A walk in the clouds at the Exploratorium
If there’s one weather element that captures the zeitgeist of San Francisco, it’s fog—in all its many forms. There’s the unruly, roughneck fog that batters traffic crossing the Golden Gate Bridge, the desultory fog that lays about like the destitute on cold nights downtown, and the swarming wisps that blow through Golden Gate Park. Fog is the perfect metaphor for all the city’s mysteries and ambiguities. Filmmakers of noir have always known that about San Francisco.
The conditions that bring fog into the city are unique to the region. It’s a phenomenon that occurs particularly during the summer months, when the fog generally burns off by midday; hence you’ll hear people refer to “May gray” and “June gloom.” It’s the 50-degree Pacific Ocean currents together with cold moist air out of Alaska that produce a vast cool air mass that collides with the warmer air onshore.
Info
Address Exploratorium, Pier 15, San Francisco, CA, 94111, www.exploratorium.edu, +1 415.528.4444 | Public Transport Streetcar: F-Line (Embarcadero & Green St stop) | Hours Daily 10am, 12pm, 2pm & 4 pm; Thu also 7pm| Tip Walk a couple blocks south to experience the ultimate San Francisco gourmet heaven at the Ferry Building Marketplace on the Embarcadero at Market Street.
In homage to this aspect of San Francisco’s identity is a permanent and free exhibit at the Exploratorium museum, which you’ll find on Piers 15 and 17 along the Embarcadero. The outdoor installation Fog Bridge #72494 by Japanese artist Nujiko Nakaya involves walking across a narrow 150-foot-long bridge connecting the two piers while, four times per day, 800 high-pressure nozzles emit bursts of swirling artificial fog. Being instantly blinded in the cloud of dense white mist is both disorienting and exhilarating.
Once you’ve come through the fog, a longer visit to the inside of the Exploratorium—which the New York Times called “the most important science museum to have opened since the mid 20th century”—is highly recommended. There are hundreds of constantly changing exhibits; nearly all have some interactive hands-on aspect to engage young minds and pique curiosity. One recent exhibit, an exploration of the “Science of Sharing,” had museumgoers investigate themselves through social interaction, particularly in the areas of competition and cooperation.
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