Golden Gate Park's historic collection of plants.

A playground built by the kids that is a child's wonderland, and a helicopter parent's nightmare.

A century and a half of research in the sciences and natural history, still going strong.

Olfactory delights in San Francisco's Botanical Gardens.

An invitation-only museum of items natural and bizarre, arcane and exotic.

Carnivorous plants, medieval aphrodisiacs, and the largest original wood structure glass conservatory in the western hemisphere.

The remains of a 12th-century chapter house in Golden Gate Park.

The stones that traveled from Spain to eventually become a holy place for San Francisco's nature worshippers.

Russian history in San Francisco.

An artsy hidden staircase leads to breathtaking views of San Francisco.

The tea room that pushed the boundaries of adorable straight into...we can't find the words.

Reverend Franzo Wayne King administers spiritual enlightenment through the music of the jazz legend.

The only theatre in the world constructed specifically for sound movement.

This shop specializes in oddities and Victorian-inspired wonders.

San Francisco's newly reopened hands-on science museum.

Gold Rush-era tombstones line the park's paths.

Noble beasts perhaps, but not the Emperor's dogs.

Faceless white figures loom over the city from the rooftop.

Adolph Sutro's little-known, geographically inaccurate, deprecated monument.

A shape-shifting buy-sell-trade bookstore, born to Beatnik Era spirit.

An vast warehouse of everyday treasures in Berkeley, CA.

Recovered from the brink of extinction, at home in the Financial District.

Art from the latest counter-culture; kids who dye their hair blue and believe the future will be a post-apocalyptic water world.