Exploratorium Exhibit Developer Diane Whitmore's Guide to San Francisco

Whether you’re with kids or not, you won’t want to miss the curved Giant Mirror, which was originally part of an old flight simulator. Its concave spherical shape focuses incoming light to a point, creating playful optical illusions. “It’s bizarre and feels like augmented reality, but it’s just a giant mirror,” Whitmore says. “It feels like you’re walking through the looking glass.”

The Exploratorium has more than 650 hands-on exhibits, and zero “Don’t Touch” signs, so it certainly qualifies as a kid-friendly spot. “I tell people to let kids drive here, and just follow them around. It’s natural to want to explain things to them, but they have their own approach to the exhibits, and you might learn from them if you give them the chance,” she says. Let your kid, or your inner kid, roam free and interact with the mind-bending exhibits.

Although she’s been in the city for a long time, Diane is still finding new spots that become fast favorites. “I’m just discovering the Outer Richmond and I love it. There’s so much history and culture there.”

This foggy neighborhood is located on San Francisco’s westernmost crust. A grid of long neighborhood blocks are lined with Russian bakeries, Chinese restaurants, and Irish bars, reflecting its diverse heritage. It has two main outdoor areas, too: Baker Beach, which overlooks the Golden Gate Bridge, and the scenic Lands End Trail, tracing where the continent meets the Pacific.

In her neighborhood of Bernal Heights, Diane touts Coco's Ramen and Izakaya as having some of the best sushi in the city. Here, you can watch skilled chef Atsu uncoil a radish with a knife to a veneer-like thinness, or see him prepare his own take on traditional nigiri and rolls. “He's always inventing something new,” Diane says, “and he's so dedicated. Once he told me that he sharpens knives for a hobby!”

“Hardly Strictly Bluegrass is a local San Francisco family’s gift to the universe. It’s—yes, free!—and happens every year, on the sunniest weekend in October. It’s not actually strictly bluegrass, so you’ll find lots of music varieties being performed here.”

Donated to the city by the late philanthropist Warren Hellman, Hardly Strictly draws thousands to Golden Gate Park every first October weekend. Time for your visit around it to experience some of the warmest weather of the year and see the park’s meadows and eucalyptus groves filled with live music.

“I love discovering San Francisco’s parks—there are so many of them. Glen Canyon Park is one of my all-time favorites because it’s in the middle of the city, but it feels like you’re in the country.”

Visit this underrated park to explore its 70-acre-long canyon filled with steep, winding trails, dramatic rock formations, inspiring views, and a recreation center with tennis courts. Come in spring, and you might catch a wildflower bloom.

“Everything is good at Marla Bakery on Balboa Street,” Diane says. This homespun bakery serves pastries and California dishes using local ingredients. “I used to live with one of the owners, who always filled our bread drawer with tasty surprises!” The pain au chocolat with candied orange and Fried Chicken Friday dinner are local favorites best enjoyed on Marla’s residential-style patio.

San Francisco’s Chinatown is one of the oldest and largest of its kind in the US, as well as one of Diane’s favorite spots. “One of my earliest San Francisco memories was walking around Chinatown as a kid and seeing all the different shops and people,” she says. “It’s a centrally located destination that I still haven’t forgotten.”

If it’s your first time, start at the Dragon's Gate, and walk down iconic Grant Street, which is lined with herbalists, souvenir shops, Chinese bakeries, karaoke bars, and dim sum joints. You can also see how fortune cookies are made at Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory.

“I live in Bernal Heights, and like to walk up the hill early in the morning, while people are walking their dogs.” Bernal Heights Summit offers a 360-degree panorama of San Francisco, with views that extend all the way to the East Bay. There’s a swing at the top of the hill, and if you go early enough, no one else is there.

"It’s just the most gorgeous view I can think of.” This hill is home to short meandering trails, benches, and diverse flora and fauna, including 40 bird species, lupine, mint, and red fescue.

“I love to ride my bike across the Golden Gate Bridge to the Marin Headlands. If I’m ambitious, I’ll bike up Hawk Hill and look back at the city from this viewpoint and admire how small San Francisco is.” It’s easy to rent bikes to pedal across the Golden Gate Bridge and up the Marin Headlands—otherwise you an also just bike into Sausalito and take a scenic ferry ride back to San Francisco. Either way, don’t forget your layers.