The Brookston Family Blog

One of my birthday presents last week was a trip today to the Tactile Dome inside the Exploratorium in San Francisco. We'd been there once before, about ten years ago, on one of our first dates.

If you've never heard of it, the Exploratorium is a hands-on science museum with over a hundred exhibits, many of which are pretty damn cool, especially to a couple of geeks like Sarah and me. Inside the museum, and requiring separate reservations, is the Tactile Dome, a geodesic dome that you walk and crawl through while it's pitch black. You can't see a thing and have to feel your way through. The walls and ceilings are covered with weird textures and there's all sorts of things to discover such as handcuffs, cowboy boots, a rubber chicken, a tennis racket, and much more. At times you can stand and at other times the room gets progressively smaller until it feels like you'll barely fit through a hole. It can get pretty odd in there as you grope from place to place. Twice you climb up and twice you slide down a tube that lands you first on a rotating water bed and later into a bed of packing materials. But it's quite a rush and highly recommended. We had a great time.



Sarah and I outside the Exploratorium at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco.

After the Tactile Dome and a quick lunch, we ambled around the museum trying different exhibits.



This is us shown through a camera that captures heat radiation.



Sarah and her color shadow.



Me and mine.