A secret jewel of the Bay Area, Point Bonita is still an active lighthouse maintained by the U.S. Coast Guard. Discover Point Bonita’s wild landscape, geology, and fascinating history.

Every Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, Point Bonita docents are on hand along the half-mile trail to the lighthouse. This hidden, historic setting offers breathtaking views and many stories.

During the tense years from 1953 to 1979, the United States Army built and operated a total of 280 Nike missile firing batteries in the United States, emplaced as the last line of defense against Soviet bombers. Today, site SF-88 in the Marin Headlands has been turned into a museum, and is the only restored Nike missile site in the country.

Visit SF-88 and see the tools of the Cold War up close. The site is open Wednesday through Friday, 12:30 - 3:30 p.m., with guided walks beginning every half-hour. There is also an "open house" on the first Saturday of every month, 12:30 - 3:30 p.m., with volunteer docents and Nike veterans on hand.

Long closed to public access, Battery Townsley in the Marin Headlands has been refurbished and is now open to visitors the second Sunday of the month.

Come explore this labyrinthine fortification, and learn about San Francisco's most extensive -- and most secret -- World War II military fortification.

From 1940 to 1948, it mounted two massive battleship guns and housed more than 100 soldiers in an extensive network of underground tunnels; during the Cold War, it was used as an underground research facility.

Battery Townsley is reached via a moderately strenuous hike up the Coastal Trail, approximately one half-mile north of the Rodeo Beach parking lot.

During the tense years from 1953 to 1979, the United States Army built and operated a total of 280 Nike missile firing batteries in the United States, emplaced as the last line of defense against Soviet bombers. Today, site SF-88 in the Marin Headlands has been turned into a museum, and is the only restored Nike missile site in the country.

Visit SF-88 and see the tools of the Cold War up close. There is an "open house" on the first Saturday of every month, 12:30 - 3:30 p.m., with volunteer docents and Nike veterans on hand. The site is also open Wednesday through Friday, 12:30 - 3:30 p.m., with guided walks beginning every half-hour.

The Sausalito Farmers' Market offers an abundance of locally grown and/or produced vegetables, fruits, organic products, gourmet cheese, herbs, seafood, meats, organic coffee, desserts, and wines, available right from the people who produce them.

This is the perfect spot to sample Marin County's agricultural bounty, grab fixings for a picnic, or stock up on groceries for your hostel stay.

The Farmers' Market is held on Fridays from May to October at the Sausalito Ferry Landing.

Every second Wednesday of the month, from May through October, the Caledonia Street neighborhood in beautiful Sausalito welcomes residents and visitors to the Sausalito Art Walk.

Businesses, galleries, and restaurants on and around Caledonia Street host Bay Area artists and are open to the public for viewing.

Each week you might see oil painting, photography, jewelry, sculpture, pottery, or watercolors, all crafted by local artists.

In addition, you'll find many musicians and entertainers performing on the street, as well as a children's stage to keep the little ones engaged.

Enjoy good music, good food, and good friends every Friday night from June 5 through August 28 at Sausalito Jazz and Blues by the Bay.

Breathtaking views of Angel Island and San Francisco are the backdrop to this weekly musical celebration.

Refreshments are available for purchase from local nonprofits, or bring your own picnic and soak up the Bay-side summer delights.

This month's schedule includes:

July 3:  Hurricane Sam and The Hotshots

July 10: Dr. Mojo

July 17: Steve Lucky and the Rhumba Bums

July 24: Houston Jones

July 31: Jessica Johnson Band

For the full festival schedule, visit ci.sausalito.ca.us.

A secret jewel of the Bay Area, Point Bonita is still an active lighthouse maintained by the U.S. Coast Guard.

Take a half-mile walk along the trail -- which is steep in places -- to the lighthouse, then watch the setting sun and greet the rising moon at this wild edge of the continent.

Reservations required as this program fills up quickly; call (415) 331-1540.

Join Marin Headlands docent Jane Haley on an easy walk to Rodeo Lagoon to discover which birds "camp out" in the Marin Headlands for the summer.

Appropriate for ages 8 and up. Reservations required; call (415) 331-1540.

Join a Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy ranger for a fun evening campfire in the Marin Headlands.

Learn about the wildlife, history, and geography of the area while enjoying the warmth of an outdoor fire. Program may also include a short hike.

Reservations required; call (415) 331-1540.

Bring the little ones down to Sausalito's Robin Sweeny Park for a free morning concert, held the first Saturday of the month, June - September.

Oh July 11, hear a performance by Tim Cain, co-founder of Sons of Champlin.

Celebrating its 64th year, the Marin County Fair is one of the biggest community events of the summer.

This year's fair will deliver an even bigger, cleaner, greener, fun-filled experience for everyone, with the first ever Electric Wheels Car Show, the first solar-powered carousel at a county fair, performances by Steve Trash and his Big Green Magic Show, and much more.

It wouldn't be a County Fair without the traditional fun and games: 28 carnival rides, games of skill and chance, nightly fireworks, loveable farm animals, and interactive exhibits. Come see artists and craftspeople compete for the blue ribbon in 800 categories ranging from baking and winemaking to photography and filmmaking.
 
Both Bay Area artists and popular retro bands perform throughout the event, including Creedence Clearwater Revisited, The Motels with Martha Davis, Berlin with Terri Nunn, Los Lobos, and more. Concert admission is included in the price of fair ticket.

If you still haven't had enough after a full day of music, rides, and exhibits, stay for the Fantastic Fireworks, launching nightly at 9:30 p.m. Watch the sky above the fair illuminate with Roman candles, comets, meteoric showers, and bursting cascades of twinkling color.

Sausalito's Independence Day is a full-day celebration for the whole family.

The day begins with a parade at 10 a.m., starting on the corner of Second and Main streets in Old Town. The procession ends in a community picnic in Dunphy Park, from noon to 4 p.m.

At 6:30 p.m., the party picks up again in Gabrielson Park by the Ferry Pier, leading up to a spectacular fireworks display over the bay at 9:30 p.m.

Located in the coastal wilderness of the Marin Headlands in historic Fort Barry, the Headlands Center for the Arts provides artists' residencies and public programs that aim to create a nurturing environment for the development of new artistic work and ideas.

The Center offers free Artist Talks, where the community can engage with current artists-in-residence and affiliate artists.

The program on July 23 brings together interdisciplinary artist Brooke Singer and filmmaker/videographer April Martin for a discussion on the relationship between art, democracy, and activism as it relates to their current work.

Singer's ongoing Superfund365 project makes visible the government's effort to clean up uncontrolled hazardous waste sites. Martin's activist art practice includes her first documentary film as well as a recent video she created for the clemency hearing of an Ohio prison inmate on death row. Singer and Martin will present works-in-progress and consider the effects and uses of activist art.

Admission to the talk is free. There is an optional family-friendly dinner at 6 p.m. before the talk, made with locally grown, organic ingredients by the Center's chef.

RSVP requested; see website for details.