Andytown Coffee

A working Dutch windmill at the ocean end of Golden Gate Park with beds of tulips in front of it. Short stop, flat paths, best in February and March.

Ocean Beach restaurant with a kids' menu, a lawn out front, and room for strollers; lively and easy.

A dark room behind the old Cliff House where a rotating lens throws the ocean outside onto a big white dish. Five minutes, and kids remember it for years.

Come here when the kids mostly want to run. Four big sports fields sit near the windmills and ocean.

A playground on the park's quieter west side.

Built around a ship you climb aboard and steer, so there's a game to play; works for toddlers up through the early school years.