I Miss the Old San Francisco

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I started visiting San Francisco as a teenager in the Sixties. Our high school honor society rewarded us with a three-day weekend in the late winter/early spring. We took the yellow school bus to the City, often stopping at places like Cal, Stanford, IBM, and the Ford assembly plant. But the highlight was always the City itself. We stayed in an old hotel (Golden State Hotel) on Powell and Ellis Streets, near the cable car turntable, Woolworth's, and the famous John's Grill. I still recall sharing the bathroom with an adjoining room. I doubt anything like that exists any longer. But we enjoyed being on our own, away from our small town, and determined to act like sophisticated kids in the big City. The memories are too numerous to mention, but I will relay some of the highlights. Dinner at Omar Khayyam's (middle photo) was always a big deal, since the owner, George Mardikian was from Fresno. We would mention we were from the area and get a free dessert. Dining in a really nice place with some of our female classmates was a big deal. The girls wore nice dresses, and we wore coats and ties. One of the many rules we were given was "no co-ed activities" in the hotel. We were content to just buy sodas, snacks, and a few girlie magazines. Imagine our surprise when we got a knock on the door! Yes, it was a few of our female classmates! We were so innocent in those days, nothing significant happened, but it was an exciting and unique experience for many of us guys. Most days, we were happy to ride the cable cars, visit places like Fisherman's Wharf, North Beach, Chinatown (looking for firecrackers), and Golden Gate Park. At night, we were forced to attend (with chaperones) a movie, play, opera or classical music concert at the Opera House. I did opt to see the most famous pianist of the era, Artur Rubenstein. And believe it or not, we also did some shopping. We enjoyed the big stores like City of Paris, the Big E, Gump's (third photo), and FAO Schwartz. We also enjoyed some of the old San Francisco eateries, like Lefty O'Doul's, Tad's Steak House, John's Grill, Alioto's, and our most favorite, Sears Fine Food (first photo), with their famous 18 Swedish pancakes. I guess we did not do so bad for a bunch of young, country kids. It is a City no longer like the Sixties.

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