Central California Coast Visits
San Juan Bautista
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Mission San Juan Bautista 2nd and Mariposa St San Juan Bautista, CA 95045 831-623-2127 February 2001 |
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Monterey, CA
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Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History 165 Forest Ave Pacific Grove, CA 93950 831-648-3116 pgmuseum@mbay.net
February 2001 |
The Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History is rather small and focuses on Monarch Butterflies that over-winter in the area.
Plan your visit to the Monterey Peninsula in January or February and enjoy the Monarch Butterfly winter resting area. Stop by the Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History to find the best places to view them when you are there. |
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Friends of the Monarchs PO Box 51683 Pacific Grove, CA 93950 831-375-0962
The Friends of the Monarchs work to ensure save habitat for the Monarch Butterflies that over-winter on the Monterey Peninsula. They track the butterflies and are well-situated to carry out population monitoring, location or other data collection for scientific studies.
February 2001 |
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Monterey Bay Aquarium 886 Cannery Row Monterey CA 93940-1085 408-648-4800 fax - - 4810
The class-act of aquaria, the Monterey Bay Aquarium will spoil you for any other. The permanent exhibits are excellent. The Aquarium hires many teenage docents and also runs “real-science” research at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute in Moss Landing, North of Monterey.
February 2001 February 2002 |
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MBARI 7700 Sandholt Rd. Moss Landing, CA 95039 831-775-1700
The Monterery Bay Aquarium Research institute performs marine research and outreach from Moss Landing, between Monterey and Santa Cruz on Highway 1.
June 2002
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Carmel Mission Basilica February 2001 Rio Rd and Lasuen Dr. Carmel, CA 93921 831-624-1271 Carmel Mission is another beautifully-preserved mission. It is currently still used as a Catholic Church.
February 2001 |
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San Francisco, CA
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Exploratorium San Francisco, CA
December 2001 |
The Exploratorium is the class-act of the hands-on science museums. Noisy and exciting for kids, adult need to let-go, relax and let the kids have fun. |
Lompoc, CA
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Mission San Miguel 805-467-3256
December 2001 |
Mission San Miguel is conveniently located along US 101. This is no accident because the original mission route, El Camino Real, eventually became the highway. Sadly, the Mission itself is not in particularly good repair despite its ongoing historical value. |
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Old Town Lompoc Heritage Walk
Lompoc is known for its flowers and its murals. When flowers are out of season (like when we were there), the murals take center stage. This short walking tour, sponsored by local citizens brings the murals up close.
December 2001 |
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La Purisima Mission State Historic Park 2295 Purisima Rd Lompoc CA
Mission La Purisima is a California State Park, with all the political-correctness that such status bring. Nevertheless, the mission structure and grounds are well-maintained. A re-enactment day would be quite interesting, though who knows what Sacramento would make it into. La Purisimia suffers from distance from heavily-populated areas. Or perhaps that’s a benefit. It is not crowded.
December 2001 |
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Santa Maria Valley Discovery Museum 321 Town Center West Santa Maria CA 93458 805-928-8414
December 2001 |
This museum is geared to children, according to the information we had. Unfortunately, we were unable to locate it before the time became too late. |
Santa Cruz, CA
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Seymour Long Marine Discovery Center Friends of LML/UCSC Foundation 100 Shaffer Rd Santa Cruz, CA 95060
June 2002 May 2003
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San Jose, CA
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Almaden Youth Association PO Box 63 New Almaden, CA 95042-0063
June 2002
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The AYA is working to build a sports park in the South part of San Jose. The city is very supportive and has contributed to the effort, but it still appears that the bulk of the funding must come from private sources. |
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Almaden Valley Youth Soccer League
October 2004 |
The AVYSL serves approximately 2200 children per year. It runs approximately 25 playing fields at nearly a dozen schools and parks.
See companion documents on this site on goal construction for 4’x6’ goals and goal anchor attachments. |
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San Jose Historical Museum May 2001 |
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Santa Teresa County Park June 2002 |
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Tech Museum of Innovation 201 S. Market St. San Jose, CA 95113-2008 408-294-6107
February 2002 2006-2007 |
Silicon Valley’s technology museum. If you visit the are, you need to see it. The focus is more on engineering than science. There are many hands-on exhibits. My favorite was the make-your-own-recombinant DNA exhibit. |
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San Jose Symphony 100 N. Almaden Ave San Jose CA 95110 408-287-7383 408-288-2828
February 2002 |
The San Jose Symphony went bankrupt in 2002. Their financial difficulties were hidden as they sold subscriptions to a season they knew they couldn’t finish. There is a new symphony in San Jose now, but I’m just not that interested. Once burned, twice shy. |
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South Valley YMCA
May 2003 |
Among the YMCA’s programs is the Guides and Princesses (they’ve recently dropped the references to native Americans. One sub-group organizes an annual outing to San Jose Family Camp. Goals include parent-child bonding over games and chores and outdoor activities. |
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St. Frances Cabrini School
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St. Frances Cabrini School is a Catholic PK-8 grade school. Like schools the world over, they need assistance with class material, particularly in the area of science and technology, as well as support for their enrichment programs, such as amateur athletics. |
Mountain View, California
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SETI Institute 515 N. Whisman Rd. Mountain View, CA 94043 650-961-6633
http://www.voyagesthroughtime.org
February 2002 Frank Drake Award, August 2003 Many visits 2006-2006
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The SETI Institute is the real, hard-science people looking for evidence of intelligent life in the universe. Don’t talk to them about Area 51 or flying saucers; you won’t get in the door. But if you are interested in radio astronomy, extra-solar planets or exo-biology, this is the place to contact. They are currently building the Allen Telescope Array – an array of radio telescopes designed to search for radio signals like those we’ve been radiating into space for decades. (See the Hat Creek entry in “Northern California”.
There is a small exhibit at the office highlighting ongoing science projects.
Check the weekly science webcast at http://radio.seti.org
We recommend the “Voyages Through Time” science course at the high school level. Contact: Edna DeVore. |
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Computer History Museum 1401 N. Shoreline Blvd. Mountain View CA 94043 650-810-1010 http://www.computerhistory.org/
Every computer you ever used to work on is here. Every computer you’ve ever heard of is here. The first internet node is here! And more.
Note restricted hours! As of Aug 2007 the museum is only open Wed-Sun in the afternoons.
June 2003 March 2004 |
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Milpitas, CA
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Milpitas Community Museum 559 E. Calaveras Milpitas, CA 95035 408-942-1776 http://www.communitymuseums.com
February 2002 |
Tucked in among stores and movie theaters is the quiet Milpitas Community Museum. It was small, but we all stayed for hours. |
Berkeley, CA
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UC Berkeley SSL Project Phoenix Dan Werthimer
February 2003
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This is the group that runs seti@home.
There’s nothing to see, but they’re good guys. |
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Lawrence Hall of Science UC Berkeley |
They have an active daily program for kids. |