An Idea for a Day in San Francisco - Exploratorium

[WebmasterMaryJo]

Recently, I went to San Francisco to spend a couple of days with my son and his girlfriend. We ended up going to the Embarcadero, and visiting the TCHO Chocolate Factory and the Exploratorium right next door.

TCHO is a pretty new chocolate company, located at Pier 17. It was founded in 2005 by Timothy Childs, a former NASA engineer, and Karl Bittong, who had worked in the chocolate industry in different countries.

They now offer free chocolate tours, which include a film and demonstration on how chocolate is harvested. They are adamant that no slave labor is used, and actually work with the farmers so that the farmers taste the end product and know what they are working for. They get chocolate from different countries, and each one tastes different. I know this because at the end of the tour you get a free chocolate tasting experience. We really enjoyed this, and I highly recommend. Of course, I then bought a bunch of chocolate, but it was so good.

Here is the website: https://www.tcho.com/

A couple of pics off the web

Chocolate tasting

They have delicious chocolate candy and drinks that you can buy there. I had iced chocolate. It was delicious

And to come: A picture of my son, his girlfriend, and another friend right before the tour:



Right next door to TCHO is the Exploratorium. I can't say enough about this place.

The Exploratorium is on Pier 15, in a very large, two-story building, and is full of interactive exhibits. We went on a Saturday, and although there were a lot of people, we had no problem experimenting with different things. It is open from 10am - 5pm, and there is a charge to go in, but it is very much worth it.

Some of the experiments involve two people, and it was fun doing these with each other or with other people. You get to test all five senses in so many things.

Some of the things we did that stand out in my mind are:

• There is a small room that when you walk in it is in black and white. But when you put on glasses you see that there are colorful patterns all over. The lights that they use "bleach" out the colors.
• There is a wheel with colored circles on the rim, and a colored circle in the middle. The circle in the middle is a light orange-yellow. You match the outer circle that most resembles the one in the center. You discover that different people match up different circles - so our color perspective is totally subjective
• There is a metal bar. You get a straw, put it on the bar and bite down. You can clearly hear music and words, just as if you were listening with your ears. It shows how sound travels in waves, or vibrations.
• You take a picture and two images come up - one is your left side, and the other is your right side. You can see that we are not symmetrical, and you can see if you relate more to your right side or left side of face -- it was funny.
• There was a screen, and you dropped a drop of water on it, and the water would dance in the air

There were so many more, and each exhibit had an explanation of the outcome, and the explanation of the experiment. They also had one where you sat in front of a video of either someone laughing or yawning to see the influence we have on others.

There were so many exhibits that we didn't have time to see them all before the place closed. However, we did eat lunch at their restaurant, Seaglass, and the food was really delicious.

So, if you're looking for something to do in San Francisco, I highly recommend visiting these two places. They are also very close to the Coit Tower, so if you want to visit there and ride the elevator to the top, that would pretty much fill up a day in San Francisco.

Website: http://www.exploratorium.edu/visit

 

[usnuzuloose]

Thanks for posting this Mary Jo, DH and I were in Frisco a few weeks back and I saw that and wondered what it was. I knew it had to be new. We will be on a cruise from there in Oct. I will check it out before getting on the ship.

 

[bcla]

I've already got a membership in my name where I can bring one guest (usually my wife but I'm thinking maybe one of my parents). My kid is free. Must have gone at least five times.

 

[pharmama]

Thanks for posting this Mary Jo, DH and I were in Frisco a few weeks back and I saw that and wondered what it was. I knew it had to be new. We will be on a cruise from there in Oct. I will check it out before getting on the ship.

To be clear, The Exploratorium at least is a long standing San Francisco institution. However, this is an entirely new space and location for them and its getting rave reviews. I can't wait to take my family (even though we're <30min away we haven't made it there yet)

 

[ImarriedGrumpy]

We've been to the Exploratorium in its old location with a group ranging in age from 3 - 71 years old, and everyone loved it! Even the teens in the group got into it and gave up on trying to look bored. I've heard rave reviews of the new location, and I can't wait to see it myself. I agree - highly recommend it on a visit to San Francisco.

 

[bcla]

Everything is fine except for the restaurants which are super expensive. Given that the biggest proportion of their visitors are kids, the esoteric food choices would seem to be a curious choice.

 

[usnuzuloose]

To be clear, The Exploratorium at least is a long standing San Francisco institution. However, this is an entirely new space and location for them and its getting rave reviews. I can't wait to take my family (even though we're <30min away we haven't made it there yet)

You live closer than I do. If you get there before me let us know what you think.

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

Everything is fine except for the restaurants which are super expensive. Given that the biggest proportion of their visitors are kids, the esoteric food choices would seem to be a curious choice.

When we went they had pork soft tacos and pizza, as well as sushi and other food. It was one of the best lunches I've had.

 

[bcla]

When we went they had pork soft tacos and pizza, as well as sushi and other food. It was one of the best lunches I've had.

I remember the day when you could go to a museum geared towards kids and just get a hot dog for $2.50. It's geared towards a high end clientele. Sometimes I just wish that places like this would have a simple snack bar without $9 tacos or $4 for a small side of roasted carrots.

There's a Subway at the Embarcadero Center. For those on a budget, I'd recommend simply getting a $5 footlong, splitting it between two people, and eating it inside (there's no rule against eating/drinking inside). Acme Bread is at the Ferry Building and has some really good bread (come in small roll sizes) that can be munched on.

 

[Dogslyf]

Headed to Monterey and SF July 2014. I grew up in Santa Cruz/San Jose area and loved going to the Exploratorium. I am looking forward to taking my soon to be 5 year old daughter to the Exploratorium.
We did DL this year so it's a not-theme-park vacation next summer.
Love the podcast! Keep up the good work!

 

[DisneytheKid]

cool! Thanks Mary Jo!

 

[OKW Lover]

Thanks Mary Jo.

Val & I are putting this on our list for next week. We're also stopping at that other chocolate company.

 

[DSNY4ever]

Awesome Mary Jo. I haven't been over to the new Expolratorium yet but I have heard great things. I have never been to that chocolate factory either, but I think DH would love it! We'll have to go soon!

 

[bcla]

Haven't been there in a few months, but am going again this weekend with the kid. Not sure what it's going to be like. My understanding is that visitation is down from the initial high visitation. They used to be open until 10 PM on Wednesday. I tried that out a couple of times and it was pretty empty compared to weekends. An employee said one night that I was there the last Wednesday they were going to be open at night. They still have Thursday 18+ evening hours, but I haven't checked it out for that. I think the place is kind of boring without the excitement of kids.

They also laid off about 80 employees.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/27/science/exploratorium-forced-to-cut-back.html

 

[OKW Lover]

Just wanted to add a suggestion for another stop in SF. Not far from the Exploratorium is the Ferry Building. Its a huge space with lots of shops selling mostly food items. Val & I walked through there for about an hour, not counting the time we spent in a wine bar with a nice bottle, some cheese and bread.

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

Just wanted to add a suggestion for another stop in SF. Not far from the Exploratorium is the Ferry Building. Its a huge space with lots of shops selling mostly food items. Val & I walked through there for about an hour, not counting the time we spent in a wine bar with a nice bottle, some cheese and bread.

Jeff, is it walking distance from the Exploratorium? And, facing out from the Exploratorium or Tcho's, do you go left or right?

 

[rms123]

Jeff, is it walking distance from the Exploratorium? And, facing out from the Exploratorium or Tcho's, do you go left or right?

Yes. It is very close - a couple of blocks. Facing towards Embarcadero out the Exploratorium, the Ferry Building is left. So many good things to eat there

 

[OKW Lover]

Jeff, is it walking distance from the Exploratorium? And, facing out from the Exploratorium or Tcho's, do you go left or right?

As the pp said, it's very close. Perhaps a 10 minute walk? The piers in SF are numbered in ascending order progressing away from the Ferry building. The odd numbered piers run toward the Golden Gate Bridge. The even numbered piers run towards the Bay Bridge. On our last day in SF we spent some more time there. I'm probably going to do a review of the wine company for FoodieTales.

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[bcla]

Yes. It is very close - a couple of blocks. Facing towards Embarcadero out the Exploratorium, the Ferry Building is left. So many good things to eat there

Maybe five blocks (it's kind of odd what you've call a block here since The Embarcadero runs diagonally), but Google Maps estimates about 10 minutes and a half mile.

https://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=...w&oq=explo&dirflg=w&doflg=ptm&mra=ls&t=m&z=16

Took the kid to the Exploratorium yesterday. It was the most packed I'd ever seen - even more than on opening weekend in the new building. Started off from the Ferry Building because we took the Golden Gate Ferry from Larkspur. They were running a modified schedule between Christmas and New Years and both ferries had lots of families with kids. Kid loved being on the boat.

Again - at the Ferry Building my favorite is a sandwich at Acme Bread, while my kid loves the rosemary rolls as a snack.

As a local, I prefer not to park around the Exploratorium. It's walking distance from the Embarcadero BART station, and the MUNI F streetcar line stops near the Exploratorium.