FISHERMAN'S WHARF, Taylor and Jefferson. Sidewalk crab pots, ships creak at their moorings, seagulls cry out for a handout, by mid-afternoon the fishing fleet is back to port. Web site

RESTAURANT ROW, Taylor St. Amusement-like district devoted to wax museum, souvenir shops, and seafood restarants that cater to 12 million visitors a year.

PAMPANITO, part of National Maritime Museum, Pier 45. World War II submarine, audio tour. Web site

JEFFERSON STREET AMUSEMENT ZONE, Taylor to Mason. T-shirt and souvenir shops, wax museum, street performers.

WAX MUSEUM, 145 Jefferson. Almost 300 wax figures of film stars, U.S. presidents, world celebrities. Web site

RIPLEY'S BELIEVE IT OR NOT, 175 Jefferson St. Eleven galleies and over 750 exhibits. Web site

PIER 39, east end of Jefferson. Shop and restaurant complex designed in 1978, large marina, perimeter walkway with sweeping views of bay and Telegraph Hill. Web site

SAN FRANCISCO EXPERIENCE, Pier 39, second level. Multimedia extravaganza.

PUPPET STORE, Pier 39. Web site

DISNEY STORE, Pier 39. From toys and party favors to designer apparel.

CRYSTAL SHOP, Pier 39. Crystal and handblown glass.

FISH ALLEY AND FISHING FLEET, north of Jefferson between Leavenworth and Jones. Brief glimpse of last piece of city's real estate. Walk along edge of water up and down the wooden wharfs. Seals glide in and out among the boats.

WOOD FISHERMAN'S CHAPEL, at end of Pier 49. Stained-glass window over door seen on exiting, depicts a steering wheel.

HYDE STREET PIER, at north end of Hyde, part of San Francisco Maritime National Historic Park. Web site

EUREKA. Built 1890, once world's largest passenger ferry.

C.A.THAYER. Three-masted schooner built in 1895 to carry lumber from Pacific Northwest to San Francisco.

HERCULES. Last of Cape Horn fleet built in 1886. Towed sailing ships out to sea.

ALMA. Shallow-draft workhorse launched in 1891 to carry hay and lumber around the bay.

WAPAMA. 1915 steam schooner that carried both cargo and passengers.

BALCLUTHA. Steel-hulled, three-masted, square-rigged sailing ship launched in 1886 in Scotland. Typical British merchant ship of the late Victorian era.

MARITIME STORE, at Hyde St. Pier entrance. Books and gifts selected by Golden Gate National Park Association.

THE CANNERY, east of the Hyde St. Pier. Three-story structure built in 1894 to house Del Monte fruit and vegetable cannery. Contains a new concrete building built in 1968. Shops, art galleries, and unusual restaurants. Web site

ANCHORAGE, across from the Cannery. Flag-festooned mall. Additional shopping and snacking choices.

AMERICAN CAROUSEL MUSEUM, 633 Beach. Collection of hand-carved antique carousel animals. Wurlitzer band organ.

WINE MUSEUM OF SAN FRANCISCO, 622 Beach. Christian Brothers collection of rare glasses and objects related to wine lore. Shows how wine has been admired by artists, poets, and connoisseurs from Roman times to present.

MUSEUM OF OPTHALMOLOGY, 655 Beach, third floor, across from Cannery. Surgical tools for eye disease, lorngettes, other glasses and cases.

HASLETT WAREHOUSE, Hyde between Beach and Jefferson. Built in 1907 by California Fruit Canners Association. Old-fashioned black cast-iron gas lamps line the sidewalk. Now owned by Maritime Museum.

BUENA VISTA CAFE, 2765 Hyde. Claims to be the birthplace of Irish coffee stateside. Try for a table overlooking nostalgic Victorian Park.

FROMM AND SICHEL BUILDING, opposite cafe and warehouse. Modern building combines the shape of the cafe with red-brick material of the warehouse. Pedestrian arcade along Beach St. side of building.

HYDE ST. CABLE RAILROAD TURNTABLE, Hyde at Beach. Glass and metal waiting station is one of best modern park buildings in city. Atop pavilion is delightful weathervane of mermaid looking into a mirror and combing her hair.

VICTORIAN PARK, Hyde at Beach. Formal arrangement of double row of benches facing each other and central flower bed. Elegant old-fashioned lamps.

NATIONAL MARITIME MUSEUM, Beach St. at the foot of Polk. Building gives an appearance of a ship's decks. Exhibits include ship models, photographs, maps, and other artifacts through maritime history. WPA art work, carved greenish slate decorations, murals.

AQUATIC PARK, west end of Victorian Park. Industrial district scarred with railways and debris was redeveloped beginning in 1929, sand was trucked in. 1,500-foot municipal pier is curved. Aquatic Park Casino originally for dressing rooms for swimmers, but water was too cold.

GHIRADELLI SQUARE, 900 North Point St., across from Maritime Museum. Charming complex of 19th-century brick factory buildings date back to 1864. Landscaped terraces. Red brick pavilion buildings with fanciful roofs in center bring a fusion of new and old. "Andreas" sculpture is a refreshing fountain of nursing mermaids surrounded by water lily pads, tortoises, and dancing frogs. Web site

GHIRADELLI CLOCK TOWER BUILDING, corner of North Point and Larkin. Ornament was modeled after that of the chateau of Blois. Vestibule has mosaic of eagle and antique millstones from old factory downtown. Electric sign capped factory in 1926. Visible to ships entering bay.

GREENPEACE SHOP, across Larkin from clock tower. Shop and small gallery document activities of active environmentalist group.

FORT MASON. Originally a depot for shipment of supplies to the Pacific during World War II. Converted into a culture center in 1977. Web site

McDOWELL HALL, Fort Mason. Was residence of commanding general of U.S. Army in West from 1865 to 1943, now an officers' club. Note beautiful palm and eucalyptus trees along carriage drive - perhaps oldest landscaping in city. Bronze plaque commemorates Col. Richard Barnes Mason after whom the post is named.

GOLDEN GATE NATIONAL RECREATION AREA, Fort Mason. Headquarters and information center for recreation area. Web site

Walk up sidewalk and driveway toward cluster of small houses

POPE STREET, Fort Mason. Excellent view of apartment houses on Pacific Heights and trees atop Lafayette Park. Row of unpretentious frame houses constitutes an outdoor museum of California architecture since the earliest period of Yankee building in the 1850s.

No. 231 has shingled skirt between its first and second floors.
No. 323 is much simpler and earlier Greek Revival with considerable shed extensions flanking it.
No. 231 - Note north wall with large window in stairwell.
No. 235 is a long, low building with open porches, a survivor from Civil War period.

FREMONT HOME PLAQUE, Fort Mason, turn back to No. 235, turn right, walk along right-hand sidewalk. Wooden plaque is under trees.

Continue straight ahead and descend cement stairs, walk toward view.

VIEW. Golden Gate Bridge to left. From bluff beyond picnic area is spectacular view of Golden Gate and the bridge. Below are red-roofed piers of Fort Mason's transport docks.

SS JEREMIAH O'BRIEN, Pier 3 East, Fort Mason, Marina Blvd. and Buchanan. World War II Liberty Ship. "Steaming Weekend" is usually third weekend of the month. Web site

MEXICAN MUSEUM, Building D, Fort Mason. Mexican and Mexican-American art from pre-Hispanic Indian terra-cotta figures and Spanish colonial religious images to modern Mexican masters. Web site

MUSEO ITALO AMERICANO, Building C, Fort Mason. Works of 19th- and 20th-century Italian-American artists. Paintings, sculptures, etchings, and photographs. Web site

SAN FRANCISCO AFRICAN-AMERICAN HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL SOCIETY, Building C, Fort Mason. Only black museum west of the Rockies. Black California and black Civil War history. Temporary exhibits focus on living California black artists. Web site

SAN FRANCISCO CRAFTS AND FOLK ART MUSEUM, Building A, Fort Mason. Web site

Go to pipe-railed walkway, walk down one flight
of stairs, and follow rail to steep stairway at end

VIEW OF OFFICERS' HOUSES, Golden Gate Promenade. Beyond fence is fine view of mid-19th-century officers' houses that stand on tree-covered bluff.

Walk down the staircase to the street

AUXILIARY PUMPING STATION, Golden Gate Promenade, immediately to left. Industrial Mission style. On constant standby to pump seawater into auxiliary high-pressure system of fire hydrants. Built after the 1906 fire. Building has four generous arches, a copper-and-red-tile cornice, and wrought-iron corbels as its principal ornaments.

Cross street and look over low stone wall

HOME OF SEA SCOUTS, Golden Gate Promenade. Low wooden structure built out over water is home of the Sea Scouts of the San Francisco Bay Area Council, Boy Scouts of America. After 1906 fire, much of the debris was dumped in this spot and is visible at low tide.

Walk along promenade toward the white streamlined building

BELT LINE RAILROAD TUNNEL, Golden Gate Promenade. Visible across the street is the entrance to the Belt Line Railroad tunnel under Fort Mason. Visible over the grassy bank are the plastic-roofed bocce-ball courts, favorite gathering places of old Italian-American men.

MARINA BOULEVARD/MARINA GREEN. Boulevard is bayward edge of tidal marsh filled in for 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition, part of which became Marina Green. Grand houses and flats have been built from the 1920s to the present.

WAVE ORGAN, tip of Yacht Harbor breakwater, west on Marina Blvd., to right (north) on Yacht Rd., past St. Francis Yacht Club to end of breakwater. Pipe emerges from rough stonework. Place ear to any of the pipes for a soothing, gurgling aural experience caused by the motion of waves below.

PALACE OF FINE ARTS, near Baker and Beach at very end of Marina. Sole survivor of the 32 tinted plaster structures built for the 1915 exposition. Reconstructed in concrete and reopened in 1967. Massive columns, swan-filled lagoons, elevated planter boxes with draped female figures. Around dome are panels showing a nude woman representing "Art" being defended by nude men "Idealists" battling centaurs "Materialists." Web site

EXPLORATORIUM, 3601 Lyon St., behind palace. Called best science museum in the world. 600 exhibits. Be sure to include pitch-black, crawl-through Tactile Dome. Web site

PRESIDIO OF SAN FRANCISCO. Military post for over 200 years. Band of settlers claimed the area in 1776. Mexican garrison in 1822. U.S. troops forcibly occupied it in 1846.

LOMBARD STREET GATE AND TROPHIES. Pylons include figures of Liberty and Victory, emblem of Army Corps of Engineers. Two bronze Spanish cannons cast in Spain in 1783.

PRESIDIO MUSEUM OF SAN FRANCISCO, Lincoln and Funston. Former hospital built in 1864. Focuses on role played by military in city's development. Now part of Golden Gate National Park.

REFUGEE COTTAGES, behind the museum. Two of 5,343 cottages built in city parks after 1906 earthquake. Photos in one cottage, second furnished as it might have been in 1906.

OLD POST CHAPEL, up Moraga Ave. 1864 frame chapel was reworked in 1952. Opened to a walled garden linking inside and out.

OFFICERS' OPEN MESS, beyond old chapel and small Victorian building on Morago Ave. Site of adobe Mexican-era commandancia of 1821-1830. Rebuilt in 1847, expanded in 1934, large addition in 1973.

PERSHING SQUARE, across from Open Mess. Post's standard and cannon in center of post. Historic artillery mounted here, some war trophies. View down parade ground, square stone structure with pyramidial red-tile roof is U.S. Army magazine.

MONTGOMERY STREET ENLISTED MEN'S BARRACKS. Solid row of red-brick barracks with white porches march down street fronting parade ground. Built between 1895 and 1897, recently upgraded and restored.

PARADE GROUND/CENTENNIAL AND BICENTENNIAL TREES, east side of main parade ground. Centennial eucalyptus planted in 1876, bicentennial cypress planted in 1976.

POST CHAPEL AND WPA MURALS, Fisher Loop near cemetery. 1932 hilltop chapel is in Spanish Colonial Revival and has murals "Peacetime Activities of the Army>"

SAN FRANCISCO NATIONAL MILITARY CEMETERY, Sheridan and Lincoln. Set on bluff above parade ground. Markers begin with Indian Wars in the wild West.

FORT POINT, at head of Marine Drive. Constructed 1853-1861 to protect San Francisco from sea attack during Civil War. National historic site. Museum with military memorabilia. Guided tours. Cannon demonstrations. Superb view of bay from top floor. Granite seawall.

GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE. From 1937, nearly two miles long, Art Deco design, made to withstand winds of over 100 miles per hour, walkway, span between two towers of 4,200 feet, clearance between road bed and low water is 220 feet set by military, two towers are 746 feet tall, cables are 7,600 feet long from anchorage to anchorage, maximum side sway of roadway in high winds at center of span is 27.7 feet. Web site

BAKER BEACH. Sandy beach enjoys splendid view of Golden Gate and bridge. Behind ice-plant-covered sand dunes is Batter Chamberlin with disappearing gun carriage.

EL CAMINO AND SEA CLIFF. Immaculate residential district with well-tended gardens. Sea Cliff is only San Francisco neighborhood that touches the ocean.

CHINA BEACH. Named after the Chinese fishermen's shacks that once huddled here. Pocket beach set in a dramatic cove. To see Sea Cliff walk along Seacliff Ave. on southern sidewalk.

LINCOLN PARK, 34th and Clement Sts.

CALIFORNIA PALACE OF THE LEGION OF HONOR. Displays an impressive collection of 4,000 years of ancient and European art. Web site

LAND'S END.

CLIFF HOUSE.