The new CA Academy of Sciences

We had a staff development day at school today and wandered up to visit the new and much lauded California Academy of Sciences, back at its old location in Golden Gate Park. I had thought it would be relatively quiet on a Monday - but I guess it's only been open about 10 days or so, and I was wrong. It was crowded by my standards (I heard a staff member refer to the crowd as the "lightest it has been"!)

It was a gorgeous sunny day in the city, and we ended up parking in the new underground parking lot under the concourse between the Academy and the De Young. It was $7.50 for 3 hours parking - but you can't beat the location.


If you plan to go, I'd strongly advise you to sign up for a membership. Just to skip the lines alone! We ran into at least 9 other families from Menlo Park there - it was quite the surprise.

Overall the museum was quite beautiful. We didn't see everything but since we have a membership, we'll be up there again when the crowds die down a little. We started out by having lunch in the Academy Cafe - there's also a fine dining restaurant called the Moss Room, run by Loretta Keller. We'll save that for next time.

The Cafe is run by Charles Phan and there's a nice selection of food including a number of Vietnamese items like pho, steamed buns and spring rolls (all very similar to the menu at Out The Door). There's also a pasta station, a mexican station and a grill/fry station. We had a chicken pho (excellent), chicken buns (just ok), spaghetti al sugo (pronounced great by my younger daughter, I personally thought it was a little bland), a mixed green salad and a quesadilla. Definitely above average food.

We wandered over to the large rainforest dome but it was a 20 min wait to go inside, so we decided to save that for next time. Also saved the planetarium and the 3D bug movie for next time as well. We wandered around the various exhibits for a while (some nice ones on the Galapagos and our carbon footprint) and spent a lot of time at the Philippine Coral Reef in the aquarium downstairs (we watched the Coral Reef diver talk to the crowd for a while). The albino alligator in the swamp was also a good stop, although he wasn't moving much.

We also watched the penguins in the African Hall - if you're not familiar with this museum, the set up is that there are a few live animal exhibits mixed in with a bunch of dioramas. It worked quite well and the African Hall was spacious, so it began to feel a little less crowded. Of course, we went up to the Living Roof to check out the view and the very cool garden and hills up there. That was quite impressive.

Finally, we hit the gift shop on the way - both the junior one (mostly toys and stuffed animals) and the main one (quite small, all things considered). And then we hit the road. All in all, a very pleasant day out - highly recommended (but maybe wait until the newness wears off - I can't imagine trying to go there on a weekend!)