The Intentional Tourists

“Ah, silence,” sighs James as we head into San Francisco, and nothing more is said until we reach our destination. We could be crossing an international border instead of the Golden Gate Bridge, for all the distance it puts between us and home (where we’ve left my dad and Debra holding down a raucous fort).

It’s no accident that we’ve chosen Hotel Vitale* for the latest installment of our S.O.S. Plan (Save Our Sanity); it’s a jewel in the diadem that is the Embarcadero Waterfront. We can practically see our house from here and still feel as though we’re worlds away. When we arrive, we discover that we’ve graciously been given a circular Panoramic Suite in lieu of the water view room we reserved.

In our spacious Room with a View, we're treated to a welcoming bottle of champagne accompanied by fruit, chocolates (Rechiutti!), and a personal note from the managing director. On the desk is a large bouquet of pink peonies (in December?), one of my very favorite blossoms. We put up our feet, raise our glasses to every perfect detail, and enjoy being pampered tourists in the City by the Bay without having to move an inch.

From this marvelous vantage point, we can see the San Francisco Ferry Building, the Bay Bridge, the Port of Oakland, and the Audiffred Building, circa 1889. There’s an outdoor art museum at our feet, including Cupid’s Span by Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen and the newly installed Crouching Spider by Louise Bourgeois. And for a little karmic irony, since we’re here to spend time off from kid-related chaos, there’s a giant Gap baby staring straight at us…

We don’t leave the hotel except to enjoy dinner at Boulevard, where Franco-Californian cuisine is served in a setting of pavonian splendor. The rest of our brief getaway is spent practicing the Art of Doing Nothing. Ahhh… It could be (should be) habit forming.

*A note on the Hotel Vitale: it’s a Joie de Vivre hotel, related to a number of places
we recommend to our visitors, including the Waters Edge and Acqua Hotel.
Come see us; what are you waiting for?