SOFIA or better yet the Stratospheric Observatory For Infrared Astronomy is a converted 747-SP that…read moreholds a telescope. The plane flies up to 40000 feet well above any atmospheric moisture for perfect conditions. The 747 SP #21441 began life as a special performance model of the 747 for Pan Am in 1977. Named in honor of Charles Lindbergh, The 'Clipper Lindbergh" was sold to United Airlines for its Pacific routes. NASA had the grandson of Charles rechristen the aircraft following its extensive modifications to honor the aviation pioneer. SOFIA carriers a 8.2 foot reflector telescope in the rear of the aircraft. A large moving door opens once the it reaches altitude and the observing begins! It replaced the Kuiper Airborne Observatory which can also be seen at Moffett Field.

On top of Mount Hamilton lies the lake observatory. This was my third time visiting the…read moreobservatory, I came here with my four year-old daughter, and it was her first coming here. She was surprised and excited to see the telescope. Inside the observatory it's packed up but fascinating information regarding the meteors stars lots of scientific discoveries. This place also tells you about James Lick's achievements the way he brought the astronomy into reality and his life struggle. There are plenty of parking near Observatory just that while driving, you must be bit careful those were the newcomers because the road is very narrow once you get on the hill. There is a small gift shop inside the Observatory you can grab souvenirs like sweatshirt, T-shirt, magnets, some jewelries which was mentioned was made out of meteors which I found it fascinating and some kids related item, etc.

Took my "Goon Sqaud" Neo and laiza to come check out the Famous Lick Observatory. They've never…read morebeen here before. Make sure to go on a weekend because during the week you won't be able to see the telescopes! It's about an hour drive once you start from 130 or from quimby rd. Make sure to ask someone from the area to give you the history behind Lick Observatory. I'm sure you'll find it interesting!

My little family came here for a first visit on the Saturday of the long Memorial Day weekend, and…read moreit was a delightful and eye-opening experience. TBH, my expectation were kind of high because just the month before, we had visited a planetarium in Arizona that just blew my mind and was so cool (will write a review on that one soon) so I think my review of this Space & Science Center might be a little more serious, ha! To be fair, this is not a planetarium, although there is one here, which is used to show short featured films about different space exploration and nature-based stories which we did watch 3 of and they were really good. However, as a Space & Science Center, the focus is on space exploration by NASA and the science behind it. Specifically, the NASA Ames Research Visitor Center is located here. This place is ok for little kids, but probably better for those about 7-8 or older as they'll actually remember and get something out of this Science Center. When you enter, there's a little gift shop to the right, then you will purchase your tickets (which can be applied towards membership should you decide to buy an annual one) and enter into the exhibit hall on the first floor. From there, the planetarium/theatre is to your right and there's shows to watch every hour on the hour, some of them are a half-hour long, and some are only about 15 minutes or so. Different topics/titles and they do not repeat, so it is best to get to this Space & Science Center by mid-morning and plan to stay the whole day. Next there's a NASA visitor center with exhibits of actual space suits, lots of pictures of historic and current/recent space endeavors and journeys, as well as posters explaining how NASA developed the technology to take us to the moon and different parts of the universe. There are also interesting autobiographical posters written by astronauts and other space scientists on their roles in space exploration. There are a few hands-on activities such as using Kinetic sand, and other low-level simple engineering type of fun experiences for younger kids. Finally, there's also a cafeteria on the first floor towards the back of the building. Prices are a little high, but expectedly so for a museum/science center type of venue. On the second floor, there's several classrooms, and then there are some exhibits from retired space vehicles such as a real module you can climb in and play with that still has all the (non-functioning, obviously) controls. My kids had a great time with that. There were even a dog-space-vehicle/container thing, and lots of smaller spacecrafts and many space suits and miniature replicas of space shuttles on display. Finally, on the top floor, there's the observatory with several huge rooms that contained one telescope each for viewing real stars and planets, although they were all hard to see during daytime and realistically, they're all so far, you can only see like a speck of light when viewing Venus, for example, or the star Betelgeuse. But since it's outdoors, you find yourself surrounding by the redwoods out in nature, and it is just so peaceful and beautiful. I imagine when it gets even warmer later on in the summer, at night, that the night sky would be spectacular here. Overall, we really enjoyed coming to Chabot Space & Science Center. It has something for everyone and my kids, my husband, and I all enjoyed it. It's a cool place to feel the vastness of our universe and the greatness of our Creator, and to appreciate that humans have made some pretty cool strides in exploring and discovering our galaxy and yet we've only just scratch the surface. We'll plan to come back, but may try to visit other similar space centers first.

My wife loves to find educational opportunities for our family outings. We came on a Saturday, and…read moreit was a pretty cool experience. At the entrance, there's a little gift shop to the right, before the ticket counter (pretty steep) and then the exhibit hall is on the first floor. Since this is a Space & Science Center so it's not technically a planetarium, but there is one here where they show short featured films about nature and space exploration. We watched 3 of them, and they were all pretty well done. So this said planetarium/theatre is on the first floor too, and the shows are every hour on the hour, some of them are a half-hour long, and some are only about 15 minutes or so. Different topics/titles and they do not repeat, so it is best to get to this Space & Science Center by mid-morning and plan to stay the whole day. The focus of this Space & Science Center is about space exploration by NASA and the science behind it. In fact, the NASA Ames Research Visitor Center is housed here. My kids are both older now and they definitely got some learning out of this NASA center, which if they were younger, would be too hard for them to understand. There's exhibits of space suits, pictures of historic and current space endeavors, and displays explaining how NASA developed the technology to take us to the moon and other parts of the universe. There are also interesting autobiographical posters written by astronauts and other space scientists on their roles in space exploration. Further back on the first floor, there are a few hands-on activities such as using kinetic sand, and other simple engineering experiences made into fun for younger kids. There's also a cafeteria on this floor towards the back of the building. Prices are a little high, but expectedly so for a museum/science center type of venue. The second floor houses several classrooms, and then there are some exhibits from retired space vehicles such as a real module you can climb in and play with that still has all the (non-functioning, obviously) controls. My kids had a great time with that. There were even a dog-space-vehicle/container thing, and lots of smaller spacecrafts and many space suits and miniature replicas of space shuttles on display. On the top floor, it's basically an open area/observatory with several huge rooms that houses one telescope in each for viewing stars and planets. They were hard to see in daytime and are so far, you can only see like a speck of light when viewing a planet. I "saw" Venus, but it was just a dot, or for example, I "saw" Betelgeuse the star, haha. This beautiful space is surrounding by the redwoods, so it was a nice area and so peaceful. Later on in the summer, when it gets warmer, I think the night sky would be spectacular here and real nice out even when it gets totally dark. We enjoyed our visit to Chabot Space & Science Center. It has interesting things that should provide something for everyone and we all enjoyed it. I felt the vastness of our universe and the greatness of our Creator, appreciated that us humans have made some significant strides learning about and exploring our galaxy, but there's still so much more we don't know and much more we have to go. My attempt at a deep thought, haha.

Unfortunately I came on a weekend, and so the Observatory was closed, but it looked pretty cool…read morewhen I walked around it! The building right next to it is big enough for a classroom, but I am so curious to see what the Observatory looks like from the inside! It's an easy walk from the Evergreen campus, with two parking spaces (one is for disability access). At least from the outside, the Observatory looks great. Hopefully I can come by when there are students and faculty around, and maybe I can catch a glimpse of the Observatory!

I went to the Mountain Winery to watch an alt rock concert in October, which was an excellent time…read moreof the year to be outside for an outdoor concert when it's not super hot or cold. The venue is beautiful for stage performances, and it's not massive so almost every seat has a good view. I was about five rows away from the stage, and it was incredible to see my favorite band and singer up close! Food and beverages are expensive, but that's typical. I think a can of Coke was more than $5. Don't bother trying to get an Uber back at night from this venue. Ubers are allowed up to the venue for pick ups I think half an hour or an hour after the show ends. I also think Uber won't bother picking up people here because it's a single, narrow, winding road up the mountain, which causes a ton of traffic. So drive up to the venue, carpool with friends, purchase the shuttle ride in advance, or brave through that hell hole situation.

First time visiting The Mountain Winery, we came to watch George Lopez in stand-up…read more Set in the majestic hills of Saratoga, California. They are known for wine tasting, wedding venues, music concerts, etc. When you are up there be sure to take in the beautiful scenic views of Silicon Valley. Plenty of restrooms around and a few concession stands.

To be honest, the view from the observatory out towards the valley, with the fog layer sitting…read morebelow you like the biggest bowl of whipped cream known to man was just about as cool as the observatory. That alone was well worth it. The observatory too was neat. We happened to be campng there the night of the month they open it up. There was a nice video presenation (nothing you would not see on the discorvery channel but cool never the less), a QA with the on site volunteer and then they let the guests look through the various telescopes which were focused on the moons of Jupiter. They have one big honkin (about the size of a VW Bug) telescope but the volunteers also had about 1/2 dozen (6 if you must) other telescopes set up as well, so the kids were able to take a little more time on those. For anyone into astronomy it would be a must. Probably pretty entertaining for almost any 7 to 11 year old kid. Side note, the drive up has some sharp turns. My mothe rmade it up with a trailer on her truck but it was a bit hairy. The camp ground there is usable, but nothing too special. It was dry when we were there so we were not allowed to have a camp fire :(

It took me having to take astronomy at Hartnell to knlw about the observatory. I didnt know we had…read moreanything like this around. My professor required us to go up last week. The view is just so amazing. Its a little walk up to observatory so make sure you layer yourself. Its free bug there is a donation box. There are other people with other telescopes out that let you see things. I saw the milky way which is a haze. Its cool. The observatory itself is cool. The roof gets pushed off or rolls off. This is 100% a place everyone needs to check out at least once in their life.

Lovely group and hooray for raptors and good cause but the director is discriminatory…read more They gladly accept seniors with oncoming dementia but after training - an excellent veterinary fit volunteer as she was just getting diagnosed with sudden onset pots syndrome- and not aware what her limitations may be disclosed to the director He told her he "did not want to slow the group down" This is flat out discrimination .

Wow! It's beautiful! We've been here a lot of times but this was a good time to take pictures…read morebecause it was clear. There were no clouds or fog. The perfect time to take a picture is at sunset.

Treasure Island Music Festival is one of my favorite music festivals. I've been most years. I think…read moreI've only missed 3 or maybe 4 years. I really like the stage layout. There's only two stages in an L shape, and the schedule alternates between each stage, so there's only one band playing at a time. This is fantastic because this is one music festival where you can actually see every band on the lineup! The festival is two days long, with Saturday usually featuring hip hop and/or electronic acts, and Sunday featuring rock and indie acts. When this festival was on Treasure Island, getting into and off the island was sort of difficult. One aspect of this festival is there's always free shuttles that take you to the festival. The same is still true now that's it's moved to West Oakland; however it's a bit easier now since the shuttles pick up and drop off at BART. For those in the East Bay, you save yourself the bridge toll if you're driving now. Getting there is always easy since people arrive at different times, so there's never a wait to get on the shuttle bus; however, getting home is annoying because you will have to wait to load the busses. In 2018, the first year in Oakland, I think they handled it pretty well. There were a ton of buses, so we didn't have to wait long at all. Instead of one line, there were several lines for the buses, so this sped things up too. I like that festival feels smaller and more intimate. Previously, you could stand in between the stages and see and listen to all the bands. However, at the new location in Oakland, the stages are much further away unfortunately, so you will have to trek between the stages and move between them to see and hear all the acts. One of the nicest features of the festival is the gorgeous views on SF. Don't miss sunset for amazing views. I also love the surprise touches too like the light up jellyfish the come through the crowd and the massive light up balloon arches. TIP: Also, be sure to bring layers. Your cute festival look will feel foolish once the sun goes down when it turns downright chilly.

This year marks Treasure Island Music Festival's 10th and LAST year. I was so amazed at the free…read moreshuttles to Treasure Island, but was very disappointed at the very last minute warnings for cancellation of events. I know that this event is usually more organized and rain is hard to plan around, but it's just sad a few acts were cancelled. Ran by Another Planet Entertainment Music, treasure island has a great amount of acts and a good amount of food trucks. With the bay bridge in the background and a colorful Ferris wheel, the festival offered beautiful skyline photos! It's very sad that this music festival had to end on a rainy note, but at least they won't lose business next year because there will be none next year! Will miss you TIMF!

First time came to the observation deck, I think it is best spot to view the golden bridge, even…read morewas cloudy day we still able to get quiet a few very good shots of bridge, I can't imagine how great views would be in sunny days. It's very easy-accessible, you can drive and bike to there with short walk to the top, very windy at the top, bright a jacket and watch your hat is great idea. At almost 500 feet above the bay, this high cliff-top vantage point was a prime location for big coastal defense guns when the army was there.

Super cool place. Take time to learn the history (the plaque at the bottom of the stairs out front…read moreis excellent info). Great views of the city 360°!

Let me start by saying I chose to take the stairs route and felt delightfully rewarded by the view…read morefrom the top of the tower! They do have some onsite parking but bus transport is also an alternative since there is a stop there. To access the top deck, admission is $11 for adults. I paid cash as they charge a fee to use credit cards. This is an affordable tourist attraction. The deck isn't that big and can imagine it getting or being crowded and unable to take pics- I hope they have figured out a system to control number of guests upstairs at a time. It appears the tower is operated by volunteers. ARI is a HOOT! Lol There is a gift shop on the first floor. Please support local and spread the word! You can also enjoy view of the Golden Gate Bride and Bay Bridges. Lots of photo opportunities both inside and outside the grounds. . This would be a great spot for a picnic / date.