Fort night

The edifice of Fort Point, the only brick fortress on the West Coast, casts an imposing shadow at the mouth of San Francisco Bay.

Tour the 143-year-old structure's dark corridors and spiral stone staircase after sunset, your way lit only by wavering candles, and you'll jump at every bump in the night ― from the whir of pigeons startled from sleep to the echoing crash of waves against the granite seawall.

Climb to the roof of the four-story building and spooks slip away as the amber necklace of lights on the Golden Gate Bridge arch across the night sky.

Candlelight tours monthly through Feb (next one is Nov 27); free, reservations required. Fort Point National Historic Site, San Francisco; www.nps.gov/fopo or 415/556-1693. ― Harriot Manley