tenement museum 151 Third St. (2 blocks south of Market St., across from Yerba Buena Gardens). & 415/357-4000. www.s

151 Third St. (2 blocks south of Market St., across from Yerba Buena Gardens). & 415/357-4000. www.sfmoma.org. Admission $10 adults, $7 seniors, $6 students over 12 with ID, free for children 12 and under. Half price for all Thurs 6 8:45pm; free to all 1st Tues of each month. Thurs 11am 8:45pm; Fri Tues 11am 5:45pm. Closed Wed and major holidays. Streetcar: J, K, L, or M to Montgomery. Bus: 15, 30, or 45.

Readers are spoiled for choices when it comes to fictionalized accounts of California s pioneers. Salinas native John Steinbeck, one of the state s best- known authors, paints a vivid portrayal of proletarian life in the early to mid1900s. His Grapes of Wrath remains the classic account of itinerant farm laborers coming to California in the midst of the Great Depression. Cannery Row has forever made the Monterey waterfront famous, and East of Eden offers insight into the way of life in the Salinas Valley.