After weeks of burn-out from work, I think I just cracked and needed to get away. Something outdoors or just… not work related. Luckily, my friend came to the rescue and planned a simple day of fun at the Ferry Building Plaza and Exploratorium.

Ferry Building Plaza

The Ferry Building Plaza is a landmark stop for tourists. It’s a building that features the highlights of San Francisco’s foodie culture with well-known local brands like Ciao Bella gelato, Cow Girl Creamery cheeses, Blue Bottle Coffee, and many other stands and shops. On Saturdays, it is the site of one of the largest farmers markets in the area. Last week’s featured a goat petting pen, which was a bit too small with a line too long for us to try and participate in. But we still had fun walking around the stands, sampling strawberries and eating lunch. I think my favorite part was the cellist in the back. He played beautiful music and, with the nice sunny day, created a really nice atmosphere to just sit and relax.

I remember a day when I thought the shops at the Ferry Building were ridiculously priced. Now, they are just expensive, but clearly, I’m willing to pay (I did grab lunch there). Has my perspective changed?

Saturdays are also the days when public events will happen near the Ferry Building. And last week, it was the Naked Bike Ride which, apparently, was an international protest against the use of fossil fuels. Not a bad topic to stand up for, but… I’m not sure whether their nudity was really anything useful to the cause. For the most part, I just thought it was funny and laughed openly (hey, if you’re going to go biking around a city naked, then you’re completely in a willing state to get pointed and laughed at). But there was this one point time I felt a bit awkward. The naked men (b/c at the time, there were no women there) were gathering behind the wall of a water fountain where just on the other side were children playing in that fountain. This would not end well for one of the groups. >.<

I do like that fountain though. It has a path within it where you can walk behind the falling waters.

Exploratorium

I went before 3 years ago and did not have a positive memory of this place. It was run down back then. Half the displays were shut down, many were broken. We went there b/c our scheduled venue had messed up our reservations.

The Exploratorium has improved greatly since then.

They moved to Pier 15, a half mile walk from the Ferry Plaza. I think they might have been prepping to move from their old place the last time I went b/c this time, there was just so much to do that we ran out of time before finishing our round of the museum.

These kinds of places appeal to children because they can play with and really mess with the exhibits being displayed. But I think they also appeal to adults because the featured displays are often interactive pieces created by artists. I was caught by surprise when I saw one of the pieces on the exhibit floor. Scrapple, a light and sound interactive piece, was created by my old art professor, Golan Levin!