Destination: Martinez
Explore John Muir’s House, Visit The Martinez History Museum, And Play At The Linsay Wildlife Experience
This is part of a series of family-oriented day trip outings around the San Francisco Bay Area I look forward to enjoying with my kids once social distancing and shelter in place isn’t the norm any longer.
John Muir National Historic Site, Martinez, California — Ken Lund
Social Isolation — Day 19
The crazy thing about or current shelter in place efforts is that if things go extremely well, we really shouldn’t notice a change to our everyday existence. And not really seeing the payoff leads to complacency, with people relaxing their efforts.
The flip side of this is that any allergy or sniffle makes your brain flip into super-hypochondriac mode and wonder about how you might get a test, which is still incredibly hard to do. They will only test you if you show significant symptoms, and then it’s really too late.
Frustration abounds.
Instead, I’m reflecting on the remarkable life of the naturalist John Muir. His life is a remarkable story, one you can get a taste of in Martinez where he raised his family.
Destination: Martinez
Explore John Muir’s House
Visit the Martinez History Museum
Play at the Lindsey Wildlife Experience
Explore John Muir’s House
John Muir Home — NPS Photo / Luther Bailey
Between every two pines is a doorway into a new world.
-John Muir
At 29 years old, the industrious John Muir was working in a wagon wheel factory where an accident rendered him sightless for 6 weeks, miraculously recovering. Once he recovered, he saw the world — and his purpose — in a new light, he wanted to be true to himself and to follow his dream of exploration and study of plants.
Eventually, in June 1868, he wound up in Yosemite and did all he could to stay there, taking what work he could find and enjoying the beauty of Yosemite valley, Hetch-Hetchy, Lake Tahoe, and Mount Shasta.
In 1878 he met Louisa Strentzel and eventually married here after a trip to Alaska, taking over her father's fruit orchards in Martinez, raising a family with her. But he longed for the mountain. He worked with painter William Keith and became a naturalist writer and speaker, his efforts leading to the formation of the Sierra Club and conservation of lands we still get to enjoy today.
Visiting the farm here, you can see his office and get a feel for what his life was like when he wasn’t wandering in the Sierra’s. Don't forget to get your kids the Junior Ranger guidebooks.
One other thing to note, Muir was not a great public speaker. But working with his friend William Keith, he would bring along one of Keith's large paintings (link to one in the Cantor collection above) and talk about what he would see in the painting, creating a story that would captivate his audiences.
Visit the Martinez History Museum
By MARELBU, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=57387776
This place has been on my to-visit list for a while. I probably wouldn’t visit this without coupling it to either of the other two locations mentioned, but I’m curious to see it.
Located in a cottage originally dating back to 1890, the primary purpose is to house a library of historic documents related to the town of Martinez. There are some small exhibits in the museum itself, along with some information on walking tours and the local cemetery.
Play at the Linsey Wildlife Experience
Another one that has been on my to-visit list, the Linsay Wildlife Experience gets you up close and personal to a wide variety of animals from around California. They rehabilitate animals and return them to the wild, and offer many hands-on experiences.
Cody Tolmasoff is an author and publisher for Adventuring.in. He is a recovering programmer and a San Francisco native, raising two daughters, and regularly finding new adventures around the SF Bay Area. This article is an excerpt from an upcoming book, 52 San Francisco Bay Area Weekend Adventures, Day Trips With Your Kids!
Find him on Twitter @codyo, and read his most recent title Adventures in Getting Out on Amazon, filled with advice on successfully getting your family out for day trip adventures.
Originally published on Medium on 1 April 2020