I fell in love with San Francisco at first site, the buildings and the light, so much grooviness to dig. The signature building style I call "Wonkatecture" -a kaleidoscopic hodgepodge of giddy pioneer freedom and gilded age excess. It's a modernists nightmare! A prime example is The Vedanta Society HQ, built in 1903 to house a religious sect which fostered a multifold path to God and reflected its openness architecturally. More more more.
This one’s easy to miss because it’s dwarfed by one of the many loud discount stores on Mission selling Day-Glo flowers and phone chargers. When you find it, the inside is tiny; there’s just enough room for you, an espresso machine, and a guy or two playing great music every time. And they have egg creams!
I love visiting Land's End early in the morning when the light is new and the city is waking up. There's a spectacular view of the bridge and the north bay. Makes me grateful to live in San Francisco.
If you can get past the bourgie factor and/or you work down the street like I do, you will come to love this place. It has some of the best food in the city, a Blue Bottle coffee, and an observation deck from which you can watch the ferries come and go, emitting their weird beeps and disgorging tourists. The people who work here are great too (whether or not I dated a baker from the Acme Bread kiosk because of a Craigslist missed connection will be left to history).