Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
200
Begin your walk at 2 New Montgomery St. at Market
Street, at the:
1 Palace Hotel
The stained-glass-domed G arden Cour t
dining room at this historic landmark was
formerly the carriage entrance. With its
massive marble columns and ceiling made
from 80,000 panes of glass, it is one of the
most extraor dinary public r ooms in the
city. Poke your heads into the Pied Piper
Bar as w ell to r egard the $2.5-million
Maxfield P arrish painting of the same
name.
Next, walk east on New Montgomery to Mission
Street and turn right. Across the street, at 655 Mis-
sion St., is the:
2 Cartoon Art Museum
This small galler y contains mo vie cels,
political cartoons, and underground com-
ics. Although y ounger kids may enjo y
seeing scenes fr om D isney mo vies and
teens may appr eciate the mor e sophisti-
cated political car toons, I find this place
somewhat limited, considering the
or visit www.californiahistoricalsociety.org
for more information.
Continue heading down Mission Street. Make a left
on 3rd Street. On your left will be the:
5 San Francisco Museum of Mod-
ern Art (SFMOMA)
In addition to a spectacular permanent col-
lection of 20th-centur y ar t and equally
impressive temporary exhibits, the museum's
Learning Lounge offers activities for kids.
TAKE A BREAK
The Caffé Museo at the
SFMOMA has tast y soups , sal-
ads, and sandwiches , as w ell as indoor
and outdoor seating.
A walk up 4th Street and a left onto Market Street
brings you to the:
6 Yerba Buena Gardens
After solemnly vie wing modern ar t, your
kids will be glad for the oppor tunity to
run around and stretch their legs. Depend-
ing on ages and inter ests, they can enjo y
the play area and slides, carousel, ice skat-
ing rink, bo wling lanes, or Z eum. ( The
full list of options ar e described under
“Yerba B uena G ardens” and “Z eum” in
chapter 6.) O r you can just str oll around
the gar dens that bor der M ission S treet.
Here you'll find a waterfall memorial hon-
oring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., which
kids love to run behind, and a “Sister Cit-
ies” garden.
For one more educational experience, cross the street
to 736 Mission St.:
7 Contemporary Jewish Museum
Budding ar chitects in y our gr oup will
appreciate the compelling design b y Dan-
iel Libeskind, a $48-million adaptation of
an old power plant. Exhibits focus on Jew-
ish community and cultur e, but tend to
come up shor t on offering insights into
Jewish traditions or histor y. Check in
advance to see if ther e's a curr ent exhibit
that may interest your kids.
7
entrance fee. I f the w eather is bad, step
inside. Otherwise, give yourself more time
at Yerba Buena Gardens.
Almost next door, at 685 Mission St., is the:
3 Museum of the African Diaspora
This diminutiv e museum celebrates the
contributions of peoples of African descent
across the globe. Though a bit pricey for
its siz e, it does hav e some wor thwhile
exhibits, starting with the 3-story-tall por-
trait of an African girl (made up of thou-
sands of photos) visible from outside.
Now cross the street. At 678 Mission St., step into the:
4 California Historical Society
The collection is aimed at r esearchers, but
a quick look at the sur veyor's maps, pho-
tographs, N ative American ar tifacts, and
exhibit on the California missions and
Junipero Serra will take at most 20 min-
utes and could giv e your student a heads-
up in histor y class. O pen Wednesday
through S unday. Call & 415/357-1848
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