California update
Jan. 17th, 2009 09:36 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mamagotchaOn Thursday, I snagged Clay and we headed down to the City to check out the new California Academy of Sciences. The weather was still gorgeous, and Clay chastised me for not choosing the Mustang convertible when I got my rental car (we have a nice, sensible Honda instead). Golden Gate Park (and indeed, most of the City) looks really clean and well-kept... say what you like about Willie Brown and Gavin Newsom, they seem to have the civic pride thing down pretty well.
The new Academy was really impressive, albeit crowded. There's a walk-over ray and shark exhibit you see right as you enter that is mesmerizing. Old favorites like the Focault Pendulum and the croc pit were still there, although I didn't see any sign of the beautiful orca fountain that used to be in the courtyard (ah, here it is). The new Steinhart Aquarium had some really gorgeous viewing tanks, although the penguins were moved to the African Hall (and no benches to watch 'em anymore, either). We didn't make it into the planetarium on this trip. The food court was kind of a disappointment... beautiful but very limited and expensive menu. The living roof was pretty cool... I look forward to checking it out in another year or so to see how the landscaping is working out (and the view of the new DeYoung and surrounding area was spectacular).
There are some pictures of the boys at the Academy over on my trip's Flickr photoset:
We got tired of the crowds and hung out on the concourse for a while, then decided we had enough time to get to the Totoro Forest exhibit over at the Cartoon Museum. What a terrific little gallery! The Totoro thing filled about half of it and was quite nifty, but the permanent collection was definitely worth a visit by itself. And coming soon... the Art of Coraline!
We had some Chinese for dinner and headed back in the warm dark night, which meant some incredible views from the bridge.
We're in Petaluma now, and I'm thinking we'll pretty much stay here for the rest of my trip. However, my parents can only tolerate short visits from my high-energy kiddo, so I'm free to connect with anyone from the Bay Area who would like to get together with us. Let me know and we'll make it happen!
The new Academy was really impressive, albeit crowded. There's a walk-over ray and shark exhibit you see right as you enter that is mesmerizing. Old favorites like the Focault Pendulum and the croc pit were still there, although I didn't see any sign of the beautiful orca fountain that used to be in the courtyard (ah, here it is). The new Steinhart Aquarium had some really gorgeous viewing tanks, although the penguins were moved to the African Hall (and no benches to watch 'em anymore, either). We didn't make it into the planetarium on this trip. The food court was kind of a disappointment... beautiful but very limited and expensive menu. The living roof was pretty cool... I look forward to checking it out in another year or so to see how the landscaping is working out (and the view of the new DeYoung and surrounding area was spectacular).
There are some pictures of the boys at the Academy over on my trip's Flickr photoset:
We got tired of the crowds and hung out on the concourse for a while, then decided we had enough time to get to the Totoro Forest exhibit over at the Cartoon Museum. What a terrific little gallery! The Totoro thing filled about half of it and was quite nifty, but the permanent collection was definitely worth a visit by itself. And coming soon... the Art of Coraline!
We had some Chinese for dinner and headed back in the warm dark night, which meant some incredible views from the bridge.
We're in Petaluma now, and I'm thinking we'll pretty much stay here for the rest of my trip. However, my parents can only tolerate short visits from my high-energy kiddo, so I'm free to connect with anyone from the Bay Area who would like to get together with us. Let me know and we'll make it happen!