We finally had the chance to visit California Academy of Science in San Francisco.

I’ve been wanting to visit this place since it’s re-opening in 2008. We got there later in the day and had only 1 hour to explore the place. Next time I would give it at least a couple of hours to see everything.

One of the first thing you’ll see upon entrance to the academy are these beautiful corals.

I like this living wall art. It’s got plenty of tropical plants. But it’s missing blooming orchids.

“Living plants include numerous trees - such as the Brazilian beautyleaf and West Indies mahogany, dozens of shrubs - including Theobrama cacao, the plant from which chocolate is made, and hundreds of flowering plants - from begonias and philodendrons to orchids and bromeliads.” - California Academy of Science.

Unfortunately I did not see the hundreds of flowering plants. Except for the cocoa tree and this fruiting palm tree (and two orchids). Maybe the gardener was on vacation.

Despite all that, we still had a great time. So we decided to become academy members. That means unlimited entrance all year! Next time around we’ll try to arrive sooner and see penguins getting fed and also check out the roof top garden.

There were many young families and children visiting the place. This place is great for anyone from 8 to 80 years old! It’s also especially nice since all the staff were friendly.

February is member appreciation month so we got 20% discount on the membership fee and museum gift shop. As an Academy member, you help support our scientific research, educational outreach, and the many exhibits in our aquarium, planetarium, and natural history museum.

This year is kicking off with natural disasters happening around the world.  From the massive flood in parts of Australia to the landslide in Brazil.

And now we’ve got warning that a major catastrophic storm could hit California this spring of 2011. Scientist have gathered around and is calling it the ARkstorm.

Central Valley Business Times reports the following predicaments:

• Serious flooding also occurs in Orange County, Los Angeles County, San Diego, the San Francisco Bay area, and other coastal communities.

• Windspeeds in some places reach 125 miles per hour, hurricane-force winds while wider areas are whipped by winds reaching 60 miles per hour.

• Hundreds of landslides damage roads, highways, and homes.

• Power, water, sewer, and other lifelines experience damage that takes weeks or months to restore.

• Flooding evacuation could involve 1.5 million residents in the inland region and delta counties.

• Business interruption costs reach $325 billion in addition to the $400 property repair costs, meaning that a storm of this magnitude could cost on the order of $725 billion, which is nearly 3 times the loss deemed to be realistic by authors for a severe southern California earthquake, “an event with roughly the same annual occurrence probability.”

If anyone is tuning into what is to come in 2012, then 2011 doesn’t give us a good start. Let’s hope this prediction doesn’t come true. But of course it’s better to prepare then to be stranded.

So I better start packing the food, water, emergency kit, and everything else!

On September 25th, I was really looking forward to visiting the California Academy of Science in San Francisco.

I knew it was “Free Museum Day”, but I didn’t expect this much crowd.  The line was going along the side of the building. It was a warm day for San Francisco and it seem everyone felt they wanted to enjoy it.

We skipped the museum and decided to head to the coast instead.  M and I spotted some dolphins diving from a distance. We wanted to get a closer look and started to hike closer to the coastline. But unfortunately the dolphins had already left.

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I’ve been planning on visiting California Academy of Science since it’s re-opening on September 27th, 2008 and now it’s already 2010. It’s amazing how time flies! But I think this year I’ll have to put the extra effort and mark my calendar.

I’m planning on September 25th. As this will be the 6th annual FREE museum day sponsored by Smithsonian Magazine and Toyota Avalon.

Regular admission is pricey (and it’s gone up since the 2008 opening). So this is a great chance for people to visit for free.

The Academy is one of the most memorable Bay Area attractions, and is a great place to bring friends and family.

General Admission
Adult $29.95
Senior (ages 65 and over) $24.95
Student $24.95
Youth (ages 12-17) $24.95
Child (ages 4-11) $19.95
Ages 3 and under FREE

Before you can get in, you’ll have to go to the Smithsonian website and fill out a form to download your free ticket. It is valid for two people and one ticket per household.

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California Academy of Science had a huge re-opening on September 27th, 2008. So there was a big crowd that day. I’m actaully thinking of going when there is less of a crowd. Gives me a better chance to really absorb the place and I really don’t like going to museums when it’s too crowded. But of course, people watching is also the fun part too.

So if anyone is interested in visiting soon, here are the details:

55 Music Concourse Drive
Golden Gate Park
San Francisco, CA 94118
(415) 379-8000

Photo credit: California Academy of Science (Opening Day) via flickr. Notice the green roof, it’s suppose to have plants that are native to the area and helps with the green design of the building. Very cool!

Visit Free of Charge

There are numerous opportunities to visit the Academy free of charge, including:

• Wachovia Wednesdays: Third Wednesday of every month.
• Neighborhood Free Days: Open weekends for SF residents in each zip code.

Living plants include numerous trees - such as the Brazilian beautyleaf and West Indies mahogany, dozens of shrubs - including Theobrama cacao, the plant from which chocolate is made, and hundreds of flowering plants - from begonias and philodendrons to orchids and bromeliads.”