Oh the Disappointment…

After hearing the rave reviews of the CA Academy of Science Museum in the city, I decided that Eric and I should plan a trip to see for ourselves. We really enjoy these types of activities- I remember Eric taking me to the Exploratorium in the city for one of our very first dates. Since we both had the day off on Friday, we thought it would be a great day to go. I read all of the information on their website in order to plan our trip, like the hours, the bus routes to take, and how to obtain a student discount. Although it was raining, we had fun as we found our way to the museum.

As soon as we walked into Golden Gate Park at 10am, we were astonished to find a line of people already waiting. We expected crowds, since the museum had been recently remodeled, but this sight was something else. We walked along lines and lines of people to find our way to the museum entrance. When we found an employee, we asked where we needed to go to purchase tickets. She pointed to a covered tent in the distance to buy them and then said that we needed to start waiting in line- a line that was about a mile long. Seriously. Figuring that we had already planned our day around this event, we did just as she suggested. We stood in the rain for nearly an hour after purchasing our tickets, as my hopes for a fun day at the museum started to fade.

When we were finally admitted into the building, we quickly made our way to another line of anxious museum-goers in order to reserve our planetarium tickets. Although an attending employee told us that we had hope for obtaining tickets to the final show of the day at 4pm, we were given no guarantee. I had Eric wait in the planetarium line while I rushed off to yet another line of people waiting for the rainforest exhibit. While waiting, I chatted with a group behind me who held membership tickets to the museum. Apparently this day was the single most crowded day they had ever witnessed (of course- the exact day that we decide to go). A few minutes later, I received a call from Eric who was still waiting in the other line at this point. No more planetarium tickets.

Well, that was it for us. I told Eric to meet me at the front desk so we could ask for our money back. Although it was great to see so many people excited to go to this museum, I was not about to stay and miss out on all of the fun exhibits that were now sold out- at $20 a ticket. Luckily the lady at the front desk was understanding and refunded our money. Disappointed by our visit, we peeked into the albino aligator exhibit and made a quick stop at the gift shop before we headed back to the bus stop.

Luckily we had planned to dine at the Olive Garden near SFSU for dinner after the museum, so we just dropped in for lunch instead. Lunch was good- breadsticks were lovely, as usual. But unfortunately, my favorite chicken con broccoli dish was nowhere to be found on the menu. The nerve! I settled for another chicken dish and we happily rested our tired feet at the table after such an unfortunate day.