That said, there were some great things that were memorable from our trip. The main floor of the three story building had an area where kids can drive these mini chariots. There was enough space to have five or six of these trikes zooming around. Our kids couldn’t wait to get behind the wheel.  Unfortunately, there was no time limit for the drivers and no line to indicate who’s turn was next. If someone happened to leave his vehicle and another child was closer, we had to continue to wait. Finally I managed to encourage the boys to explore other parts of the museum with the hope it would be less crowded later.

Also on the first floor was a rainbow colored bouncing tunnel. This area was well-staffed and groups of about six or eight kids were given three minutes or so to bounce to their heart’s content. It was one of the highlights of the museum for our two bounceaholics. The other area of the bottom floor had houses made from a felt-like material. I truly didn’t think this would hold much interest for the boys, but my three-year old enjoyed crawling in and out of them. Nearby easels with attached trays of cranyons and a bench stood ready in case any budding artist was so inspired to sketch. (Many were, in the time we were there.)  

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The second floor is where an artist can really get busy. There were several craft tables where projects were being assembled. On the day we visited, one table was dedicated to making birdhouses. It had a particular time-slot to be there and a limited amount of participants, so needless to say we missed that activity. Nearby was another craft table dedicated to allowing kids to come and go at will. This, too, was full, so we kept moving. Further along was a six-foot high wall of felt. Shapes were available to stick around the wall. There was also a rock-climbing wall which held more interest for my five-year old.  Not to be missed was also the gigantic sized Trojan horse. You can enter the inside of it from the third floor. Another interesting feature in this museum was that throughout the entire place  little tv screens showed different animals in their own habitat. For example one mini tv showed what you’d see from the end of  a rabbit tunnel. The rabbit hopped around in its tunnel, sniffed the camera, twitched its nose a little, and hopped out of its tunnel. Owls, lizards, and other animals were recorded by a video camera, just hanging out or doing what they might normally do. I didn’t see any kids noticing these tv screens, but I thought it was interesting to watch.

All in all, this is a place that taps into creativity. Perhaps if I was more creative by nature or if it wasn’t so crowded on the day we visited, I might have enjoyed it more. I understand that artists are brought in to create centerpieces and play areas that inspire creativity in kids. The things we found to explore were interesting, but in the end did not hold the interest of our kids for a significant amount of time.

Note: We received complimentary tickets to this museum, but the above review was based solely on our family’s experience.

Things To Do
San Diego

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Take the Star of India, for example. This is the world’s oldest seafaring ship. Built in 1863 it was an experimental design using iron instead of wood. She served as a cargo ship to India, a passenger vessel hauling emigrants to New Zealand, and a commercial salmon fishing and packing facility. By 1897 she had made 21 round-the-world trips. Unlike many preserved or restored vessels, her hull, cabins and equipment are nearly 100% original. Going on-board you are able to see the accommodations given to a family, with period-dressed mannequins demonstrating where one might sleep a family of five. I estimate this size as about equal to a walk-in closet, if that.

If you prefer imagining yourself part of the Royal Navy, you can board the HMS Surprise. This is a very detailed replica of a 18th Century Royal Navy frigate. The attention to detail and authenticity led it to be the filming location of the academy award winning film, “Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World.” Or if you would like to know what life aboard a submarine was like, there are two you can board; a Soviet-era diesel electric sub or the USS Dolphin, the deepest diving submarine in the world. The Soviet sub, B-39, carried a crew of 78 men. I will tell you there is not room for very many beds. They apparently slept in shifts and you can forget privacy or dim lighting.

At $14 per adult ticket and $8 for kids 6-17 (5 and under free) you get to explore ten historic ships. On the ferry there is an extensive display of model ships, as well as a gift store and refreshment stand. All in all, our self-guided tour lasted about an hour and a half. I think the whole experience would have been even more thrilling if we were able to take advantage of any of the sailing packages offered. My choice would be to venture on the America to go whale watching. Because I have two young kids and one sea-sick prone husband, my opportunities for a whale-watching trip are limited. However, since this yacht has a large balancing keel deep below the surface, the folks on  America are so confident that you will not get seasick that they will provide a $40 gift certificate at San Diego’s famous “Fish Market” restaurant if your day is spoiled by motion sickness. ($20 child certificate) That sounds like an offer I’d like to take. Other sailing adventures include sunset tours, Catalina Island tours, and more.

Checking out the ships on our own was pretty interesting. From their website, there appear to be many opportunities to enhance your own Maritime Museum Experience with educational tours or sailing adventure packages. Next time we return to San Diego, provided my kids are old enough for me to trust on a moving ship, I will look into being able to experience these ships on a more intimate level.

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Museum of Man

What most caught my eye was the Museum of Man. I figured maybe if I went early on in the day when the kids are most focused, I could interest them in bones and pictures of prehistoric man. This is a good-sized museum. The entrance offers a large foyer and wonderful displays of multi-story rock pillars that have been carved by citizens of the Mayan civilization thousands of years ago. Artifacts from this era were on display. This amazes me, to be looking at objects carved by people thousands of years ago, but held no interest whatsoever to an energetic five and three year old. Upstairs were skeletons of neanderthals and very life-like sculptures of what could be our earliest ancestors. The bones gave the kids slightly longer pause, but it wasn’t until we got to the area where they could play archaeologist and uncover “fossilized” footprints under sand using a small brush that they really took interest. There is also a Children’s Discovery area which unfortunately for us, remained undiscovered. It highlighted ancient Egypt. We did find the Egypt room, but did not realize there was an interactive area further on and so left after glancing at the tombs of mummies.  Its too bad.  This was a nice museum, but mostly aimed toward the late middle school and up crowd. I look forward to sharing my interest in world cultures with the kids, but it will have to be at a different time.

Reuben H. Fleet Science Museum

Next on the agenda was the Reuben H. Fleet Science Museum. My expectation was that we would be in and out in two hours tops. With so many museums in one area, how big could it be? You can imagine how hard my chin hit the floor when we walked in and saw this. The camera does it only partial justice, it was hard to take it all in at one time. So for the first hour we let the kids run from one exhibit to the next, each one offering some kind of hands-on opportunity that was doable for even my youngest one. The displays offered explanations that were concise and understandable even to the non-science geek (thank you!). Even I could quickly get the gist of what each station was illustrating. 

After the first hour we hustled the kids into the 1pm showing of Under the Sea shown in the dome shaped IMAX screen. With this larger than life movie, I was a bit worried about how scary the experience would be to my three year old. I think the whole family agrees that the scariest part of this show was during the preview when the audience is led down a tunnel of light to experience the full effect of IMAX and Dolby sound. The movie was interesting and not full of meat-eating sharks. My little one fell asleep on my lap.

I took the sleeping Josh into the room designed for kids 5 yrs and under. Ryan and his Dad headed upstairs to build towers with the KEVA planks. The size and weight of these planks makes them surprisingly stable. A huge room was full of kids at tables making tall and wide creations. Jeff’s tall tower was based on what looked like only a few Popsicle sticks. When he and Ryan decided they were finished, Jeff was dared by another parent to begin removing each of the bottom sticks. Stick by stick they were removed, until this tower, about as tall as Jeff, was still standing on only four thin sticks. AND, the bottom sticks were in a single line all on one side of the tower, which to this day I can’t explain. But see it for yourself.

Four hours later we were starting to get hungry. By no means had we seen and done everything at the museum. There is a decent cafe on-site, but we needed more substantial food at that point. Even with growling tummies it was hard to tear the kids away. To read more about the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center you can visit the post on the city guide.

Disclaimer: I received complimentary tickets from Reuben H. Fleet Science Center. However, this post is based solely on my experience and my opinion.

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Before you even purchase your ticket you are greeted initially by an interactive display on electricity, which the kids can play around with while you stand in line to get tickets. When you walk inside the museum, the foyer is filled with one station after another of things to touch, watch, and contemplate. The display signs are great at explaining the associated science in non-technical language.

I am a huge fan of large rooms where my kids, several years apart, can explore different things while I can keep an eye on each one. And there is also an advantage to those places that offer entire rooms for the younger set to explore apart from activities that their older siblings are interested in. This museum has both. The large room on the bottom offers things that kids of different ages can do.  The experiments are simple enough for any kid to master (and my three-year-old had to try just about each and every one) and visual enough to entice even the science-phobe.  We spent a little more than an hour in the bottom foyer and easily could have spent more time.  Upstairs had one spacious room dedicated to the 5 yrs. and under crowd. Here were shaped blocks made from sponges that fit into a wall of corresponding shapes, a large scale to weigh fruits and vegetables, and so many other things that were inviting to play with and introduced science concepts that were age-appropriate. Those kids older than five might enjoy the room of KEVA planks. Due to the shape and balance of each plank, you can build and balance just about anything that you can imagine. Aside from these two main areas upstairs, there are hallways full of optical illusions and mind benders, enought to make your brain melt.

Attached is the IMAX Dome Theatre where different shows are played on the hour. A small cafe is also attached to the musuem, with outdoor only seating. Parking is free and nearby. There is also an outdoor playground within walking distance.

Disclaimer: I received complimentary tickets from Reuben H. Fleet Science Center. However, this post is based solely on my experience and my opinion.

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As part of Mondays are for Dreaming series hosted on Mother of All Trips, I would like to list some cities or places that I dream of going, and some of the top blogs/websites I have found that write specifically about that destination.  This, I hope, will kill two birds with one stone.  By doing the research, I hope to be better equipped to plan a trip to a place that I dream about visiting. Also, I hope this will be a helpful reference tool for those planning to travel there too.  I can easily lose hours on the computer flipping around from website to website trying to get the inside scoop from as many sources as I can.  By listing my favorite finds, I hope to save you some screen time so you can spend more time narrowing down what’s right for you.  And, of course, you will also hear of our own experiences for those destinations we do end up going to.

First stop this year… San Diego.  Here are some websites that I thought provided the most information on visiting San Diego:

http://blog.sandiego.org/

http://www.gosandiegocard.com/blog/

http://www.sandiego.com/attractions/cheap-ways-to-enjoy-san-diego

http://www.whathappensinsandiego.com/

Be sure to check out more travel dreams at Mother of All Trips.  Photo credit goes to jackthrt3

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