Destination: Western Railway Museum, Suisun City
Visit the Western Railway Museum, tour the Jelly Belly Factory, and play at the Scandia Family Center
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.
Former Key System car (predecessor to BART) at the Western Railway Museum by Cody Tolmasoff
Social Isolation — Day 49
Some of our shelter-in-place orders are getting relaxed on Monday here in the 6 counties of the Bay Area. While shelter-in-place is being extended until May 31st, some businesses that work expressly outside (like construction and retail nurseries) and some outdoor activities that allow for social distancing are being allowed.
I had to run an errand this afternoon, and driving was a little intense. More cars on the road, more than I’ve seen in a while. And if you thought people drove rudely before (not putting on a signal and simply merging into your lane with no space), well apparently these same drivers who are out of practice on the road drive even worse — go figure.
Destination: Western Railway Museum
Visit the Western Railway Museum
Tour the Jelly Belly Factory
Play at the Scandia Family Center
Visit the Western Railway Museum
Western Railway Museum by Cody Tolmasoff
What a cool place! I’m a bit of a train aficionado, and boy does this place deliver. One of the coolest things we got to do here was ride on an old Key System train, one of the trains that would cross on the lower deck of the Bay Bridge to the Transbay Terminal when it originally opened. The Key System was a predecessor to BART, and in fact it was slightly faster to take from downtown Oakland to San Francisco. Although BART was a new train system for the time, you can see it borrowed a lot of ideas from the older Key System cars.
This is a working museum, and they have two large structures to store their collection in. Many of the cars are in the process of being restored by volunteers, and others are up and running periodically throughout the day. Be sure to take the tour to see some of their collection of transit cars and trains from everywhere. We really enjoyed sitting in the Parlor Car which they take out in the spring for viewing wildflowers on special tours.
Tour the Jelly Belly Factory
CC BY-SA 3.0, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=13617745
Admittedly, I’ve never been here, but have always wanted to take the tour. Who wouldn’t want to sample some Jelly Beans and see how they were made.
Play at the Scandia Family Center
I haven’t been to this location, but I’ve been to other parks owned by the same organization. Miniature golf, arcade, laser tag, bumper boats, go-carts, and more. Great nearby spot if you are still looking for something to do.
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 May 2020