You never know what you’ll find on the most unsuspecting side alleyways. My friend and I decided to walk down Cedar Street as a shortcut. What we found was a typical SF back alley–nondescript, sleepy, and frankly more than a little dirty. But, by chance, we happened upon one of the nicer fish stores in the city. I got into tropical aquariums years ago and had never even known of this store’s existence. Even if you’re not into maintaining fish tanks, the ones on display here are truly works of art. How such a nice store found itself on such an overlooked back alley is beyond me, but I’m glad we were able to stop in. The people working here, most likely a family, were totally cool with us just walking around admiring their fish. 

The moral of this story is that even in the most mundane places, there are often hidden gems like this. Side street shortcuts are everywhere in SF, and while it’s true that some may be best avoided, every now and then one will hide something worth the detour. Be smart about it, but sometimes venturing off the beaten path isn’t a bad thing.