San Francisco - Exploratorium

After Thanksgiving we took Connor to San Francisco for the 1st time. It was a good way to break up the drive home from Sacramento (baby Jess does not do well in the car) and a chance to have a family adventure. We stayed at the  

Hotel Carlton, a Joie de Vivre Boutique Hotel. Chris read a book by the owner/founder and really wanted to check it out. It was a neat hotel, at check in they gave Connor a blow up globe, the walls of the elevators are covered in world maps and postcards which we thought was pretty cool. Also you have a zero carbon footprint when you stay there... I especially appreciated the unlimited filtered water ... instead of charging $10 for a bottle of water they leave a glass picture in your room and every other floor has a filtered water dispenser with cold and hot water. That was great for making baby bottles.   

The hotel was located about 10 minutes from the Exploratorium and walking distance from China town. So we walked down and took Connor for a great dinner in China town. He has quite an adventurous appetite for a 4yr old. It's fun taking him to new restaurants because he loves trying new things. 

The next morning we headed to the exploratorium. 

 I've heard a lot of great things about the Exploratorium and it did not disappoint. 

Connor is our little science guy. Recently he took an 8 week long nature series at the Natural History Museum in SB and he loved it. So I knew a science museum would be a big hit with him. At the exploratorium there were so many great hands on experiments for him to try as well as demos to watch. One demo was the dissection of a cows eyeball which he thought was gross and so cool.

 We spent more than 4 hours at the Exploratorium. Really he could have stayed all day but Chris and I were ready to escape the crowds and get on the road to our next destination...

Monterey Bay.