A Midwestern dad recently documented his family's whirlwind day trip to the city with his two young daughters, ages 7 and 10. They drove down through Vallejo ("jaw dropping landscape," he called it), crossed the Golden Gate, parked in Golden Gate Park by 9 AM, and proceeded to pack more into a single Sunday than most of us accomplish in a month of weekends.

The itinerary: Japanese Tea Garden ("worth it"), the hop-on/hop-off bus ($230 for four — we'll get to that), Pier 39 sea lions, Chinatown shopping, a reggae show in the park, and a sunset trip to Lands End. The kids' favorite part? Riding the open-top double decker across the bridge. A little chilly, sure, but try telling a 7-year-old that's not the coolest thing ever.

As one local put it: "I remember vividly my first visit here in the 4th grade. Wanted to come back every summer after that... I moved to the Bay Area for college and never left."

That's the San Francisco we don't talk about enough — the one that makes a kid from Nebraska become a lifer.

Now, let's be honest about a couple things. Two hundred and thirty dollars for a tour bus for a family of four is a hefty price tag, and it's a reminder that SF's tourism economy isn't exactly optimized for middle-class families. The dad also noted that Chinatown was mostly "VERY authentic street food" with limited sit-down options — which, look, anyone who's actually explored Chinatown knows there are plenty of restaurants. But the fact that a first-time visitor couldn't easily find them says something about wayfinding and how welcoming those streets feel to outsiders.

Here's what matters, though: this family felt safe. They had fun. The city delivered. No horror stories, no break-ins, no stepping over needles. Just a beautiful park, goofy sea lions, and a tie-dyed shirt from a reggae show.

San Francisco's problems are real, and we cover them relentlessly because accountability matters. But so does perspective. The city's greatest asset has never been its government — it's the geography, the culture, the sheer audacity of the place. A family from Iowa drove hours to see it for one day and left wanting more.

Maybe instead of spending millions on bureaucratic tourism campaigns, City Hall should just get out of the way and let San Francisco be San Francisco. It seems to work pretty well on its own.