Best Way to Get Dizzy Downtown (Nonalcoholic Category)

For something that goes around in circles, the magnificent, brass-poled carousel in Yerba Buena Gardens did a lot of traveling. Made in Rhode Island in 1906 and installed in San Francisco, the whirligig later moved to Seattle, came back here in 1912 for a lengthy residence at the old Playland-at-the-Beach, moved to Long Beach in 1982, and finally came back to the city in 1998. And the horses still look chipper and spirited. Though it apparently moves a little too fast for the taste of some small children (we heard some frightened whimpers the last time we went for a ride), it's just the right speed for adults, and the perfect pick-me-up for those moments when you feel like you're going nowhere fast.