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The newest institute to open in Golden Gate Park, this collection includes the Kimball Natural History Museum, Steinhart Aquarium and Morrison Planetarium, all housed within the brand new, LEED certified, California Academy of Sciences. Opening September 27, 2008, the academy is drawing huge crowds, eager to see the improvements and innovations within. Our family ventured up there this week, on a school holiday, to see what we could, and I must say, the Academy is definitely worth a visit, crowds or not!
The ticket lines moved fast, although you can buy your tickets ahead of time online. If you take public transportation to the park, you will receive a $3 discount on each ticket.
Once inside the Academy, the natural starting point is in the Rainforest exhibit, a towering dome to the right. You start at the bottom, in the forest floor, and progress upwards on a spiral staircase through the understory, canopy and finally emergent. Walking up, you have the opportunity to view beautiful butterflies, frogs, and geckos. Upon reaching the top, take the glass elevator down to the Steinhart Aquarium.
The aquarium occupies the entire basement level of the Academy, and you could easily spend an entire day exploring all the offerings. Not the biggest California aquarium we have ever been too (think Monterey Bay Aquarium), but extremely well thought out and educational. Wonderful interactive displays teaching everything from eco-sensitivity to native Californian aquatic life. Don’t miss the albino alligator Claude or the African penguins in the African Hall.
Beyond the rainforest and aquarium, the Academy presents the Morrison Planetarium, natural history exhibits, a naturalist center and a living roof exhibit. On the day we visited, the Blue Angels were in town and we could see them practicing from the living roof.
Dining options at the Academy are varied – we prefer to bring our own lunch, and there were many places inside and out to enjoy picnics. If you don’t want to bring your own, the Café on the first floor offers an extensive menu, designed by Charles Phan (Slanted Door) and Loretta Keller (Bizou and COCO500). The restaurant, Moss Room, is a full service restaurant offering local cuisine in a relaxing setting. Next time we visit, I plan to make reservations ahead of time for the Moss Room!
Photos courtesy of Kitchen Gadget Girl
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2 Responses
I read about someone who stood in line for four hours to get in, but still felt it was well worth it. Sounds like an amazing place!
Linda (minnemom)s last blog post..Spending Time in 1899: Historic Forestville
I have also heard the lines can be very long on the weekends – once inside, it seems as though things move along well. It will probably be busy this way for the next 6 months. Frankly, with the highly educational content inside, I would be ok with pulling my kids out of school early one day to go!