An art supply shop holds the secrets of this quiet neighborhood's raucous Barbary Coast past.

Appropriation-friendly collection of books, periodicals, and more.

A pair of mutilated bronze octopuses slump at the base of the monument honoring California's admission to the U.S.

Radioactivity still cause for concern at this urban explorer's paradise.

This surreptitious shop is only open five hours per week.

This one-block alleyway is stuffed with street art that is colorful, cultural, and intensely political.

A library built during San Francisco's pioneer times is a student's retreat, bibliophile's sanctuary, and chess player's delight.

A walk down memory lane in the heart of one of San Francisco's most notorious neighborhoods.

A man-made island in scenic San Francisco Bay.

Early prototype for Frank Lloyd Wright's Guggenheim.

The grand, column-fronted, sculpture-adorned home of the ambitious digital library.

Russian history in San Francisco.

One of the last remnants of the city's Chinese nightclub scene is now a dive bar selling killer mai tais.

The miraculous hydrant that saved the Mission District in 1906.

A speck of nature and art in one of San Francisco’s most notorious neighborhoods.

San Francisco's oldest operating hotel, with a Victorian atmosphere and a "haunted" fourth floor.

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

Since 1973, this block has been home to the most concentrated collection of murals in San Francisco.

Half of a house.

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

An overlooked and unassuming engineering marvel.

This turn of the century masterpiece has a mysterious goaty interloper.

The giant pair of sexy legs sticking out the window of this costume store have become its main draw.

A collection of memorabilia from the Beat era in the back of a San Francisco bookstore.