San Francisco is an awesome city.
If you like museums don't go to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. It was a huge disappointment.
Do go to the M.H. DeYoung Musuem. That museum was seriously awesome. Its modern art exhibit was easily ten times better than the SFMOMA in its entirety. Not to mention it's got a whole variety of shit, like some awesome African masks that if I saw on a man I would seriously get nightmares and/or think I was on acid, and this really rad Native American stuff that was like "oh my god I didn't know they were so talented" and some pretty crazy awesome landscapes that were like, "whoa, those European painters had imaginations as fantastic as any fantasy author but they didn't do it with elves they didn't it with perfect composition and lighting." God I love museums. And if the King Tut exhibit is still there when you go, don't bother. It was mediocre compared to the rest of the museum.
Oh, and ignore the Academy of Science or w/e it's called that's next door to the M.H. DeYoung musuem. It's for little kids.
Other cool things:
Alcatraz is a lot better than it was twenty years ago. Twenty years ago it was shit, but now they've got this awesome tour with audio samples from people who actually worked as guards or were inmates talking about events that actually happened (like attempted break outs and riots) and what life was like there. Very cool.
If you're an outdoorsy type, and have a day with awesome weather, and have a rental car, totally drive to Point Reyes. That is an incredibly beautiful place. It's not overdeveloped, and it's got like elk and owls roaming all over the place, and the hiking is excellent, and the food is great (especially the meat, since all their cattle that they eat is raised right there at point reyes). Just don't go into the water because it's got the highest concentration of Great White Sharks anywhere in the world, which is kind of awesome.
Try to get to Point Reyes before dawn if you can. Sunrises there will be one of the most memorable events in your life.
Also, if you've never seen redwoods before, there's a place called Muir Woods about forty five minutes north of downtown San Francisco. It closes at dark because if you're in there when it's dark without a flashlight you're fucked - I would know. But it's really beautiful at twilight and the hiking is fun. Redwoods are amazing if you haven't seen them before, and even then they have this majesty that's hard to find anywhere else. Although being stranded there after dark because your car is out of gas and there are signs everywhere telling you it's mountain lion country is kind of creepy, it's a beautiful place to be stranded at.
And I haven't been to New York, or Wash D.C. although I plan to.
Some things I do know about New Orleans: muggers there aren't afraid to kill you. Their crime rate is pretty crazy high, so be careful. And they definitely aren't afraid to mug tourists - apparently it happens all the time. So travel in groups.
Birmingham Alabama is supposed to have a great nightlife, but I've never been there personally.
