A giant chess set, minus the psychedelic drug trip.

The headquarters of a secretive order is also a beautifully-designed park.

An extensive collection of ancient Egyptian artifacts and mummies.

San Francisco Bay's ghost town.

The largest permanent Monopoly board makes one of the longest games even bigger.

A peculiar mansion built by the troubled heir to the Winchester Rifle Company fortune.

Chevron maintains one “Standard” brand station per state so it doesn’t lose the trademark.

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

A modest reminder of treacherous waters at the Golden Gate.

San Francisco's first World's Fair, dedicated to the wonders of California.

This grinning pup statue is all that's left of what was once a ubiquitous Bay Area diner chain.

A masterpiece in Golden Gate Park by virtue of the artist’s debt.

An elaborate gift from Claus Spreckels is now a piece of San Francisco history.

The key to turning shifting dunes into the green oasis of Golden Gate Park.

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

A famous alternative culture epicenter and where Joplin serenaded young hippies.

A man-made island in scenic San Francisco Bay.

A classically inspired temple in Redwood City.

Golden Gate Park's historic collection of plants.

The oldest burial ground in the city, final resting place of city founders, Ohlone natives and murderers alike.

San Francisco's urban bison herd has persisted in the face of extinction, development, and disease.

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

The last remaining relic of San Francisco's glittering 1915 Panama Pacific Exposition.

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