...Sacramento...Omaha...?
Unusual picks for cities to visit in the US - curious how you picked those!
Since you'll be in the Bay Area you must go to Amoeba (original location is in Berkeley and the larger store is in SF - both are great; Berkeley might be less picked over than SF) [
www.amoeba.com]
And crossing over from San Francisco to East Bay, where Berkeley is, check out my friend's store--Open Mind Music--in Oakland. Also in Oakland--a bit scrappier than Open Minds--is Econo Jams.
-swiss