Is This Living? A Day at the Bay Area Discovery Museum

Is this the prettiest children's museum?

Have you ever taken the drive to the Bay Area Discovery Museum? If not, it is well worth the trip.

Even though I was born in California and went to College in SoCal, I had never actually lived in California, much less the Bay Area. When our son was nearly 2, a friend who was well-versed in everything "Bay Area" suggested we both pack up our strollers and visit the Bay Area Discovery Museum. I gratefully accepted! I had few friends here at the time and was so eager to get out of the house (and do something with someone who spoke more than "tot vocabulary").

What I discovered that day was perhaps the most beautiful setting for any children's science museum anywhere.

The views are amazing. From the parking lot, I have captured “wall-worthy” photos of our son with backdrops of San Francisco, the Golden Gate Bridge and the Marin Headlands. For this reason alone, it is worth going once. 

But, what has proved even more valuable (and the reason we keep going back) is that the museum has grown with our son and family over the past four years.  

The Sausalito museum—at the foot of the Golden Gate Bridge—is a place for indoor and outdoor play. It uses old Fort Baker military buildings for each of the different interactive play areas. The outside play spaces are great—equal to the indoor ones.

On the point of “growing with us,” Bay Area Discovery Museum has been fantastic for us, because for our son, it has been a place of ever-changing and shifting excitement as his focus and interests have changed over the past four year.

And, because I tend to avoid pushing him to see all of the displays, I must admit that I hadn’t seen the whole museum until recently. When he was young, we spent many hours in the "Tot Spot," an area for only babies and very young toddlers. (The outdoor space has a fun stream filled with rubber salmon. Many hours were spent floating fish, collecting fish, throwing fish each time we went.) 

When that got old as he aged, new areas became fun. It was because of this schedule that we saw the last part of the museum this spring. Not bad for one museum.

Gift shop: It is filled with unique toys, books and science-oriented gifts. Either we would start or end our time with each visit here. Much to look at, for a cross of interests and ages.

A quick blurb regarding some of the other fun exhibits: One of the largest wooden train (Brio/Thomas) layouts you’ll find for your young train enthusiast; exciting boat and wave interactive displays (very thought-provoking); an outdoor full-sized fishing boat parked in sand (with ramps and ladders for kid-access).

Also, some of my best times as a parent have been the explorations we have done using the museum as a familiar base.

An example is the “Sausalito trip”—one of our son’s favorites:

• We would get out of the house early and get to Sausalito before the museum would open, which gave me time to head into town.
• After stopping at the great, very-little Starbucks to grab snacks and drinks, we would walk across the street to sit on the wall overlooking the bay and enjoy the active scenery.
• Next, we would ride on the Sausalito ferry to downtown (did lose a hat doing this one—beware the wind), get a munchie at the Ferry Building then taking the ride back across the bay. 
• Then close out the day at our favorite museum. 

Other day trips anchored at the Bay Area Discovery Museum have included The Bay Model, the Marine Mammal Center and driving the Marin Headlands to get a better look at the Blue Angels air show practice (look for that one during Fleet Week in October).