The randomness of this wall of lava lamps helps encrypt up to 10 percent of the internet.

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

A whimsical antique shop with a strong air of mystery, filled with items from ages, and what feels like worlds, past.

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

The first AIDS memorial chapel in San Francisco and one of only a few in the U.S.

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

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

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

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

With the touch of a button, you can read a randomly selected short story.

Nestled in the heart of San Francisco’s bustling Financial District stands a unique homage to the Mayan and Beaux Arts.

A nondescript building that's been functioning as a speakeasy for nearly a century and a half.

A shop full of natural curiosities, carnivorous plants, and costumed taxidermied mice.

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

A pair of slides and a tree-lined stair corridor have been an urban oasis for nearly 40 years.

Relics of the 1894 Midwinter Exposition continue to delight visitors today.

A tiny theater hidden in an alley plays a constant stream of short silent films for anyone willing to peer through the peephole.

Its buzzing collection honors vibrator history.

Get lost in this haunting fairytale art walk through a man-made eucalyptus grove.

This shop specializes in oddities and Victorian-inspired wonders.

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

A huge musical instrument played by the ocean.