Fort Mason Center

This former Army base is now the waterfront home to various cultural institutions, including the Museo ItaloAmericano and the airy SFMOMA Artists' Gallery, the latter selling and renting out contemporary works by northern Californians. Both museums are closed on Mondays and offer free admission on the first Wednesday of the month. Other enterprises here include the Book Bay Bookstore, which sells rejected stock from the public library, as well as LPs and art. Over in Building D is the Magic Theatre, which stages works by a mix of emerging and established playwrights in its two performance spaces. Before the performance, have dinner at Greens: one of the city's favorite vegetarian eateries, it is run by the San Francisco Zen Center and boasts high ceilings that frame a wide view of the Marina and the Bay. Or check out the Friday installment of Off the Grid, which takes over the expansive parking lot with a carefully curated selection of food trucks. A constant array of changing displays is on view at two waterside pavilions (actually reconstituted shipbuilding bays); concerts, gardening competitions and even the local pagan community's major Halloween fęte are held here. Also based on site are the administrative offices for the Golden Gate National Recreation Area (GGNRA), responsible for the 75,398 acres that comprise one of the largest urban park areas in the world.