Best of San Francisco

Sure, the advent of the 10-CD changer was probably a godsend to long-haul truckers, but there's a certain old-school charm to day-tripping with cassette tapes. If you're getting ready to hit the road, the motley selection of highway-ready cassettes at Community Thrift is unmatched. You can pillage boxes and shelves and find some great selections -- everything from Cold War rave-ups (U2, Talking Heads, R.E.M., and the Clash) to comedy. At just a $1 for commercial releases, the price can't be beat. But if you're looking for a stranger soundtrack, take a risk on one of the store's homemade tapes, which can be procured for a paltry 50 cents. These babies contain the recorded gamut of the human experience, and you never really know what you might get. They may hold business meetings or band demos, La Traviata or Top 40 countdowns.