Activity: Safari Park Flight line
Rating: 5 of 5 stars
Description: Went to the Safari park to see the wildlife and went on the Flight line overlooking the large animals- very fun!
Activity: Natural History Museum First Fridays
Rating: 5 of 5 stars
Description: DJs, Dinosaurs and exhibits! On the first Friday of the month the museum opens up with music and food trucks for a night of fun
Activity: Storm King Art Center
Rating: 4 of 5 stars
Description: Sculpture Garden outside of New York City. Great for a bike ride around the sculptures or a picnic. It is accessible by car or a 1 hour bus from Manhattan Port Authority. The land is 300 contiguous acres and founded over 50 years ago.
Activity: Half Dome Hike
Rating: 5 of 5 stars
Description: Half Dome is a gorgeous hike in Yosemite. You can take a bus to the top and hike down or do the full roundtrip hike
Activity: Mexico City
Rating: 5 of 5 stars
Description: The variety of things to do in one weekend in Mexico city is amazing. Just watch out for traffic!
Activity: Ai WeiWei exhibit in London
Rating: 4.2 of 5 Stars
Website: https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/exhibition/ai-weiwei
Description: I went to the Ai WeiWei exhibit at the Royal Academy of Arts in London for the last leg of my trip. The exhibit is about Ai WeiWei's experience in jail as well as other representations of political protests. The most interesting part of the exhibit is the diversity of installations. There are wooden chairs, crabs, vases, chandelier of bike parts, wall paper, etc. Each were very unique and represented an important belief of Ai WeiWei.
Tip: book tickets in advance or through a booking as the lines can be long
Activity: Repelling down the Moaning Caverns
Rating: 4.5 of 5 stars
Website: Moaning Caverns
Description: The moaning caverns are located about 2.5 hours from San Francisco. It is an adventure park from limestone caves where you can go on a cave tour, repel down the cave, or go on an all day tour including crawling in the caves with a guide.
They do not allow reservations in advance unless you have a large group so make sure to arrive on time. Fortunately when I got there I did not have to wait. I paid, watched a short video, then I was instructed to put on the harness and ropes. The guide was there to set me up and answer any last minute questions. I was surprised that you do not go with a guide, instead you can go with a group or alone. The repel could take 15-40 minutes depending on how comfortable you feel going down. As I was going down the cave a group from the walking tour was able to see my shuffle down. At the bottom there is someone to help you with the harness and then you take a long flight of stairs back to the top. The only photos allowed for safety reasons are from a go pro strap to the helmet so make sure to bring any equipment that you may have.
The repel was a little frightening, but it was worth the spectacular view!
Activity: Mystery Spot Tour and Beach day at the Boardwalk
Rating: 4.2 of 5 stars
Website:
Description: The first part of the day we went to the Mystery Spot. The Mystery spot is a place of gravitational quirkiness. You can do a short tour where you go to the stop of the area and watch a few demonstrations of gravitational weirdness- meaning that gravity's effect is the opposite of what you would assume. I won't ruin it by telling you the secrets, but I do recommend taking the tour that is only $6. I suggest booking in advance as tickets the day of may require you to wait. Parking is also available for a fee.
After the Mystery Spot my friend and I went to the Santa Cruz Boardwalk and enjoyed a lovely beach day. We even had the chance to see a lot of sea lion's up close which is not a rare occasion for the area as well as kayakers and even a beach wedding. On our way home we went to Greek food that was inexpensive and delicious. The overall vibe of Santa Cruz is very laid back.
I highly recommend Santa Cruz for a day trip. There are plenty of things to do in this beach town.
Activity: 4 hour night kayaking tour in bioluminescence Tomales Bay
Rating: 5 of 5 stars
Website: Bioluminescence Kayaking
Description: Bioluminescence is defined as: "the biochemical emission of light by living organisms such as fireflies and deep sea fishes." There is no easy way to describe the experience except to see it in person. In the meantime I can attest that it is by far one of the coolest things to see in nature.
First, you arrive at the point of departure for the tour (bundle up!). There are only a few places in the world that have these bioluminescence tours so if you live in the bay area you have no excuse because there is one close by- Tomales Bay/Point Reyes. The other locations include Maldives and Puerto Rico. From pictures these locations are more spectacular because conditions lend themselves to brighter beaches full of bioluminescence, however I still recommend going to Point Reyes for this tour.
Once you arrive at the destination there is a safety and introductory section. Then you and your partner (kayaks are tandem) suit up in jackets, pants, and skirts (that go around the kayak to prevent water from coming in) and start the journey to the beaches. If you go from Point Reyes you will pass Hog Island. As you are kayaking it becomes very dark (this is standard as these tours only go during the summer and into Oct). After a few hours of kayaking, you arrive on a beach to take a break and learn about bioluminescence with some hot chocolate. Once the instructor has described the experience (ours said it would look like "fireworks, diamonds, or glitter!") you get back into the kayaks to go to the cove with the most activity. Once your paddles are in the water again, the area starts to glow. You can put your hand in the water to see it light up and make designs of your own. There are even fish that swim around in bursts of light. I can not describe how incredibly beautiful and interesting it is to see this in action.
Recommended: couples, groups of friends, outdoorsy people who are not afraid of the dark
Activity: Wedding guest in Wilmington, DE and beach house guest in Dewey Beach, DE
Rating: 4 of 5 stars
Website: Dewey Beach
Description: The wedding was at a beautiful estate in Wilmington, DE. The food was delicious, the band played the favorites [I'm with the band ;)] and friends were rejoicing (playing corn-hole for example). Since most people can not replicate this experience I will elaborate on the post-wedding festivities.
I traveled from Wilmington to Dewey beach by car and then traveled back to the Philadelphia airport. Dewey beach is a a good destination to rent a house with a large group of friends. In this particular case I crashed a college reunion so I can attest to larger groups are better. There were plenty of places to go out and the beach was nicer than I had anticipated. A holiday weekend would be a good time as I am sure the area is more lively with young adults during the holidays. The only draw back is that it is not easily accessible from an airport. The best way to travel was by car, so if you are from the east coast you may have been before.
As a California native, I always enjoy a good paddle ball competition and a swim in the ocean.
Activity: Hats, heels, and high tea for friend's birthday
Rating: 4 of 5 stars
Website: Crosby Street Hotel
Cost: inexpensive, price depends on what you order
Description: For a friend's birthday her mom organized a surprise party/girls luncheon with the theme of "hats, heels, and high tea." The theme was perfect for a beautiful afternoon in the open patio/garden area. The tea selection included an entire page of options and the sandwiches were delicious and exactly as you would expect for a high tea. They also offered Champagne and other drinks for the afternoon.
The hotel was beautiful and perfect for photo shoots.
Recommended: Ladies gathering :)
Description: Trampoline park for kids and adults...but mostly adult children
Rating: 3.5 of 5 stars
Cost: $25/hr
Website: http://www.houseofair.com/
Description: You can pre-register for one hour increments to the Open air section of the trampoline park. The one hour includes a brief tutorial on how to land and jump correctly. I recommend booking the open section as there will likely be many small children in the other arenas, especially on weekends for birthday parties.
The venue is located in the presidio in an airplane hanger. On a nice day they open the main doors to let in fresh air. The staff was mostly nice and helpful.
Recommended: Couple, two-three friends, families,
Activity: Outsidelands Music Festival Golden Gate Park
Rating: 3 of 5 stars
Cost: Daily tickets for GA $135 or $325 for the weekend
Website: http://www.sfoutsidelands.com/
Description: Outsidelands is a popular music festival in Golden Gate Park. Over the years it has become even more popular and therefore even more crowded. This festival is unlike others due to the scenery. For example, Coachella is hot and dry, Outsidelands is in a lush part of the park and can get pretty chilly. There is also a greater presence of wine vendors considering the proximity to Sonoma/Napa.
Pros: line up was full of popular artists new and old (Elton John included), the food was delicious, the wine tent was a nice calm break from the music
Cons: in the late afternoon/early evening the park becomes VERY crowded and lines for the bathrooms are ridiculous-- essentially the same problems of any mainstream music festival
Recommended: Post college group of friends
Activity: House boating on Lake Shasta
Rating: 4.6 out of 5 stars
Website: http://www.houseboating.org/Lake-Shasta-Houseboat-Prices
Cost: $100 per person for the weekend, excluding food and activities
Description: A friend found a deal on houseboats through Travelzoo and we booked 4 total for a weekend in July. The link above includes other boats that are available to rent.
Accommodations: The boats were not luxurious, but it had all the necessary amenities. There were four bunk beds, two larger than the others and a pull out bed. There was a full kitchen with refrigerator, stove, coffee machine etc. Pre-planning our meals made it very easy to coordinate food supplies prior to arriving. We also brought speaks for music, electric pump for floaties, and plenty of trash bags/paper towels/bug repellant. The nights were really warm during the summer so I recommend to pack light clothing and a light sleeping bag.
There was plenty do to for one weekend: swimming, lounging on floaties, wake boarding, skiing, and playing games with friends. The wake boarding and water skiing was an additional cost, but relatively inexpensive. We rented a speed boat for the water sports and the docking station rented out the sports equipment for those that did not bring their own.
Recommended: Great trip for large groups of young friends.
Activity: Cooking class at Sur la Table in San Francisco
Rating: 4 of 5 stars
Website :http://www.surlatable.com/category/cat2211278/Cooking+Classes
Cost: Originally $65-79 and on sale for $35! (subscribe to newsletter for sales or wait for last minute discounts)
Description: I took a 4 course cooking class that focused on Mediterranean cuisine. The menu included Baklava ice cream, chicken skewers, Greek Salad, and grape leaves stuffed with feta. The meal was delicious! Do not go hungry or you will be starving at the end of the 2-3 hour class.
I highly recommend Sur la Table because they have last minute deals on classes, all the prep work is done beforehand, there is no cleaning, and you get the recipes and full meal at the end.
I will say space was tight and you had to take turns in groups of 3-4 to prepare the meal, but the recipes are simple enough that you can watch along and feel comfortable trying at home.
The classes also vary quite a bit depending on the season so there is constantly new genres to try!
Recommended: two friends,. couple, small group
