Super Epic - Super Pacific Road Trip - Day Zero: Welcome to Zombie Land

I'm calling yesterday Day Zero because we arrived by airplane rather than the truck. And since the underlying purpose of this trip is to pick up a Super Pacific X1 camper, and because it will be epic, I named it accordingly.

Our hotel is on the edge of the Financial District, bordering The Tenderloin District. This being my first time here, I don't know much about the city, but I heard The Tenderloin was rough around the edges.

To say "rough around the edges" is an understatement would be an understatement itself.

The Tenderloin is a shithole.

Stopping at a red light as we passed through, the Uber driver turned and said, "Welcome to Zombie Land."

From the car, as far as I could see, there was trash, tents, and people wandering in no particular direction.

After the initial shock wore off and feeling somewhat intrusive, I snapped a few pictures.

Later, walking towards Chinatown for supper, I noticed that every third building or so had a window or two boarded up, and everything had been covered in graffiti.

Even at our restaurant, the outside seating was tagged, and from the age of the paint, you could tell the owners had given up trying to do anything about it.

From the scale and grandeur of the buildings, I can tell that this was once a beautiful and booming area, but now many of the businesses are closing or have already closed.

Coco Republic opened just seven months ago and is already shutting down.

Barneys of New York - gone.

Disney - gone.

Armani - gone.

T- Mobile - gone.

The signs remain, but the buildings are empty and boarded up.

This morning, I stepped outside in the early light, thinking I would walk to Zombie Land and see what it looked like in the morning light.

I didn't get far.

Across from the hotel, a man crawled out of a trash can he'd slept in last night.

Two blocks further, one man was yelling at another with his hand on the handle of a large hunting knife strapped to his belt.

Tired and ragged people emerged from beneath plastic shanties and slipped out of worn sleeping bags tucked into the doorways of abandoned buildings.

I wanted to get more pictures, but as with the night before, it felt intrusive and rude. I pretended to be photographing the buildings - which were beautiful - but the occupants knew my purpose.

They did not like it, and some were unafraid to let me know.

The city workers were out en masse, attempting to clean up the night's mess. With a look of resignation on their faces, they were using rakes and large shovels to load pickup trucks full of garbage from the streets.

Some of the shopkeeps were hosing off the sidewalks, and from the smell, I knew that it was human waste washing into the gutters.

To say the morning's walk was surreal would be another understatement. Had it not been for the impressive architecture, I would have sworn I was in a third-world country.

Back at the hotel, I picked up coffee for Julia and me in the lobby. Upstairs, I found myself curious about the number of rooms in this hotel, so I Googled it.

The first result - "Owner of These Iconic San Francisco Hotels To Stop Making Payments, Surrender to Bank."

Our hotel is essentially in foreclosure.

That explains the ratty carpet.

Thirty years ago, I had everything I owned and all $500 of the money I had loaded into the back of my Honda Accord with plans to move here. At the time, from what I could tell, San Francisco was nothing short of vibrant.

I can only imagine what this area must have looked like then, and it's sad to see what it has become.

Shortly, we're walking over to the Fine Arts Museum to see the Kehinde Wiley exhibit and then make a quick stop in Haight Ashbury before heading north to Mendocino.

I'm ready for the exhibit.

I'm ready to see Haight Ashbury.

But I'm also ready to hit the road because it saddens me to see what has become of San Francisco.