Just across the bay from San Francisco lies a thousand acres of what was once a military installation, but now there’s so much more over there, things that are more critical to the everyday survival of people like me and everyone I know. Yes, I am of course talking about the Bay Area Discovery Museum, which is less of a museum and more of a ridiculously fancy playground that somehow manages to teach kids a bunch of things while we think we’re just playing.
It’s a great place in that it’s quietly out of the way, easy to find (from the first exit northbound across the Golden Gate Bridge, assuming you follow the many road signs from there) and the parking is always free. From the front gate it doesn’t look like much, but that’s the sort of thing that’s immediately forgotten once inside.
It almost offends me the way I can play for four admittedly exhausting hours (exhausting for me as well as my attending parents) but somehow come away from it smarter for the journey. Playtime isn’t supposed to be work, but without even realizing it I was back on the old education job the whole time, which is crazy because this was supposed to be my vacation.
How do they do it? Oh, they’re crafty.
Outside of all the buildings of attraction was a fun tidal simulator fountain that splashes out a fake tide every minute or so. There were all kinds of starfish, crab, lobster and other fishy toys to enjoy too, but here you can see me in the midst of discovering whatever it was that was behind me.
First of all, they’ve got a half dozen different buildings, each of which is completely different, though they’re all interactive, interesting for the juniors and seniors, and run the curious to rags from constant excitement.
We started off in what I call the seafood exploitation room. We spent way too much time in there with the life-sized trawler complete with cranky knobs to draw up our fish and crab that floor level kids would put on our hooks. There’s a tunnel we can hide inside of to pretend we’re fish,
It was an elaborate wooden train set for lessons in physics and sharing, and a bunch of exhibits where we can learn about the regional heritage of fishing, conservation, and… wait a minute, learn? I didn’t sign up for this, I’m here to play. but actually it got me interested to look in to this online physics tutoring.
The next building was what I called the aqua-dynamic ascertainium, where kids and parents could study wave and wind dynamics, see how fish and boats interact with surroundings, and all while playing with splashy water and wicked whirls of wafting wind. It was fun to me because they had all sorts of Beanie Baby representations of all the indigenous critters in custom Beanie habitats where we could stuff them, swap them, make them bark like dogs and learn all about how they… wait a second, this is learning again, isn’t it?
Forget it, I’m off to the next big thing.
We got outside and what I saw boggled my precious, childish mind. They have a regionally themed playground the likes of which that puts to shame any other regionally themed playground I’ve ever seen or even imagined. It must be a half acre of boats, bridges, periodically flooding tidal fountains, bulldozers, and assorted climbable apparatii. It’s not even like a normal playground, no, it’s got themed toys there too. It’s got hard hats, rubber fish, yellow construction trucks and all other kinds of stuff. It’s like a playground (literally) that also has relevant play toys too (also literally).
The playground was great for the parents too because they got to pull up a bench with the other parents and take their needed breather while we ran around all crazy. They raved about the uncommon view of the Golden Gate Bridge from the less common side of it, but I didn’t see any of that, I had stuff to do and kids to meet. Another great thing I liked about this playground was that the ones in charged always made sure to check the equipment to see if I needed any playground repairs sydney.
While the junior folks enjoyed the boats and forts on which we were permitted almost unending play, the parents sat back and took in the amazing and uncommon view of the other side of the Golden Gate Bridge.
They also have a toddler specific playground with a maximum entry height (to keep the climbables size-relevant and bully-free) and so much other stuff I can’t possibly explain it all in a single article, so I won’t even try, but for the below average admission price, we got an above average play experience. Besides that, we even learned a bunch of stuff about fish, fishing, boats, boating, science and… wait a minute, there it is again. Darn it, I’m not here to learn stuff!
As our day wound down we were glad we took the time to discover what the Bay Area Discovery Museum had to offer. The sun was fading but my energy level was fading faster and we had to call it a day. Good thing too because I imagine they close at some point, and if I hadn’t run out of steam along the way, I’d have found out when and shut them down kicking and screaming in sadness for having to go.
The Bay Area Discovery Museum is located at East Fort Baker, 557 McReynolds Rd, (technically) in Sausalito, CA (across the bridge), with working hours of Tuesday – Friday, 9am – 4pm and Saturday & Sunday, 10am – 5pm. The museum is target for kids 0 to 8 and their families with current admission rates of $8.50 for adults; $7.50 for children. Children under 1 and members getting in for free. Check them out online at www.badm.org for more information and seasonal adjustments to hours, rates and attractions.