(SFO is the airport, I'm sure you meant San Francisco proper)

If you haven't been to Chinatown, go (and eat) there! Great food and really interesting shops. If you HAVE been to Chinatown, go to Japantown.

I love going to the tops of buildings: Top of the Mark (Mark Hopkins Hotel) used to have a great restaurant, top of the Bank of America building, near-the-top of the Transamerica Pyramid.

OH! Might cost a bit, but it's REALLY fun. Go see Beach Blanket Babylon! It's really weird and entertaining and funny.

Walk down Broadway... no... just kidding... Unless you like strip clubs and hookers. (Hey, if you're into photography, hint hint, wink wink, you into photography, click click wink wink nudge nudge, know what I mean?)

Take in a Giant's game at the new stadium.

You can always take BART over to Oakland. Great food there as well. Or you could go to an A's game.

Hell... take BART to Pleasanton and I'll take you to one of the great restaurants here.
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I lived in Berkeley for almost 9 years, and my wife is from the Bay Area, so we know the area fairly well.

If you want cheap stuff to do off the San Francisco track, I'd suggest getting out of the city altogether and checking out the East Bay. BART can take you over to Oakland and Berkeley for relatively little money, and you will instantly be getting away from 90% of the tourists.

If you're prepared for some walking, take BART to downtown Berkeley. Walk about 2 miles to the Berkeley Rose Garden (http://www.berkeleyheritage.com/berkeley_landmarks/municipal-rose-garden.html). You'll walk past the UC Berkeley campus and through some very pretty neighborhoods. It's also a fair bit uphill, so you should find some pretty spectacular panoramas of the Bay. With a car, you can get all the way to the top of Grizzly Peak for really major views, and Tilden Park (http://www.ebparks.org/parks) is a great place for hikes and scenery.

There are a ton of really great places to eat in Berkeley (it's the home of Chez Panisse, the founding restaurant of the modern fresh, local food movement--expensive, but good). If you like to buy food to picnic, check out the Cheese Board Collective on Shattuck Ave north of downtown. Most excellent breads and cheeses to be found there. If you're in Berkeley with a car so you have a little more mobility, also go to Berkeley Bowl market (http://www.berkeleybowl.com/)--coolest grocery store I've ever been in. Whatever's in season, they'll have a dozen varieties of it that you've never seen before.

Also good for picnic supplies is the Market Hall at the Rockridge BART station (on the border of Berkeley and Oakland).

Berkeley has some of the best cheap Thai food around. Haven't been back in a while, but just go and ask around.

When we lived there, we thought Oakland's Chinatown was in many ways better than that of San Francisco. Certainly less crowded and more manageable. Good food, too.

In San Francisco, pick up great picnic food at the Ferry Building near the Embarcadero.
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I like the Mission. It has great food, like the Pork Store on 16th and Valencia, great murals and Dolores Park is within walking distance from 16th Street BART. There are usually quite interesting people to photograph, and at the top of Dolores Park there is an amazing view of the city as well as the original mission at the base of the park. Also, for some amazing ice cream check out bi rite. YUM!
Source(s):
www.biritecreamery.com

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