yes, it's all pressed pulp

Whole villages filled with bridges, running water (blue lights), tiny
houses, hills and vales, stores and casinos. Lots of intricate little
ladders, towns and cities to ooooh and ahhhh over. Because it's the
Exploratorium there are no "do not touch" signs anywhere and we
guessed that there is a lot of re-gluing and oh-oh fix-ups every night
after the hordes of curious children. Nice to see some of our Amazon
boxes going into art. The Exploratorium is huge with coffee shops
and a fine restaurant and not once did we see a child with her/his
iPhone or computer. Only the adults (sigh).

down on the bay

our public promenade

friends on video ~ Ginger (rt.) and Blogger (left)

If I'm not in a hurry I always love to walk on the public promenade off of
the Embarcadero. It just feels like a new place to me ~ maybe Venice or
Lisbon. So I met Ginger at the Exploratorium yesterday and we had a
great time because she is a member and we got in free. I will show you
what we saw at a later time, but think Cardboard. Yes. Cardboard.

meet the beests

Be sure to see the short video about Theo Jansen (Holland) and his wonderful
Wild Beests before you view the many creatures that have some how been
transported here. Fascinating exhibit at the Exploratorium down at Pier 15.
Yes, these guys walk and the artist thinks of them as individual animals
with names and personalities. They are made of plastic tubing, there must
be eight or so of them on view and one small one for kids to walk with.
There are no motors, this is all physics, hard work and magic. Ginger is
a member so we were able to walk right in and we had lunch there too.
Delightful. I will return and I urge you to go and admire the animals.

introductory visit

Chiliquiles at Mijita (Ferry Building Plaza)

The Exploratorium is in its brand new home down at Pier 15 and we four had
a fine time wandering around for a few hours until we got too hungry and
had to have yet another filling meal. You can see in the photos that it was
a typical June fog-morning, but the sun was out by lunch time and we could
eat outside. (I always think of The Fevered Brain when I admire a brightly
colored oil cloth under my meal). But back to the Explo...

Our favorite part (so far) was the Bay Observatory Gallery ~ in and out of
doors. We poured over old and new maps of SF and marveled at all the
experiments that the researchers are working on. The Central Corrideor
had many, many hands-on experiments and the place was packed with
children of all ages having the time of their lives. It appears that all the
displays and experiments are child proof and we highly recommend this
to everyone, especially to families.

We hear that the Seaglass Restaurant inside the Explo.  is excellent.
We just popped in to see the bar because they have bits of dry ice
floating about under one's drink and that is a fun extra touch. So take
your summer visitors here and spend a most creative day.