If you really want some history, a place in SF is rich with it. The old Mars Hotel at 4th and Howard. I used to live nearby, if you can believe it, near 3rd and Bryant. I stayed at the Mars a few times when my gf from NY came out, since there weren't as many bugs as there were at my shithole of an apt.
Kerouac had stayed there years before and the Dead stayed there in '74 while recording the album of the same name, since Columbia Records was just a few blocks away where they made the LP.
They tore it down to build the Moscone Center. So much history, gone forever. Progress!