San Francisco! Exploratorium At Night outing?
posted January 30, 2019 2:13 PM RSS | iCal | +googleCal
Thu February 28 at 6:00 PM, The Exploratorium
Pier 15, The Embarcadero, San Francisco, CA, USA (Map & Directions)
I'm itching to make some new friends and also finding New Things To Do here in this glorious town, and thus I'd like to organize another IRL meetup.
Let's go to the Exploratorium evening program on Thurs, Feb 28th at 6PM.
Cal Academy of Science, the Exploratorium and a bunch of other museums all run their nighttime cheap(ish) adults nights on Thursdays I think.
There is interest in going to several museums- let's start with the huge Exploratorium!
A couple of people might have extra free passes due to memberships or workplace perks. In the past my friends have used a large group outing as an excuse to buy a family membership, and the cabal may want to collude similarly.
Meeting location:
Let's meet up inside the lobby BEFORE ticketing at 6 PM, then go inside at 6:15 - there’s a pair of big benches next to the “seismic joint” burger restaurant across from the “front desk”.
I will have some kind of LED fairy lights on a stick so our group's easier to find as we wander about.
The following throwaway texting-only Google Voice number will be on my phone to help find us if you're late- do not voice-call, it won't ring: (510) 545-6489
I'll check it periodically throughout the evening so we can meet up with latecomers.
THIS IS SO EXCITING EVERYONE
There is interest in going to several museums- let's start with the huge Exploratorium!
A couple of people might have extra free passes due to memberships or workplace perks. In the past my friends have used a large group outing as an excuse to buy a family membership, and the cabal may want to collude similarly.
Meeting location:
Let's meet up inside the lobby BEFORE ticketing at 6 PM, then go inside at 6:15 - there’s a pair of big benches next to the “seismic joint” burger restaurant across from the “front desk”.
I will have some kind of LED fairy lights on a stick so our group's easier to find as we wander about.
The following throwaway texting-only Google Voice number will be on my phone to help find us if you're late- do not voice-call, it won't ring: (510) 545-6489
I'll check it periodically throughout the evening so we can meet up with latecomers.
THIS IS SO EXCITING EVERYONE
This sounds cool! Never been to one of the night at the museum events.
posted by foxy_hedgehog at 9:14 AM on January 31, 2019
posted by foxy_hedgehog at 9:14 AM on January 31, 2019
Oh, they're great.
Here are a couple of writeups about area museums offering "after dark" events- we should certainly check how current it is and what admission costs are. Looks like they're not all on Thursdays and not all of them are every week:
https://www.sftravel.com/article/nightlife-san-francisco-bay-area-museums
https://theculturetrip.com/north-america/usa/california/articles/where-to-find-the-best-museum-nightlife-in-san-francisco/
posted by twoplussix at 10:03 AM on January 31, 2019
Here are a couple of writeups about area museums offering "after dark" events- we should certainly check how current it is and what admission costs are. Looks like they're not all on Thursdays and not all of them are every week:
https://www.sftravel.com/article/nightlife-san-francisco-bay-area-museums
https://theculturetrip.com/north-america/usa/california/articles/where-to-find-the-best-museum-nightlife-in-san-francisco/
posted by twoplussix at 10:03 AM on January 31, 2019
Both science museums offer nighttime events each Thursday:
NightLife at Cal Academy Of Sciences
Exploratorium After Dark
Asian Art Museum:
most Thursdays starting in mid-Feb
Autodesk Gallery Design Night: First Thursday
Friday nights at the DeYoung - shorter hours than the other ones, 5-8:30 instead of the other museums' Thursday offerings running til 10
SFMOMA seems to be open late on Thursdays but I think the ticket prices are the same as their regular admission
posted by twoplussix at 10:17 AM on January 31, 2019
NightLife at Cal Academy Of Sciences
Exploratorium After Dark
Asian Art Museum:
most Thursdays starting in mid-Feb
Autodesk Gallery Design Night: First Thursday
Friday nights at the DeYoung - shorter hours than the other ones, 5-8:30 instead of the other museums' Thursday offerings running til 10
SFMOMA seems to be open late on Thursdays but I think the ticket prices are the same as their regular admission
posted by twoplussix at 10:17 AM on January 31, 2019
Museum Of the African Diaspora is free on third thursdays, and has special programs then
Oakland Museum is half price on Friday nights (and also does special programs/food/drink)
For something different, the Tenderloin Museum does night tours of the Tenderloin (with a little bit of museum time in the beginning) on the first and third Wednesdays. Probably best planned after rainy season ends?
Supposedly there's a "Night At The Jewseum" series at the Contemporary Jewish Museum, but I didn't see anything coming up on their website.
posted by twoplussix at 10:28 AM on January 31, 2019
Oakland Museum is half price on Friday nights (and also does special programs/food/drink)
For something different, the Tenderloin Museum does night tours of the Tenderloin (with a little bit of museum time in the beginning) on the first and third Wednesdays. Probably best planned after rainy season ends?
Supposedly there's a "Night At The Jewseum" series at the Contemporary Jewish Museum, but I didn't see anything coming up on their website.
posted by twoplussix at 10:28 AM on January 31, 2019
I work at Levi's Plaza, so I've been looking for an excuse to do the Exploratorium Thursday thing.
Bonus: I get a +1 as part of our corporate membership. Happy to use it on someone who might otherwise not go because of the entry price. (same with SFMOMA actually)
posted by politikitty at 10:40 AM on January 31, 2019
Bonus: I get a +1 as part of our corporate membership. Happy to use it on someone who might otherwise not go because of the entry price. (same with SFMOMA actually)
posted by politikitty at 10:40 AM on January 31, 2019
I pretty much want to go to ALL of these. Maybe we slowly work our way through them over the next couple of years?
posted by twoplussix at 11:27 AM on January 31, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by twoplussix at 11:27 AM on January 31, 2019 [1 favorite]
I’d be down for any/all of these.
posted by bashos_frog at 11:31 AM on January 31, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by bashos_frog at 11:31 AM on January 31, 2019 [1 favorite]
I've done the Academy one- very fun- and I'd be down for most of these.
posted by Homo neanderthalensis at 11:40 AM on January 31, 2019
posted by Homo neanderthalensis at 11:40 AM on January 31, 2019
OK, when is good? 4 weeks from now? 3 weeks from now?
posted by twoplussix at 11:53 AM on January 31, 2019
posted by twoplussix at 11:53 AM on January 31, 2019
The Exploratorium's After Dark event is great fun. The SFMOMA is open late every Thursday but I don't believe they treat it as a special event (however it's an opportunity to avoid weekend crowds).
Either the third or fourth week of Feb work for me.
posted by 4rtemis at 4:48 PM on January 31, 2019
Either the third or fourth week of Feb work for me.
posted by 4rtemis at 4:48 PM on January 31, 2019
Yes, I've been interested in the Asian Art Museum Thursday evening programming but haven't made it there yet! I was thinking of going to their February 21st event (Memes to Movements), although it could be crowded. It's conveniently adjacent to SF Civic Center BART, at least.
Scheduling something 3-4 weeks out usually works for me!
posted by dreamyshade at 7:10 PM on January 31, 2019
Scheduling something 3-4 weeks out usually works for me!
posted by dreamyshade at 7:10 PM on January 31, 2019
I like the Exploratorium because the food is a step up from other museums in SF IMHO. I can potentially book a few free passes for that for folks who could use them. For Cal Academy, my work badge gets me in free and we also have a family membership so if we can get a babysitter the Mrs. can join me and we'll be able to get one more person in free.
posted by allkindsoftime at 9:51 AM on February 1, 2019
posted by allkindsoftime at 9:51 AM on February 1, 2019
Thursday 3 or 4 weeks from now should work for me! I've done the Cal Academy of Sciences and have a slight preference for more BART or Caltrain accessible options like the Museum of the African Diaspora or Exploratorium, but I'm game for any of these events.
posted by col_pogo at 12:14 PM on February 1, 2019
posted by col_pogo at 12:14 PM on February 1, 2019
I'd like to propose that we do this first meetup at the Exploratorium because it's big and likely less crowded than the others mentioned, and it sounds like several people might be able to help 'comp' others' tickets via work-related passes etc. I'd like to organize another trip to MOAD and Asian Art Museum later in the spring.
4th week of Feb is the 28th. Should we plan on that date?
posted by twoplussix at 1:11 PM on February 1, 2019 [2 favorites]
4th week of Feb is the 28th. Should we plan on that date?
posted by twoplussix at 1:11 PM on February 1, 2019 [2 favorites]
The 28th (at the exploratorium) it is! I will edit the original post with details of where exactly to meet once we figure those out.
posted by twoplussix at 9:24 AM on February 3, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by twoplussix at 9:24 AM on February 3, 2019 [3 favorites]
Could someone who works near the Exploratorium take a look and see if there's a specific spot we can tell people to meet?
My plan is to do what we did for the (very crowded) Alameda christmas lights meetup- I'll list a time and a spot at the museum, post a throwaway Google Voice phone number which you can text to find our group or at least me, and carry a clump of christmas lights on a stick so you can spot us from across a crowd since I expect we'll end up getting separated during the evening if it's a big group and the group splits up into smaller clusters.
We need to figure out that initial 'spot to gather at an appointed time'.
posted by twoplussix at 11:59 AM on February 6, 2019 [1 favorite]
My plan is to do what we did for the (very crowded) Alameda christmas lights meetup- I'll list a time and a spot at the museum, post a throwaway Google Voice phone number which you can text to find our group or at least me, and carry a clump of christmas lights on a stick so you can spot us from across a crowd since I expect we'll end up getting separated during the evening if it's a big group and the group splits up into smaller clusters.
We need to figure out that initial 'spot to gather at an appointed time'.
posted by twoplussix at 11:59 AM on February 6, 2019 [1 favorite]
I think we should meet somewhere at the entrance but before ticketing. Most people in this thread haven't met. There were several people who offered to share various free passes, so we should probably "group up" before passing through the ticket gates and figure out things like the passes (if there are any)
I think there's a large atrium in there, I just don't remember what a landmark inside looks like. I will make a trip over there next time I go to SF and see if I can spot a particularly easy-to-find corner or whatever , unless one of you beats me to it.
posted by twoplussix at 5:27 PM on February 11, 2019 [1 favorite]
I think there's a large atrium in there, I just don't remember what a landmark inside looks like. I will make a trip over there next time I go to SF and see if I can spot a particularly easy-to-find corner or whatever , unless one of you beats me to it.
posted by twoplussix at 5:27 PM on February 11, 2019 [1 favorite]
I live less than 2km from there and it doesn't take much convincing to get me to eat breakfast at Cowgirl Creamery in the ferry building. I'll check it out tomorrow, and report back.
posted by aubilenon at 11:55 PM on February 11, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by aubilenon at 11:55 PM on February 11, 2019 [1 favorite]
Okay! I can’t say how crowded the lobby will be on a Thursday night but there’s a pair of big benches next to the “seismic joint” burger restaurant across from the “front desk”. It’s between the main entrance on Embarcadero and the other entrance just off Embarcadero on the plaza to the right. It’s before the hallway that has ticketing at the end. So let’s plan to meet there and if it’s too crowded for plans to work, we can improvise (and update in this thread)
posted by aubilenon at 10:39 AM on February 12, 2019
posted by aubilenon at 10:39 AM on February 12, 2019
THANK YOU and I hope the cheese gods were excellent to you at Cowgirl Creamery.
I'll edit the first post to include this info.
I'll be carrying fairy lights on a stick, or maybe a hoop of fairy lights on a stick, so you'll know you're at the right pair of big benches. ALso there will be a phone number posted the day of the event so you can text us.
posted by twoplussix at 11:20 PM on February 13, 2019
I'll edit the first post to include this info.
I'll be carrying fairy lights on a stick, or maybe a hoop of fairy lights on a stick, so you'll know you're at the right pair of big benches. ALso there will be a phone number posted the day of the event so you can text us.
posted by twoplussix at 11:20 PM on February 13, 2019
I am super down for the Exploratorium. Yay!
Inside the ticket gate, you can go around to the right and there will be some good places to meet: Balinese Masks, The Pentaphone, Cloud Rings, or one of my favorites of all time, The Bronze Hand. (clickable map). I've only been to this location once, so there might be a beer garden in the middle or something a little more amenable to traditional MeFi meetspots. Outside, isn't the Enchanted (clapping) Tree out front?
posted by rhizome at 7:41 PM on February 20, 2019
Inside the ticket gate, you can go around to the right and there will be some good places to meet: Balinese Masks, The Pentaphone, Cloud Rings, or one of my favorites of all time, The Bronze Hand. (clickable map). I've only been to this location once, so there might be a beer garden in the middle or something a little more amenable to traditional MeFi meetspots. Outside, isn't the Enchanted (clapping) Tree out front?
posted by rhizome at 7:41 PM on February 20, 2019
It looks like we are meeting in the pre-ticket area lobby by the Seismic Joint restaurant.
posted by twoplussix at 10:30 AM on February 21, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by twoplussix at 10:30 AM on February 21, 2019 [1 favorite]
I posted a throwaway Google Voice number you can TEXT (no voice calls) to try to connect if you're late. See original posting.
posted by twoplussix at 8:07 PM on February 24, 2019
posted by twoplussix at 8:07 PM on February 24, 2019
Thursday Thursday Thursday! This event is this week. Looking forward to meeting y'all!
posted by twoplussix at 3:23 PM on February 27, 2019
posted by twoplussix at 3:23 PM on February 27, 2019
I’m here slightly early- wearing a giant magenta sweater which should make me easy to find!
posted by Homo neanderthalensis at 5:53 PM on February 28, 2019
posted by Homo neanderthalensis at 5:53 PM on February 28, 2019
I failed to RSVP and will not be there in a timely fashion but think I can actually show up!
posted by zachlipton at 5:54 PM on February 28, 2019
posted by zachlipton at 5:54 PM on February 28, 2019
I am sorry, but yet again I am held up and won't be making it. Have fun at one of the best places in the world!
posted by rhizome at 5:55 PM on February 28, 2019
posted by rhizome at 5:55 PM on February 28, 2019
I look like this, black clothes and 5'6", slightly lighter hair currently. I'm carrying a small wire hoop with purple LED fairy lights (assuming they don't object at the ticket counter and let me in with it)
https://photos.app.goo.gl/8T12kCmPd1aao9q7A
posted by twoplussix at 5:55 PM on February 28, 2019
https://photos.app.goo.gl/8T12kCmPd1aao9q7A
posted by twoplussix at 5:55 PM on February 28, 2019
That was super fun! Here are the pictures I took
posted by twoplussix at 8:56 AM on March 1, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by twoplussix at 8:56 AM on March 1, 2019 [2 favorites]
THEY LET YOU TAKE BEER ON THE RIDES?!
posted by rhizome at 2:14 PM on March 1, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by rhizome at 2:14 PM on March 1, 2019 [2 favorites]
Thanks for organizing this twoplussix! The Exploratorium really is great fun.
posted by 4rtemis at 3:05 PM on March 1, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by 4rtemis at 3:05 PM on March 1, 2019 [1 favorite]
This was the best!
posted by Homo neanderthalensis at 3:29 PM on March 3, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by Homo neanderthalensis at 3:29 PM on March 3, 2019 [2 favorites]
We all agreed that the night museum series needs to continue. Stay tuned, we'll schedule another one.
posted by twoplussix at 5:14 PM on March 3, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by twoplussix at 5:14 PM on March 3, 2019 [2 favorites]
Aw, shoot. Missed it.
posted by ...possums at 2:10 PM on March 4, 2019
posted by ...possums at 2:10 PM on March 4, 2019
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
posted by gryftir at 2:15 AM on January 31, 2019