Whole Earth Festival

 Peace, Love, and Tie Die. That is, in part, the essance of the Whole Earth Festival. Every year on Mother’s Day weekend the UC Davis quad area fills with artists and vendors of incredible calibre, vegetarian food of every kind, and music everywhere! This is an experience not to be missed.

Unless you arrive early, prepare to walk from any of the designated parking lots or street parking. Stop first at the karma dome to get a brochure, but do not limit yourself to only the entertainment listed in the brochure. There are plenty of spontaneous drum circles where those who feel the inspiration get up and dance along. The kids area can be located by finding the climbing bars that are quite popular. Also nearby is fingerpainting and some paper mache activities if you are able to get there before the supplies have run out.

In addition to being a great place to hang out for a day and people watch, (every year there are jugglers, hoola hoopers and others just doing their thing in the middle of the quad) it is a festival that truly emphasizes the love of the planet we inhabit and all people in it. Meals are served on reusable plates and cups. You pay a dollar deposit for your dish which you get back after turning it in to the washing station. Electricty used to amplify bands/music is powered (in part if not soley) by solar energy. Many vendors sell wares that are made from reusable material. You cannot purchase any food with meat. It is truly a festival not just for commercialism. Here there is every bit as much practice as there is preaching.

Yerba Buena Gardens

I wanted to take the kids to San Francisco for some fun and adventuring.  I really needed to find a place that would entertain them long enough to make the drive worthwhile, and something that could be done with one adult, preferably in one place.  I think I struck gold at Yerba Buena Gardens.  Here was a museum, a playground, a carousel, and other things (ice-skating rink and bowling alley) that we didn’t even have time to explore.

First we stopped in at the Zeum. This is a three-story museum with lots of exhibits dedicated to technology and cameras, as in motion picture cameras. You can make videos, claymation films or karaoke videos.  As a museum I think it is terrific for older kids. Now, my guys are only 4 and 2 so we did end up passing quickly through most of the exhibits. But, there is a lego wall you can build on, and a few other fun things they can do.

We quickly headed over to the playground. The prevalent thing you notice there are these two rocket looking slides. QUITE steep. I took my little one down the smaller of the two, and really it is not as bad as it looks. Luckily my oldest wasn’t all that interested in the tallest one. I’m sure it would also have been fine for his age, but it definitely looks like a thrill ride. There was plenty of  space to run around, including water and sand areas. At one point a park guy came along to start his worm feeding duty and encouraged my son-of-many-questions to help him shred the lettuce. Then when it was time to feed the worms, this guy told all the kids to gather round if they want, and everyone got to watch and ask questions. Also, at some point some large bouncy balls and hoola hoops appeared. So I guess city employees open up the closets when they are around and let the kids play with whatever is pulled out. I’ve never seen any other city do that, pretty cool.

The Yerba Buena cafe was closed when my kids were about tired out, so we went across the street to the Metreon (shopping mall) to find a bite to eat. Many of the restaurants there looked too nice for my rambunctious boys now on their second wind, but a small Mexican Grill proved to be an excellent place. The portions are plentiful, so with the kids splitting a plate of quesadillas, eating out didn’t end up costing a whole lot. Another idea is to cross 3rd street to find Max’s Diner.

I used the parking garage at Fourth and Mission which was only about two blocks from Yerba Buena Gardens.  From there you can easily find the YBG  thanks to the huge carousel on the corner. The BART Montgomery station is also northwest a few blocks.

Santa Cruz Pier

Nothing can burn a whole day with kids like a beach. Luckily this weekend we were close to Santa Cruz and so, with grandparents, we headed to the sand. Santa Cruz is well-known for its boardwalk. Frankly with young kids who likely don’t meet the height requirement for any ride there, I was hesitant to go within viewing distance of any roller coaster. There are other beaches to choose from, but since our needs also required wheelchair accessibility, we decided the pier would be the best bet. To either side of the pier are great options for plopping down sand gear near ramps or decks. There are also restaurants nearby that offer indoor, outdoor, or to-go lunches. So you really don’t need to move much from your beach blanket, and with all the gear and toys that comes with kids, this is a feature worth mentioning.

If you do venture away from the sand, the pier is a really nice place to stroll. On the left side of the pier (as you face the ocean) are some stairs that lead to a great place to view resting sea lions. Another great place to shop is Marinis, a candy shop that makes its own salt water taffy. I have to say the taffy is incredibly good.

One ride I wouldn’t mind taking some time is the beach train that rides from the boardwalk up to Henry Cowell redwood forests of Felton. A round trip excursion takes about 3 hours, but you can easily make a whole day event by using that as your transportation to two nice destinations. Guess I need to leave something for next time.