Did you ever take the time to, say, walk from Hayes Valley to Russian Hill on a breezy, sunny day? Did you spend any time hunting down the perfect ice cream, or the best burger, or the Platonic ideal of cioppino. Would you know where to find the best and cheapest dim sum if anyone asked? Did you ever pass a couple hours waiting to eat brunch at Outerlands by sitting on Ocean Beach with a bottle of wine? Did you ever go to Ocean Beach, or Baker Beach, or take a dog running at Fort Funston, or hike up Twin Peaks, or take the stair tour of the city, or follow the wild parrots from that park by Embarcadero Center up to their afternoon roost on Telegraph Hill? Did you ever waste the better part of an afternoon and evening with a bunch of friends in Dolores Park? Or Alamo Square? Or anywhere for that matter? Did you ever go to a show at the Fillmore and study all the old posters in the bar upstairs? Or go to a drag show at The Stud? Or take a quick drive to Sonoma for no other reason besides escaping the fog for an afternoon? Or take a first date to the Musée Mechanique and walk the Embarcadero at dusk?

via An Open Letter To Two New York Times Writers Who Don’t Get San Francisco At All: SFist.