Posted by Marty, a resident of the Walnut Creek neighborhood, on Jun 8, 2008 at 2:41 pm

What about staying close to home? The only time we ever go to SF is when we have out of town guests and we always discover something new. I haven't been to the new De Young Museum yet or explored the Presidio. It would be fun to spend a few days exploring - either taking BART back and forth or, if possible, spending the nights if there were someplace reasonable. Is the new aquarium open?

Posted by Lucy, a resident of the Danville neighborhood, on Jun 13, 2008 at 11:53 am

There are many things to do right in your own backyard! We have many museums, parks, etc. in the area. And some museums even have days where it's free admission!

I'm not sure if the new aquarium is open- I didn't know there was a new one. In S.F?

We also have beautiful beaches. Maybe hotels will start offering discounts to help people go on vacation that are staying close to home. I know Disneyland does that for L.A. residents.

Posted by Marty, a resident of the Walnut Creek neighborhood, on Jun 13, 2008 at 7:12 pm

Remember the beautiful old Steinhart Aquarium in Golden Gate Park? It's closed for renovations but this was on the Web site:

"The Steinhart Aquarium at California Academy of Sciences is currently in a temporary location just South of Market at 875 Howard Street (at 5th). The Academy is expected to stay in their temporary location until 2008 when major refurbishment at the main building in Golden Gate Park is expected to be completed."

I also saw that another aquarium is right on the water that sounds pretty cool. It's called Aquarium of the Bay and is at Pier 39.

Posted by Sue, a resident of the Danville neighborhood, on Jun 15, 2008 at 12:27 pm

The Chronicle had a big story on this this morning on their business section. And people had ideas, such as giving people a ride to another city while visiting that city, house-swapping, taking the train or the bus. I guess "couch-surfing" is also popular but I think I'm too old for that!

Posted by Sue, a resident of the Danville neighborhood, on Jun 15, 2008 at 6:39 pm

Sticking close to home and doing things you don't normally have time to enjoy is called a "staycation."

Posted by bozo, a resident of the Blackhawk neighborhood, on Jun 20, 2008 at 8:01 am

wow Sue - did you make that up all by yourself?

Posted by Lucy, a resident of the Danville neighborhood, on Jun 20, 2008 at 3:02 pm

There will be a lot of people "staycationing" this summer- that's for sure! Aren't gas prices suppose to rise to $6 a gallon?!