Destination: Coyote Point, San Mateo
Tour Coyote Point, visit the Curiodyssey Museum, and play at Magic Mountain playground
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.
By David Broad, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=56115432
Social Isolation — Day 37
Since the current crisis started, the US Postal Service has lost a third (NPR Article) of its business, and our President threatened to veto the $2 Trillion dollar Coronavirus stimulus package if it included help for the USPS.
The Postal Service often runs at a slim margin, yet it ensures delivery of parcels and letters to places that would be unprofitable for anyone else to attempt. In fact, the for-profit companies often enlist the USPS to bring their packages to their final destination (the last mile).
So the post office is struggling, and our representatives are quibbling over a service outlined in the US Constitution.
What can you or I do to help?
Buy stamps!
Think of them as a modern-day war bond. Mail a friend or loved one an actual letter, you have time to write one now.
Better yet, send a postcard to 1600 Pennsylvania avenue and simply write “you’re fired” on it.
Destination: Coyote Point
Tour Coyote Point
Visit the Curiodyssey Museum
Play at Magic Mountain playground
Tour Coyote Point
By Doc Searls from Santa Barbara, USA — 2009_04_19_lax-sfo_428, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=61506823
I should start by saying that is a very popular spot for windsurfers, so it can be breezy when you get near the water. Hiking around here can bring you through some sheltered and some very windy spots, so dress accordingly.
I like to park near the playground and walk along the beach toward the marina and the museum. It’s a cool spot to watch planes come in for a landing at SFO as well.
I came here as a kid when it was a popular swimming area, and I recall the beach had to have permanent windbreaks installed. In the 1920s, an amusement park called Pacific City was opened here, promoted as the Coney Island of the West. The carousel from Pacific City was bought by what is now the San Francisco Zoo, and you can ride it there today.
Visit the Curiodyssey Museum
By cifraser1 — I’m here, I’ll check it out., CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=49204556
This is a cool local museum to spend part of your day at. There are some indoor hands-on activities and a small wildlife theater where they bring out various animals for a show and tell type presentation. Outdoors they have a number of wildlife enclosures and a really cool aviary along with some playful river otters. This might be just the lure to get your kids away from the playground.
Play at Magic Mountain playground
Magic Mountain Playground by County of San Mateo Parks Department
Coyote Point has had a number of really cool playgrounds over the years. The current iteration features separate play areas for younger and older kids, featured after dragons you can climb on.
The mid-day sun can get really warm here, and there is little shade. My kids never want to leave when we visit it.
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 19 April 2020