Resources For Our Future

Peter DaSilva for The New York Times

Asian Art Museum treasures

May 1, 2005
WEEKEND WITH THE KIDS
A Most Adult City Has Plenty of Appeal for the Young, Too
By DEBRA A. KLEIN

SAN FRANCISCO already invites sneaker-footed adult tourists to act childlike: Ride a cable car! Gorge on Ghirardelli chocolate! Walk the "crookedest" street in the world!

Actual children, however, are statistically in short supply (according to the latest census, San Francisco has the lowest percentage of kids among the nation's cities - just 14.5 percent). That means that beyond Fisherman's Wharf, the rare bellybutton-high visitor can expect niece-and-nephew treatment: locals smile empathetically at meltdowns; playfulness is encouraged; and even top-flight restaurateurs indulge their gap-toothed gourmands' whims.

The dot-com revolution may have left behind a legacy of kid-friendly technology, like the video arcade at Sony Metreon downtown, but it is the city's unique low-tech thrills - monstrous hills and historic streetcars (free for those under 5; 35 cents for older kids) and cable cars ($3) - that they'll chat about on the ride home.

CULTURE

A visit to the airy, modern Asian Art Museum, at 200 Larkin Street, (415) 581-3500, www.asianart.org, doesn't mean tiptoeing past Ming vases. In the AsiaAlive room, visitors can start a self-guided tour or learn to write Persian. Kids can even pepper visiting artists (Filipino rondalla musicians will be there in May) with questions - instead of you. Sunday storytelling, video touch screens, multiarmed Hindu deities, and Indonesian puppets that seem to remind kids of their teachers can buy parents peace in the Contemplative Zen Alcove. Admission is $10, under 12 free. Closed Monday.

You had "Scared Straight"; your kids have the cellhouse audio tour at Alcatraz, www.nps.gov/alcatraz: the gravelly voiced ex-cons' recollections about life on the Rock are likely to encourage at least an afternoon's worth of good behavior. Monthly Sunday evening Kidz Tourz run by the Parks Conservancy, (415) 561-4926, range from flashlight adventures to escape stories. These and regular night tours cost $23.50, or $20.75 for ages 12 to 18, and $14.25 ages 5 to 11. Day tours are $16 with audio or $11.50 without; ages 5 to 11, $10.75 or $8.50. Reservations are necessary from (415) 705-5555 or www.blueandgoldfleet.com.

Cels of another kind - individual celluloid frames of cartoons - are on view at the Cartoon Art Museum, 655 Mission Street, (415) 227-8666, www.cartoonart.org. There are also serious comics, the kind obsessed readers graduate to after gateway series like X-Men. The collection includes color animation cels from movies featuring characters like Bugs Bunny and Mickey Mouse. Admission: $6 and $2 ages 6 to 12.

WILDLIFE

While kids hunt for Dory and Nemo in the two-story tropical reef tank at Steinhart Aquarium, 875 Howard Street, (415) 321-8000, www.calacademy.org/aquarium, parents can dream of that romantic Hawaiian vacation. Downtown and small as a submarine, the aquarium has two daily penguin feedings, and a naturalist who helps kids handle hermit crabs and other critters in the tiny tidal pool. Admission: $7; $4.50 ages 12 to 17, and $2 ages 4 to 11.

Along with minidonuts and waffle cones, Pier 39, www.pier39.com, offers a natural attraction: resident sea lions on sun-bleached piers.

Kids can learn more at the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary Visitor Center, (415) 561-6625, www.gfnms.nos.noaa.gov, on the photogenic west end of Crissy Field. A table of shells, bones and pelts invites hands-on examination, and magnifying glasses are available for a closer look at creatures in the tanks. Free.

OUTSIDE

Just walking the hills and taking in views will provide plenty of fresh air, but it's worth the 12-mile drive north over the Golden Gate Bridge to stroll beneath the giant redwoods in Muir Woods National Monument, www.nps.gov/muwo. Spur hikes branch off the flat paved loop trail. Rain means banana slugs! Open 8 a.m. to sunset. Admission: $3 for adults.

DOWNTIME

Vendors charm kids with granola and jam samples at the Ferry Building Farmers Market on Saturday from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the foot of Market Street.

Following the trail south along the water leads to the SBC Ballpark, home of the Giants, and a playground behind the left-field bleachers that includes a miniature replica of the stadium. This Coca-Cola Fan Lot is closed on game days.

What could be more relaxing than hearing the San Francisco Symphony under the redwoods, while inhaling the scent of eucalyptus? From June 19 to Aug. 15, the Stern Grove Festival offers free Sunday concerts at 2 p.m., at 19th Avenue and Sloat Boulevard; www.sterngrove.org. You can enjoy the performance while your kids investigate the playground or enjoy youth fare like a hip-hop orchestra. Free.

WHERE TO EAT

At dusk, tea lights come out, but the spill-into-the-street crowd still hasn't at Chez Nous, 1911 Fillmore Street, (415) 441-8044. Small plates of pommes frites and gnocchi are perfect for sharing. A half-wreath of fresh bread arrives quickly. Grown-up offerings include Moroccan-influenced chicken kebabs with orzo, and scallops on pearled pasta. Then you can scoop chocolate pudding with a hand-sized cookie. Small plates are $5 to $12. Open for lunch and dinner.

Taylor's Automatic Refresher, (866) 328-3663, in the Ferry Building has extensive finger food like mini corn dogs, but adults can get fried calamari or salads with fresh market ingredients. Milkshakes with mix-ins like Oreos please everyone, and so do the great Embarcadero views. Kids meals from $3; others $6.49 to $12.99.

On the other side of the complex, at Mijita, (415) 399-0814, children can feast on Burritos de Frijoles ($2) at low-slung communal tables. Outside, adults can savor the Bay views and the tasty Niman Ranch beef or mahi mahi tacos for under $5.

Mels Drive-Ins have working jukeboxes and "American Graffiti" décor for a trip back to the 1950's. Kids Car Meals come with fries and a drink ($5.25 to $6.70). There are a range of salads, or rib-sticking meat loaf just like somebody's Mom used to make. Some locations are: 801 Mission Street, (415) 227-4477; 2165 Lombard at Fillmore, (415) 921-3039; and 3355 Geary near Parker, (415) 387-2244.

WHERE TO STAY

Hotel Monaco, 501 Geary Street, (866) 622-5284, www.monaco-sf.com, is so pet-friendly that if you haven't brought one, they'll let you borrow a goldfish in a bowl for your stay. Parents will enjoy the wine reception, complete with tarot card reading; kids get sparkling cider served like a cocktail. There are fresh cookies at the front desk. Weekend rates, $189 to $399; suites from $250.

Enormous floral urns and a grand entryway make arriving at the Palace, 2 New Montgomery Street; (415) 512-1111, www.starwoodhotels.com, feel like a scene in a Merchant Ivory film. Breezy wide corridors tempt kids to bolt ahead; you can run in the sleek gym overlooking a rare city sight: an attractive heated indoor pool. Weekend rates are $175 to $299.

Near Fisherman's Wharf, the metrosexual Popeye décor of the Argonaut, 495 Jefferson Street, (415) 563-0800, www.argonauthotel.com, includes a tasteful astronomer's clock, club chairs and a fireplace in the lobby, and stars on the carpets and whimsical nautical pillows in the boldly colorful rooms. At check-in, kids can plunder booty from the hotel's Treasure Chest. The Neptune's Adventure package ($229) includes four cable car passes and breakfast.

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