San Francisco is a great place, but sometimes you have to get away, even if only for a couple of hours. Once in a while I sneak out of work on a slow afternoon and take the 5:30 ferry to Sausalito, a town that is one of my favorite places in the world.

The voyage begins as the boat backs out into the bay and turns northwest. The city drops away quickly in the boat's white wake. Up close, the city's problems are easy to see, but from a distance, from the bay, San Francisco is a beauty. And the best view of San Francisco is from Sausalito.

I always thought that was apt, because Sausalito is a better version of San Francisco, like a classy sister, someone like you but without the rough edges....

Carl Nolte, San Francisco Chronicle, 18 March 2012