Stockton's a better summer destination than San Francisco?! Really?! Really!!

Scroll through for Stockton's top attractions... Stockton holds the No. 23 spot in WalletHub's list of top summer travel destinations, several spots above nearby San Francisco. Scroll through to learn more about what you can do on a trip to the Central Valley city. less Scroll through for Stockton's top attractions... Stockton holds the No. 23 spot in WalletHub's list of top summer travel destinations, several spots above nearby San Francisco. Scroll through to learn more about ... more Photo: Courtesy Visit Stockton Photo: Courtesy Visit Stockton Image 1 of / 29 Caption Close Stockton's a better summer destination than San Francisco?! Really?! Really!! 1 / 29 Back to Gallery

The consumer finance site WalletHub recently released its annual ranking of best summer destinations for 2016, and when I looked it over and noticed that Stockton (No. 23) ranked above San Francisco (No. 46), I was stopped in my tracks.

Stockton is known for crime, drugs and gangs, and in the past has made lists of the most dangerous, most distressed and most miserable cities in America. Sure, San Francisco has problems as well, but the City by the Bay has the glorious Golden Gate Bridge spanning the bay, the cable cars running over roller-coaster hills and vibrantly colored hydrangeas blooming along Lombard Street to make up for all its shortcomings.

San Francisco is a world-class bustling city where you go for a romantic weekend getaway or a week-long family trip. Stockton is where you stop for a meal on a drive to the mountains or maybe stay for a night when your son's playing in a hockey tournament. Who would go there for a multi-day vacation, especially in summer when the days are sweltering??

A dad friend of mine recently did.

Last month, Geoff Benjamin alerted his Facebook friends that he took his two children on a vacation to Stockton over spring break with a photograph of his daughter joyfully dancing in an empty movie theater.

"...For the second night in a row we are the only people in the theatre, even for first showing of Jungle Book 3D Imax," Benjamin wrote in the accompanying caption. "Certainly not our urban experience. Cheers to traveling the globe and finding new experiences. It's fun dancing on a seat in the middle of a movie."

I was perplexed when I saw that post. This was the family I like to live vicariously through as they typically summer in exotic places—from Mexico to Morocco—with their children, and here they were in a Central Valley farm town that's best known for its asparagus crop.

I immediately texted Benjamin: "What are you doing in Stockton?"

His response: "Cheap spring break. All the kids want is a hotel experience and a pool. Hotwire four-star hotel $80 a night, heated pool required."

This is the truth. Stockton is a bargain and that's one of the main reasons it ranked so highly on WalletHub's list, that was based on expense, weather, number of attractions and accessibility.

Benjamin and his kids stayed at the city's most highly rated property, the University Plaza Waterfront Hotel, which offers a posh hotel experience for a bargain. You can stay at this sparkling modern property sitting right on the river with a swimming pool for around $120 to $140 a night on weekends. By comparison, rooms at the Sheraton Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco start at around $300.

The summer weather in Stockton isn't as bad as you might think. Wes Rhea, CEO of the city's Convention and Visitors Bureau Visit Stockton, says the average summer high is 92 degrees, but due to the city's location on the river, it gets a nice breeze and cools in the evening.

Rhea admitted Stockton's attractions are limited when compared to San Francisco; a riverside minor league ballpark, the Haggin Museum and the historic Bob Hope Theatre are the top draws. But he pointed out that it's a great place to stay if you want to explore Lodi's wine country, where you can meet winemakers face to face, or the Gold Country, where you can delve into '49er history. He also pointed out that Stockton is well-located near the center of California, making it easy for many around the state to access it.

I decided to circle back with Benjamin to see how his Stockton trip went overall — since we all known a Facebook post is never representative of the true story. Turns out the end result was mixed.

The flea markets were a hit. "There were definitely deals to be found," he wrote in an email. "For example, a $50 Speck iPhone case which is all the rage with the geek crowd in SF was $5 at the flea market." So were the shopping malls. "I have a tweenage daughter so she was thrilled," he said.

Dinner out at Market Tavern, whose chef de cuisine was formerly at Moose's in San Francisco, was "a fraction (of) the price of an SF restaurant of equal quality." They also enjoyed "the bakery at the Michael David Winery in Lodi with old-school wait staff "who call you hon'" and "the best fresh baked pies on the planet." They actually went twice and brought a pie home.

On the downside, they left the city's best known event, the Asparagus Festival, after an hour. Asparagus ice cream was a disappointment and the men's bathroom "odoriferous."

That's somewhat trivial. The real downside, according to Benjamin, was the city's apparent drug problem.

"I've read about suburban drug use epidemic, but it felt like we walked onto the set of "The Walking Dead," he wrote. "I grew up in New York City and live in the middle of SF and I was seriously scared. We went to a charming bakery on a quiet tree-lined street and as we walked to the car a strung-out addict parked his shopping cart in the middle of the street and started limping zombie style towards us. Good thing that zombies are slow."

In the end, Benjamin's daughter said, "We are never ever coming back here."

Of course, this is one opinion — coming from a tweenager — and we should all share ours in the comments.

I personally feel San Francisco is a superior travel destinations and the WallHub list is nonsensical, but I like that it has led me to consider Stockton as a getaway spot and this summer I might just take my kids there and we'll spend a weekend splashing in a pool—because let's face it, that's all the really want to do.