This past weekend, my husband, son and I went down to San Francisco to see the newly-reopened Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park.

My family and I don't get down to the big city much, so the first thing that struck me upon arrival to the museum were the long lines everywhere. It was overwhelming. I know it was a rainy Saturday in Golden Gate Park, but still. This was crazy.

After finding the right line and entering the museum, I was amazed by the architecture of the building. There was tons of natural light filtering in with modern curves, high ceilings, and the coolest feature, the living roof. After pushing through strollers, children, cameras and alot of helpful employees, we made our way to the Steinhardt Aquarium, which seems to be the predominant exhibit in the museum. The fish and other aquatic creatures are bright and vivid, and some are really odd. The range of fish and color and size were amazing. We found ourselves watching fish for about 1.5 hours! 

The Rainforest Exhibit, although visible in the center of the museum, had a constant line wrapping through to the front door the entire afternoon so we did not get to go in.

My favorite was feeding time at the Penguin Exhibit. The penguins were so aware of being on display and seemed to be diving in and swimming up to certain people in the crowd, my son being one of them. They were so engaging, and their living space seemed very habitable and clean, which is a good description of the museum as a whole. Habitable, clean, and consciencious.

All in all, I would wait for the hype to die down, and not go on a weekend. The ticket price was a bit steep, but it is an excellent and shining example of an eco-friendly and entertaining museum.