steering wheel!” As we passed each cross street the voice of the car announced the name of the street we were passing. The trip went smoothly, all traffic rules were followed, and the car stopped exactly where we needed it to, but in the street since there was nowhere to pull over.

It was after we had returned home that the news reported “stuck” Waymo vehicles in San Francisco. The power in the city had gone out. Supposedly, the Waymo cars were to pull to the side of the road and stop. However, that did not always happen. Instead, the cars were stopping in the roadway, sometimes in the middle of intersections, and blocking all other traffic with no good way to move them to the side of the road. We were happy we did not know of this problem before we did our test ride, because it probably would have stopped us from giving it a try.

The purpose of the trip was to meet Ezra, who was then almost 3 months old, beautiful, sweet, and only occasionally very noisy. We did meet him and spent time with the other family members as well for four of the five days we were in the city. It is hard for us to believe that we now have a total of 8 grandchildren, all of them a pleasure to know and spend time with. How did we get so lucky?

While our primary activities were playing games, reading books, sharing meals, and holding the baby, we also were able to go to the local library, visit Santa Claus, and watch the Polar Express movie.

Unlike other trips to San Francisco, we did no tourist activities. That’s partly because of the time of year, our increased difficulty in navigating the SF hills, and the location of our hotel. Nevertheless, I’m sharing photos from some past visits, where we happily participated in tourist activities in addition to spending time with family. Past visits included several ferry rides, the zoo, wine tasting, museums, a concert, botanical gardens, sea lions, restaurant meals, a baseball game, and numerous parks. It’s a fun place to visit regardless of your priorities.

Carolyn Hayek