Places njmich Wants to Go

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

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

The oldest alley in San Francisco is paved with a reminder of the city's original shoreline.

A psychedelic labyrinth on the San Francisco bay.

This teeny-tiny park built by a San Francisco man in 1962 is mostly stairs.

A Barbary Coast watering hole built into a Gold Rush shipwreck.

Prone to disastrous fires, the city of San Francisco has the Guardian, a fireboat gifted by residents, to watch over them from the bay.

An enormous artwork that colorfully celebrates over 150 years of US military achievements.

Masterful ceramic fountain and map of the Pacific Basin.

Deco Modern sculptures of the people of the Pacific, cast for the 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition.

Condemned US Navy seaplane control tower turned officers’ club sits atop Yerba Buena Island.

One time home to turn of the century explosives, now hidden under the Bay Bridge.

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

A restored 1920s cascade stairway provides one of the best views of Oakland's Lake Merritt.

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

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

Collective dedicated to restoring steam engines.

This mysterious series of teeny guerrilla installations sheds a whimsical light on street art in Oakland.

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

The Flatiron Building's storied West Coast cousin is a lot more into religion.

A crumbling Beaux Arts monument to the Bay Area's age of rail.

The newsstand that never closes its doors—well, almost never.

International delicatessen has been owned and operated by the same family for more than 110 years.