Tiki luxury on Nob Hill.

Not merely a museum – but a whirring powerhouse that offers a subterranean peek into the heart and soul of cable car operations.

A quiet nook at the top of a little-known hilltop park named after California's first poet laureate.

Alleyway plaque commemorating the death of a fictional character in The Maltese Falcon, not far from the author's home.

San Francisco's oldest surviving monument and meeting place for 1906 survivors.

One of the oldest producers of hand-folded fortune cookies still uses its original secret recipe.

Staircase winds down the side of Telegraph Hill through gardens, wild parrots flying overhead.

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

Bonsai garden in Oakland is curated by the first non-Japanese female bonsai master in the United States.

This Oakland fairytale kingdom, fiercely devoted to childlike whimsy, was an early inspiration for Disneyland.

With statues of Nelson Mandela and Harvey Milk this monument has been called the Mount Rushmore of California.

A man-made island in scenic San Francisco Bay.

A creepy steel gremlin has protected the Bay Bridge since 1989.

Julia Morgan's Moorish-Gothic labyrinth of fountains, trees, natural light and Oakland's notable dead.

A sparse, solitary sequoia still stands as a living tribute to the famous conservationist who planted it—but it's dying.

A unique market that brings together various goods and cultures.

From buttons to beads, flounces to fripperies, this textile museum and shop honors the history of needlework.

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

This subtle Berkeley paving stone actually marks off a lawless tube of air that extends into space.

The century-old bell and clock tower at UC Berkeley is the third-tallest in the world, and has fossils.

Where the polar bear watches over everything, and every drink is a double.

Where a staggering 747 ships were constructed during World War II.

The former Naval shipyard is open for exploring - mostly.

The oldest Naval cemetery on the West Coast.