The hook
The oldest sailing ship in the world that still actually sails is tied up on the San Diego waterfront, and once a year they take her out.
01Why it's worth it
The Star of India was launched in 1863 on the Isle of Man, back when building a ship out of iron instead of wood was still a gamble. She had a hard, long working life: near-disaster and mutiny on early runs to India, then a quarter century hauling emigrants to New Zealand, twenty-one times around the world, then years carrying salmon between Alaska and California. Retired in 1926 and slowly restored, she's now the centerpiece of the Maritime Museum of San Diego, and unlike almost every other museum ship, she is kept genuinely seaworthy and sails at least once a year, which makes her the oldest active sailing ship on Earth. Aboard, you walk decks and holds that carried people to the far side of the world a century and a half ago.
02How to experience it
She's on the Embarcadero downtown, about eight hours from the Bay, one ticket covering her and the rest of the museum's fleet. Give it a couple of hours to go through the ship properly. If you can time a visit to one of her rare sailing days, that's the real thing to see.