One of few lasting examples of the brief octagon craze that developed into folly.

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

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

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

A 1920s home transformed into an immersive art experience, where every room is a portal to another realm.

Barely visible foundations remain where Stow Lake’s “observatory” once welcomed visitors.

This surreptitious shop is only open five hours per week.

A garden oasis filled with flowers mentioned in the works of William Shakespeare.

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

A man-made island in scenic San Francisco Bay.

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

San Francisco's most expensive hotel suite includes a secret passageway rumored to have been used by JFK.

The miraculous hydrant that saved the Mission District in 1906.

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

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

A monument to the love people have for their pets.

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

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

Gold Rush-era tombstones line the park's paths.

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

An overlooked and unassuming engineering marvel.

The stones that traveled from Spain to eventually become a holy place for San Francisco's nature worshippers.

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.