By Rhonda Campbell
Home to more than 7 million people,
San Francisco is one of America's largest cities. The city in the California's Bay Area is full of color and intrigue. Trolley cars, flowers blooming at sidewalk edges and rolling hills make San Francisco a fun and memorable place to visit. It is no surprise that nearly 6 million people visit the city each year.
Aquarium of the Bay
San Francisco's Aquarium of the Bay is a nonprofit organization that educates and entertains. Located at The Embarcadero and beach Street, the aquarium is open 365 days a year and provides private and school group tours. While at the aquarium, you and your family can learn about the thousands of aquatic animals that live in the San Francisco Bay. The aquarium itself houses more than 20,000 animals including giant sea bass, seven-gill and leopard sharks, bat rays, blue-tongued skinks and California king snakes. You can explore the fish and animals while you walk through two crystal-clear tunnels that hold more than 700,000 gallons of water. Children can participate in the hands-on educational programs. The price of one adult ticket is $15.95, while the price of a child's ticket is $8. You can contact the aquarium by calling (415) 623-5300.
Conservatory of Flowers
Founded in 1879, the Conservatory of Flowers is the United States' oldest public conservatory. The historic site is a living museum filled with a vast assortment of breathtaking flowers including tropical plants such as orchids and bromeliads. The conservatory's five galleries include Lowland Tropics, Aquatic Plants, Highland Tropics, Potted Plants and Special Events. Cashew nuts, chocolate and vanilla are a few of the plants that you can watch grow naturally inside the Lowland Tropics gallery. Aquatic plants grow and float atop water in the Aquatic Plants gallery. The Potted Plants gallery includes an urn from the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition. Highland Tropics is home to orchids from misty cloud forests. Group tours can be reserved at the aquarium by calling (415) 666-7001. Weddings, educational trips and dining are available through the conservatory, which is located at 501 Stanyan Street. Adult admission price is $5. Children between the ages of 12 and 17 years can explore the conservatory for $3, while children ages five and under are admitted for $1.50.
USS Pampanito
Part of the San Francisco Maritime Park Association, USS Pampanito is located at Pier 45 at Fisherman's Wharf. The submarine is from the World War II Balao class fleet. Each year nearly 110,000 people visit the submarine that patrolled the Pacific Ocean during World War II. You and your family can walk through the submarine escorted by an educational guide, or you can tour the submarine on your own. Areas that the tour takes you through include the main deck aft, torpedo and forward engine rooms, crew mess and galley and the control and radio rooms. A self-guided tour costs $2 per person. The cost of a guided tour for adults is $9, $4 for children ages 6 to 12, and free for children under 6. Learn about the patrols the submarine conducted, the history of submarine use in the U.S. Navy and the impact that aquatic vessels had on World War II. Visit the library and the maritime museum while you are at USS Pampanito. You can contact the San Francisco Maritime Park Association by calling (415) 561-6662.
Wax Museum at Fisherman's Wharf
San Francisco's Wax Museum located at 145 Jefferson Street houses wax figures of some of the world's most famous people. An image of Michael Jackson stands at the front of the 100,000-square-foot museum. Other figures that you and your family can observe, read historical facts about and examine at the museum are King Tut, President Barack Obama, Yao Ming, Lance Armstrong, Civil War leaders, Eleanor Roosevelt, Benjamin Franklin, Martin Luther King Jr., Mohandas Gandhi, Winston Churchill, Ernest Hemingway, Princess Diana and Albert Einstein. Group tours are offered with a reservation. Admission price is $14 for adults, $10 for children ages 12 to 17, $7 for children ages 6 to 11 years, and free for children under the age of 6. You can contact the museum by calling (800) 439-4305.
Resources
About the Author:
Rhonda Campbell is an entrepreneur, radio host and author. She has more than 17 years of business, human resources and project management experience and decades of book, newspaper, magazine, radio and business writing experience. Her works have appeared in leading periodicals like "Madame Noire," "Halogen TV," "The Network Journal," "Essence," "Your Church Magazine," "The Trenton Times," "Pittsburgh Quarterly" and "New Citizens Press."
