A Saturday at the Academy of Sciences

We spent a Saturday in May back in 2012 at the California Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park. I always liked the main hall with its huge glass ceiling and the whale skeleton hanging overhead. It was bright and full of people.

Inside, we went through some of the darker exhibits. The kids were captivated by a glowing projection of a solar eclipse. We also sat down for one of the shows in the planetarium, with everyone crowded together on the floor looking up. One of the kids was pointing at something on the big screen, completely absorbed.

Downstairs in the aquarium section, the girls were excited to see the albino alligator. They leaned right over the railing to get a better look. The main coral reef tank was incredible, just a huge wall of blue water filled with schools of colorful fish. It really does feel like you're underwater looking up at the surface.

We spent a long time just watching the fish go by. The last stop before we left was the jellyfish exhibit. The room is almost completely dark except for the tall, cylindrical tanks lit from below, making the jellyfish glow bright green as they pulse through the water.