ILLUSTRATION VIA SUNDAY STREETS

We love the ocean breezes of Sunday Streets Great Highway, the jampacked activities of Sunday Streets Mission, the general feeling of being on the main thoroughfare of a neighborhood you don't usually hang out on with thousands of your city neighbors. Once again, the car-free family day is taking over the Embarcadero for its March 10 season opener.

More centrally located than the beach, more of a novelty than the at-times Mission version -- this could be a good one, and it's high time to re-acquaint yourself with the strip in these last days before America's Cup swoops in, anyway. Here's five ways to spend your SS Embarcadero:

- Chances are good that you'll spend most of your time at the Exploratorium On the Move fest. They'll have live music going on all day -- the last set, El Radio Fantastique, goes on at 9pm -- which may end up playing a supporting role to the joys of aquatic cars, motorized Mission Pony horses (see below), a mechanized Burning Man octopus, and the San Francisco Lowrider Council, among other Exploratorium offerings like cow eye and heart dissections. Eek! 

"Mom, Dad, you look foolish."

- Pay a visit to Capt'n Jack Spareribs' noon, 1:20pm, and 2:40pm shows at Pier 39's "Sunday Streets Treasure Hunt" -- pirate festivities like arrrr. 

This =/= Johnny Depp (Capt'n Jack Spareribs!)

- Check out the yoga, hip-hop classes, rock climbing wall, roller disco, and ditch-the-training-wheels lessons that Sunday Streets is orchestrating like Michael Tilson Thomas.  

- Lounge in the 60 degree weather. 

- Grab dinner and stick around to check out "Bay Lights", the Bay Bridge's ludicrously elaborate new light installation, which will be illuminated for the first time on March 5. 

Sunday Streets Embarcadero

March 10, 11am-4pm, free

Embarcadero between Fisherman's Wharf and Pier 52, SF

www.sundaystreetssf.com