Backstory: It’s embarrassing to admit, but I have now lived in my “new” city for over a decade and there’s still so much I don’t know about her!
So this week, I am nudging my inner history geek to do some research. I might look into a walking tour (something that I do regularly when I travel, but that languishes on my to do list here), pick up a book, watch a documentary movie, visit our library’s photo archives, or search for old maps.
If you and your city are already well acquainted, take this opportunity to research a city you’ve always wanted to visit. Do a little armchair traveling, and maybe it will inspire your next adventure!
What Happened: This nudge completely tickled my curiosity. Monday morning I thought about what I might like to learn, and started by googling “famous writers in San Francisco”. And down the rabbit hole I went! I learned Robert Frost was born here; the wonderful Lemony Snicket (real name Daniel Handler) is a current resident; Isabelle Allende, Anne Lamott, and Amy Tan live in nearby cities; and Mark Twain (who I knew had visited) worked here as a journalist (the first and last time he was ever fired from a job) for 19 months.
As I read more about Twain’s connection, I learned he stayed at the Occidental Hotel, a luxury hotel that was destroyed in the 1906 earthquake+fire. Robert Louis Stevenson was another famous guest.
Occidental Hotel, San Francisco
It’s also where bartender Jerry Thomas claimed to have invented the martini. There’s a huge debate about who shook or stirred the first martini. Thomas, though, is considered the “father of American mixology”. In 1863, he was earning $100 a week, which, I learned, was more than the vice president of the United States made at the time.
But back to Twain. While staying at the Occidental, he made frequent visits to the Turkish baths just down the street. It was there that he reportedly met a man named Tom Sawyer.
Cool!
The Ah-Hahs: As I skipped around from link to link, learning new tidbits about my beloved city, I gasped, I oohed, I laughed. And I planned. I want to walk in some famous footsteps. So, next date night, I’m going to suggest we visit one of the classic old bars downtown and raise a couple of martinis–to writers and innovators and people who make history. Fun!
To my readers who celebrate, I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy Kwanzaa!