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Exploratorium – If you're going to do one museum
in San Francisco with the kids, it's the Exploratorium! It's housed in the
Palace of Fine Arts, a pseudo-Roman-ruin style building built in 1915, with
a nice artificial lake. The Exploratorium is a hands-on museum that has
hundreds of exhibits, where kids can experiment with electricity and magnets,
light and sound, music, building arches, optical illusions. Highly recommended!
(Tip: Use your San Francisco CityPass.) |
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Fly kites – Take your kites that
you bought in Chinatown or Japantown, and fly them on Marina Green,
a long flat grassy area next to the Marina small craft harbor. |
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Crissy Field – Crissy Field was once a grassy landing field
for land and sea planes. Today, this area is an inviting park, with stunning
views of the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz. The protected long sandy
beach and tidal marsh is perfect for small kids – no big waves here. Fly your kites or, just sit down to watch the boats go by in the bay – container ships, cruise boats, racing sail boats. There
are picnic tables and bike paths. |
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Fort Point – The narrow opening to San Francisco
Bay was once a key defense of San Francisco and the Pacific Coast. In 1853,
work began on Fort Point, a three story brick structure, loaded with cannons.
At the outbreak of the Civil War, Fort Point was staffed with troops to
protect San Francisco from a possible attack by the Confederates. Today,
Fort Point is a wonderful place to run around, a warren of largely empty
rooms. Don't miss the Civil War era quarters for officers and privates.
From the top of the fort, there is an old lighthouse, and you're right under
the Golden Gate Bridge! |
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Golden Gate Bridge – The Golden Gate
Bridge is a favorite landmark, and any bridge builders in your family will
want to see it up close. You can walk the across the bridge on a wide pedestrian
walkway (okay for strollers). The view from the bridge is spectacular –
San Francisco Bay to the east, the Pacific Ocean to the west, the San Francisco
skyline looking south, the dark green headlands of Marin County stretching
north. At the entrance to the bridge is a cross section of the cable used
to hold up this suspension bridge. |
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Coastal Trail – One of the most beautiful hikes in San Francisco starts at Eagles Point Overlook and goes around Lands End to Cliff House. Here are the best views of the Golden Gate Bridge and large ships coming and going, look for seals and sea lions in the deep blue sea. The first half of the trail is wide and level (okay for strollers), the second part has steps, is narrower, and there are few fence rails. |
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Cliff House – In the 19th century,
the Cliff House was spectacular Victorian restaurant for elegant dining
and dancing, perched on the cliffs. The original Cliff House is long gone,
but the coastline and ocean view is still stunning. Bring your binoculars
or use the telescopes to look for sea lions on "Seal Rocks." The New Cliff House has stellar views, stop in for lunch or an afternoon snack. |
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Ocean Beach – Just south of Cliff
House is Ocean Beach, a long expanse of beach that extends for miles south.
Ocean Beach is a place to enjoy the beach, not the water. There are rip
currents, rough surf, and even people wading have been caught by big waves
and drowned. It's a beautiful spot to run on the beach, or dig in the sand,
just don't wade or swim in the water. |
