Sights in San Francisco
-
A
Transamerica Pyramid
Back in its Barbary Coast heyday, loose change would buy you time with loose women in this neighborhood - now you'd be lucky to see a loose tie during happy hour. But the area still has redeeming quirks: a redwood grove has taken root in the remains of old whaling ships below the rocket-shaped Transamerica Pyramid, and eccentric art collectors descend from hilltop mansions for First Thursday gallery openings at 14, 49 and 77 Geary.
reviewed
-
B
Ikenobo Ikebana Society
The oldest and largest society outside Japan for ikebana (the Japanese art of flower-arranging) has the displays to prove it: a curly willow branch tickling a narcissus in an abstract jiyubana (freestyle) arrangement, or a traditional seven-part rikka landscape featuring pine and iris. Even shoppers hell-bent on iron teapots and maneki neko (waving kitty) figurines can't resist stopping to stare at the arrangements.
reviewed
-
C
James Flood Building
This 1904 stone building survived the 1906 earthquake and retains much of its original character, notwithstanding the ground-level Gap flagship. Upstairs there are long, labyrinthine halls lined with frosted-glass doors, just like in a noir movie – and that's no coincidence. Back in 1921 the San Francisco office of the infamous Pinkerton National Detective Agency hired a young private investigator named Dashiell Hammett, now better known as the author of the 1930 noir classic The Maltese Falcon.
reviewed
-
D
San Francisco National Maritime Museum
This quirky museum shaped like a streamlined art deco luxury liner was initially a casino and public bathhouse when built by the Depression-era Works Project Administration (WPA) in 1939. The museum is currently closed while its interior is restored to ship-shape, but you can still appreciate the exterior decor: entryway slate carvings by celebrated African American artist Sargent Johnson, and toad and seal sculptures glimpsed on the back veranda by SF’s own Beniamino Bufano.
reviewed
-
E
SS Jeremiah O'Brien
Hard to believe this 10,000-ton beauty was turned out by San Francisco’s ship workers in under eight weeks, and harder still to imagine how she dodged U-boats on a mission delivering supplies to Allied forces on D-Day. Of 2710 Liberty Ships launched during WWII, this is the only one still fully operational. For steamy piston-on-piston, 2700HP action, visit during ‘steaming weekends’ (usually the third weekend of each month) or check the website for upcoming four-hour cruises.
reviewed
-
F
Ampersand International Arts
Curator Bruno Mauro really takes his work home with him: since 1999 his live/work Dogpatch loft studio has doubled as an installation space for Bay Area and international artists (there's a sister space in Paris). Recent shows have featured Tara Foley's Jungian cityscapes, and Lori Gordon's installation of snippets of overheard conversations turned into newspaper headlines and placard slogans.
reviewed
-
G
Lincoln Park
John McLaren took time out from his 56-year job as Golden Gate Park's superintendent to establish lovely Lincoln Park, the official western terminus of the cross-country Lincoln Hwy. A partially paved path with a couple of flights of stairs covers rugged coastline from the Legion of Honor to the Cliff House, part of the 9-mile Coastal Trail. Terrific views of the Golden Gate and low-tide sightings of coastal shipwrecks are highlights of the 45-minute hike around Land's End; pick up the trailhead north of the Legion of Honor.
reviewed
-
H
Jack Kerouac's Love Shack
This modest house on a quiet alley was the source of major literature and major drama from 1951 to 1952, when Jack Kerouac shacked up with Neal and Carolyn Cassady and their baby daughter to pound out his 120ft-long scroll draft of On the Road. Jack and Carolyn became lovers at her husband Neal's suggestion, but Carolyn frequently kicked them both out – though Neal was allowed to move back for the birth of their son John Allen Cassady (named for Jack, and Allen Ginsberg).
reviewed
-
I
Spofford Alley
Sun Yat-sen once plotted the overthrow of China’s Manchu dynasty here at number 36, and during Prohibition, this was the site of turf battles over local bootlegging and protection rackets. Spofford has mellowed with age; it’s now lined with senior community centers. But the action still starts around sundown, when a Chinese orchestra strikes up a tune, the clicking of a mah-jong game begins, and beauty parlor owners and florists use the pretense of sweeping their doorsteps to gossip.
reviewed
-
J
Coastal Trail
Suit up and hit your stride on the 9-mile Coastal Trail, starting at Fort Funston, crossing 4 miles of sandy Ocean Beach, wrapping around the Presidio and then ending at Fort Mason. Casual strollers can pick up the trail near Sutro Baths, head around Land's End for a peek at Golden Gate Bridge, and then duck into the Legion of Honor at Lincoln Park.
reviewed
Advertisement
-
K
San Francisco Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Community Center
You'll know you're entering the Castro from downtown when you see that glorious aqua Victorian with a glass front, so anyone inside the San Francisco Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Community Center can still be out and proud. Stop by for art shows by transgendered artists, GLBT parenting groups, Friday crafts extravaganzas for under-26 arty types, and the annual Queer Prom. But you've officially arrived when you see the marquee of the Castro Theatre.
reviewed
-
L
New Langton Arts
Strange is the norm at New Langton, where artists have done odd and occasionally unprintable things since 1975. This nonprofit is where Tony Labat stepped into the boxing ring with his critics and Harrell Fletcher distributed newspapers by teen reporters he’d commissioned to collect good news from their neighbors. Don’t miss the Musée d’Honneur Minuscule, a window box in the entryway featuring small, ambitious works, such as Jill Sylvia’s tiny cityscape made from accountants’ ledger paper.
reviewed
-
M
Wave Organ
An Exploratorium project worth investigating, the Wave Organ is a sound system of PVC tubes and concrete pipes capped with found marble from San Francisco's old cemetery, built right into the tip of the yacht harbor jetty. Depending on the waves, winds and tide, the tones emitted by the organ can sound like nervous humming from a dinnertime line chef or spooky heavy breathing over the phone in a slasher film. Access to the organ is free, but a bit of a hike from the Exploratorium.
reviewed
-
N
Lisa Dent Gallery
The smart old money is on Lisa Dent Gallery, purveyor of cosmopolitan sophistication and meticulous attention to craft. Dent is a bona fide curatorial star, who ditched the Whitney and the New Museum to return to her hometown, and take risks on international and local talent. Look here for major intrigue in minor details: Marcia Kure's spindly figures painted with kola-nut pigment, Jason Middlebrook's mirror-mosaic car parts, Jeong Im-yi's fastidious trompe l'oeil recreations of her studio walls.
reviewed
-
O
Vedanta Society
Meandering through the Marina, you'll pass Mexican-inspired art deco, Victorian mansions, generic bay window boxes – and, hello, what's this? A riotous 1905 mishmash of architectural styles, with red turrets representing major world religions and the Hindu-inspired Vedanta Society's organizing principle: 'the oneness of existence.' The society founded a new temple in 1959, but its architectural conundrum remains. The only thing missing is a finger pointing at the moon, with a caption reading 'Thou art that.' The temple is not open to the public.
reviewed
-
P
Konko Temple
Inside the low-roofed, high-modernist temple, you'll find a handsome blond-wood sanctuary with a lofty beamed ceiling, vintage photographs of Konko events dating back 70 years, and friendly Reverend Joanne Tolosa, who'll answer questions about the temple or its Shinto-based beliefs, then leave you to contemplation. On New Year's Day, the temple invites visitors to jot down a remembrance, regret and wish on a slip of paper to affix to a tree and to receive a blessing with sacred rice wine.
reviewed
-
Q
Palace of Fine Arts
Like a fossilized party favor, this romantic, ersatz Greco-Roman ruin is the memento San Francisco decided to keep from the 1915 Panama–Pacific International Exposition. The original was built in wood, burlap and plaster as a picturesque backdrop by celebrated Berkeley architect Bernard Maybeck, but by the 1960s it was beginning to crumble. The structure was recast in concrete, so that future generations could gaze up at the rotunda relief to glimpse 'Art under attack by materialists, with idealists leaping to her rescue.' Further renovations in 2010 restored the palace to its former glory. Plan to pose for pictures by the swan lagoon.
reviewed
-
R
Columbarium
The ancient Roman innovation of memorial buildings for cremated remains came in handy in San Francisco in 1898, when real estate was already hitting a premium on the seven-by-seven peninsula. The neoclassical Columbarium was largely abandoned to raccoons and mushrooms from 1934 until 1979, when it was restored by the Neptune Society, a cremation advocacy group. After pioneering gay city Supervisor Harvey Milk was killed by a political opponent, his funerary niche was established here. Today the restored domed Columbarium is lined with art nouveau stained-glass windows and more than 5000 niches, honoring dearly beloved relations, dogs and rabbits. It's between Stanyan St…
reviewed
-
S
Hunter S Thompson Crash Pad
How this building survived Hunter S Thompson's tenancy here during the mid-'60s is anyone's guess. On the otherwise unremarkable bay-windowed facade, you might notice patched bullet holes – mementos of parties that invariably degenerated into Hell's Angels orgies and shoot-outs. Gonzo journalism was born when Thompson narrowly survived to tell the tale in his book Hell's Angels: The Strange and Terrible Saga of the Outlaw Motorcycle Gang, and state his motto: 'When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.'
reviewed
-
T
Filbert Street Steps
Somewhere in the middle of the steep climb up Filbert Street Steps to Coit Tower, you might begin to wonder if it’s worth the trouble. Well, take a breather and look around. Already you’re passing hidden cottages along a wooden boardwalk called Napier Lane, sculpture tucked in among gardens flowering year-round, and sweeping vistas of the Bay Bridge. If you need a few words of encouragement, the wild parrots in the trees have been known to interject a few choice words that your gym instructor would probably get sued for using.
reviewed
Advertisement
-
U
Grateful Dead House
Like most of the surviving members of the Grateful Dead, this Victorian sports more than just a touch of gray – but back in the 1960s this was the candy-colored flophouse where Jerry Garcia and bandmates blew minds, amps and brain cells. The mom-and-pop flower shop up the block has done brisk business selling bouquets that get left on the steps here ever since Jerry's membership in the Dead took a turn for the literal.
reviewed
-
V
Diego Rivera Gallery
Diego Rivera's 1931 The Making of a Fresco Showing a Building of a City is a trompe l'oeil fresco within a fresco, showing the artist himself as he pauses to admire his work, as well as the work in progress that is San Francisco. The fresco covers an entire wall in the Diego Rivera Gallery at the San Francisco Art Institute, on your left through the entryway courtyard. For a memorable San Francisco vista, head to the terrace cafe for espresso and panoramic bay views.
reviewed
-
W
Sutro Baths
Hard to imagine from these ruins, but Victorian dandies and working stiffs converged here for bracing baths and workouts in itchy wool rental swimsuits. Mining magnate Adolph Sutro built hot and cold indoor pools to accommodate 10,000 unwashed masses in 1896, but the masses apparently preferred dirt, and the place was finally closed in 1952. Head through the sea-cave archway at low tide for end-of-the-world views of Marin Headlands.
reviewed
-
X
Grace Cathedral
This Episcopal church has been rebuilt three times since the Gold Rush, and the current French-inspired, reinforced concrete cathedral took 40 years to complete. But Grace keeps pace with the times. Its commitment to pressing social issues is embodied in its AIDS Memorial Chapel, which has a bronze altarpiece by artist-activist Keith Haring. Here his signature figures are angels taking flight – especially powerful imagery as this was his last work before he died of AIDS in 1990. Grace's spectacular stained-glass windows include a series dedicated to human endeavor, including one of Albert Einstein uplifted in a swirl of nuclear particles. Day and night you'll notice…
reviewed
-
Y
Fort Mason Center
San Francisco takes subversive glee in turning military installations into venues for nature, fine dining and out-there experimental art – evidence, Fort Mason. The military mess halls are gone, replaced by vegan-friendly Greens, a restaurant run by a Zen community. Warehouses now host cutting-edge theater at Magic Theatre and improvised comedy workshops at BATS, and the dockside Herbst Pavilion has art fairs and craft fairs in its arsenal – see the website for upcoming performances and events.
reviewed