What fun things are there to do in the San Francisco Bay area for a family of 4? ?

I will be leaving with my family to the bay area for the first time in the third week of February. We plan on seeing the finals of the SAP open (tennis) in San Jose and maybe some sightseeing in San Francisco. What fun things area there in the area to do/see? What does the city of San Francisco have to offer?What fun things are there to do in the San Francisco Bay area for a family of 4? ?
Dont know the age of family members, but here are some items of general interest:



1. If you are staying in the San Jose area, it is only 1.5 hours to Monterey and Carmel to view Pebble Beach (Spyglass Hill, Lone Cypress, etc.), see the spanish mission and beach, shopping and restaurants. Monterey is a short hop to see the famous Monterey Bay Aquarium (funded by Packard foundation of HP Computers). Pacific Grove between the two towns is the end of the road for migrating monarch butterflies...there are some famous groves with thousands of butterflies hanging in just a single tree.

http://www.monterey.com/mc1/mc1e.html



2. In San Francisco, you can ride the cable car, eat at Scoma's on Fisherman's Wharf for sourdough bread and fresh dungeness crab (make sure not to eat in the other restaurants on Fisherman's Wharf, they are becoming really awful lately). Also on Fisherman's Wharf is the shopping center called Pier 39 to see the seals. The California Academy of Arts in Golden Gate Park just reopened after a $488 MILLION overhaul, one of the most state-of-the-art natural museum facilities in the world...absolutely get tickets beforehand or you won't get in (parking is awful too). Take a walk in one of the largest chinese communities outside of Asia in our chinatown...if you want to shop for souvenirs go to Grant St, but if you want to see the REAL chinatown walk down Stockton St...this area has the highest density of people in the United States..many don't have refrigeration and have to shop every single day, the street is their "livingroom". Eat chinese ravioli/tapas called "dim sum" at Yank Sing which is well known for this...they roll around handmade pasta dishes on a cart you just point to the dishes you want, and they count up the number of dishes you take, and that is your bill! If the members of your family are "older", you can see the show "Beach Blanket Babylon" which is hilarious (if bawdy) humor. Queen E II and Prince Philip requested a command performance of this show when they last visited San Francisco. It is at the Club Fugazi in North Beach ("Little Italy").

http://www.calacademy.org/



3. If you have any time, buy tickets in advance and take the ferry to Alcatraz Island to learn about the famous historic criminals that were there (Birdman of Alcatraz, Al Capone, etc.), and see the actual cells and solitary confinement.



4. Crossing the Golden Gate Bridge, you can drive up into the Marin Headlands that overlook San Francisco from the cliffs on the other side of the bridge, drive through the pretty cliffside town of Sausilito and visit Muir Woods, the redwood national monument to see representatives of the tallest living things in the world. Not at Muir Woods, but some redwoods are more than a thousand years old.



5. And if you have any time after that, Napa Wine Country is a few hours north of San Francisco. Start with a winery tour at Robert Mondavi which has the best organized tour, and then select other vinyards in Napa or Sonoma Valleys. You can buy wine reserves sold no where else outside of the Bay Area. Right up the road is a quaint town of Yountville, where you can eat at famous Mustard's Grill (it is not too expensive, but make reservations or you won't get in).

http://www.robertmondaviwinery.com/flash鈥?/a>



This should keep you busy a while during your stay...!!



EDIT

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I forgot to mention the ladies love Union Square, which has most top of the line french and italian boutiques (Bally, Ferragamo, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Loro Piana, etc.), Saks 5th Ave, Macy's, Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, Bloomingdale's, etc...all in a small area. You get the picture...What fun things are there to do in the San Francisco Bay area for a family of 4? ?
crackWhat fun things are there to do in the San Francisco Bay area for a family of 4? ?
in general,San Francisco is a great place to visit. for the family ,i suggest fair rides to a number of islands, browse around the peir (especially peir 29), visit China and Japan town, you got the Italian place, the Golden Gate Bridge and Park, historic indoor green house, visit the world's crucket street on Guiness book, downtown shopping stores and mall, ride the historic trolly... you get the idea. Plan to stay long 'cause it will take you about a week or more to totally discover San Francisco.



I'd make sure to plan on where to visit because traffic and parking is bad and could take up alot of your time