Good Weekend: July 3-5

A great city walk: At 345 feet above the Bay, Russian Hill Stairways offers breathtaking views, gardens and magic staircases. See the octagonal home of Willis Polk, and the former haunts of writers and artists. Offered at 10 a.m. Meet at Hyde and Filbert streets. [Visit www.sfcityguides.org or call (415) 557-4266 for more information] (Getty Images file photo)

FRIDAY

Eating
flour + water: Provocatively chewy and elastic with crunchy, fired edges, the pizza crust at flour + water tastes so exciting, you can’t believe that it is made of flour and water. [2401 Harrison St.
at 20th Street, S.F.; (415) 826-7000; www.flourandwater.com]

Drinking
Boboquivari: Bobo’s resident mixologist Heidi Walrath uses her background in nutrition and her passion for medicine to make cocktails that will refresh and heal. [1450 Lombard St., S.F.; (415) 441-8880, www.boboquivaris.com]

On the town
Rock’s finest: The Sun Kings, a tribute band celebrating the Beatles, and the Unauthorized Rolling Stones, a top Stones tribute group, perform. [9:30 p.m., Café du Nord, 2170 Market St., S.F.]
 
Improv contest: BATS Improv presents “Battle of the Bay Theatresports,” a wild night of theater as a competition. It’s Parnassus Heights Specialists vs. North Beach Noir. [8 p.m., Bayfront Theater, Fort Mason Center, S.F.]

SATURDAY

Festivities
Boom town: The Fourth of July Waterfront Celebration features live entertainment, with Take 2 and Tainted Love on the musical slate. Fireworks follow. [1 p.m. onward; fireworks at 9:30 p.m.; Pier 39 and Fisherman Wharf area, S.F.]

Sports
Baseball game: The San Francisco Giants play an Independence Day game against the Houston Astros. Special gift: mini flags for the first 30,000 arriving fans. [1:05 p.m., AT&T Park, 24 Willie Mays Plaza, S.F.]
 
Music
Blues singer: Vocalist Derick Hughes, who’s been touring with Roberta Flack, performs at Biscuits and Blues. [8 and 10 p.m., 401 Mason St., S.F.]
 
Symphony celebration: The San Francisco Symphony presents “A Look to the Future,” a July 4 event featuring pre-concert fare, a concert and fireworks. [5 p.m., Shoreline Amphitheatre, 1 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View]

Ferry Plaza Farmers Market top picks:
- Fresh Lavender
- Tayberries
- New potatoes
- Little gem lettuce
- Watermelon
- Ground beef
- Parsley
- Amaranth greens

SUNDAY

A great bike ride
Labor History Bike Tour: Explore the colorful history of the labor movement here in San Francisco with CounterPULSE and Shaping San Francisco director Chris Carlsson on this four-hour bicycle tour. You will visit Pier 38, where the 1877 riots almost burned the Pacific Mail docks and the foot of Market Street where many labor marches began. To reserve your spot, call (415) 626-2060. $15-50 sliding scale. [Noon, meet at CounterPULSE, 1310 Mission St., at 9th St.] — San Francisco Bicycle Coalition; www.sfbike.org

Music
Symphony in the grove: The San Francisco Symphony, with guest pianist Inon Barnatan, performs at Stern Grove. Inouye Jazz provides pre-concert music. [2 p.m., Sloat Boulevard and 19th Avenue, S.F.]
 
New notes: Outsound presents the SIMM New Music Series. Ralph Carney (various instruments), Mike Elias (guitar), Bill Noertker (contrabass) and Dave Mihaly (drums) perform. [7:30 p.m., Musicians Union Hall, 116 Ninth St., S.F.]
 
Museums
Samurai films: In conjunction with its “Lords of the Samurai” exhibit, the Asian Art Museum screens Akira Kurosawa’s “Yojimbo” and “Sanjuro.” Admission is free today. [11 a.m. and 2 p.m., 200 Larkin St., S.F.]
 
Art exhibit: “Georgia O’Keeffe and Ansel Adams: Natural Affinities” contains nearly 100 works by the painter and the photographer, revealing parallels in their visions of nature. [10 a.m. to 5:45 p.m., SFMOMA, 151 Third St., S.F.]
 
Theater
Life before Dorothy: “Wicked” continues at the Orpheum Theatre. The hit musical tells the story of Oz’s two best-known witches during their early years. [2 and 7 p.m., 1192 Market St., S.F.]
 
Botany
Edible plants: The Conservatory of Flowers presents “Edible Expeditions,” an exhibit exploring food-source plants and the products they yield — chocolate, vanilla and more. [9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Golden Gate Park, S.F.]

Take a hike: Purisima Creek Redwoods has the best elements of Bay Area hiking: great ocean views, towering redwood trees, fern-filled canyons and almost no people! Take a 10-mile journey that touches all the highlights of this northern Santa Cruz Mountain preserve. This hike is like eating dessert first: You start with a sweet descent that serves up big views of Half Moon Bay and Pillar Point along the way. The path along the North Ridge and Whittemore Gulch Trails snakes in and out of the sun, through trees and down to the park’s namesake creek, which flows year-round through a shaded green canyon. [For directions and more information: www.weekendsherpa.com]