FUN FOR THE FAMILY IN SAN FRANCISCO

Ten-year-old Justin only eats pizza for dinner. Teenager Joanna wants to shop. Mom is interested in museums and history behind the city chosen for vacation. And dad, well dad keeps thinking, "BUDGET."

Can this family vacation together? Is there anywhere they can go that will please all of them? With affordable accommodations, unique attractions, and an abundance of shops and restaurants, San Francisco can be the destination for a successful and enjoyable family vacation.

Depending on personal interests and length of stay, family fun in the city could entail a bike ride through Golden Gate Park, a stroll along Fisherman's Wharf, or perhaps a boat ride to Alcatraz Island. Whatever the season, San Francisco is prepared to offer a delightful vacation for all family members.

With 1,017 beautifully landscaped acres, Golden Gate Park can provide a full weekend's worth of activities for families. There are horse stables located in the park for horseback riding, a nine-hole golf course, and on Sundays, roads are closed to all vehicular traffic in the park to accommodate skaters and cyclists. Rollerskates can be rented from vendors scattered throughout the park. At the southeast corner of the park, camels, goats, pigs, rabbits, frogs, a seahorse and even a purple dragon are saddled in readiness for riders in the round. For the young, as well as the young at heart, a ride on this 1912 Herschell-Spillman carousel is a true enjoyment.

A perfect setting for a sunny-day picnic, bike ride, or a paddle boat ride at Stow Lake, the park also offers activities for foggy, cooler days in San Francisco. Located within the park is the California Academy of Sciences, home of two unique attractions: Steinhart Aquarium with more than 14,000 marine creatures, and the Morrison Planetarium, an outstanding natural history exhibit. If the children enjoy artistic activities or have a creative flair, you may want to take them to the M.H. de Young Museum. Located across the music concourse from the California Academy of Sciences building, the de Young Museum provides tours of current art exhibitions every Saturday, and drop-in summer workshops are offered by artist-teachers for children ages 3-12. For more information contact the M.H. de Young Museum (415) 750-3600; 750-3658 for kids’ programs.

Directly south of the park, driving on Highway 1, families may want to stop off to admire a snow leopard, a koala, or maybe even a pair of the rarest primates in the world, the nocturnal aye-ayes.

One of the new exhibits within the zoo is Rainbow Landing, a walk-through aviary featuring Australian rainbow lorikeets, which land on visitors’ arms and shoulders to be fed nectar. Also popular are the Primate Discovery Center, Koala Crossing, and the playground, containing sand pits, slides and a renovated 1921 carousel. There is free admission for children under the age of two, and an admission fee of $3 for ages 3-11, $6 for youth aged 12-17, $9 for adults 18-64, and $6 for seniors over 65. (San Francisco residents pay less.) Youngsters can feed, pet, and play with barnyard animals in the Children's Zoo. The first Wednesday of every month is free for everyone (Children’s Zoo is $1 for crowd-control purposes). For more information contact the San Francisco Zoo at (415) 753-7080.

Weather permitting, a ferryboat ride to Alcatraz can be an exhilarating adventure. The island, located a mile and a half off the shores of San Francisco, is home to the infamous federal penitentiary which closed in 1963. The Alcatraz tour package includes round-trip ferry ride, park fees and the award-winning cellhouse audio tour. For $11 adults and $5.75 children aged 5-11 ($7.75 and $4.50 without audio tour), the Blue & Gold Fleet ferries passengers daily to "The Rock" from Pier 41. Ferries depart at 9:30 a.m., 10:15 a.m. and every 30 minutes thereafter until 4:15 p.m., seven days a week. Advance ticket purchase is strongly recommended, as all tours frequently sell out in advance. For more information contact Blue & Gold Fleet at (415) 750-5555.

Once on the island, families learn about the old penitentiary through self-guided walks, audio cassette tours of the main cell block narrated by former inmates and guards, and slide shows.

Upon returning to Pier 41, hunger pangs may be developing. Luckily, the Fisherman's Wharf area includes dozens of restaurants noted for fresh seafood and sourdough french bread. And for little Justin, they even have pizza!

A rainbow of kites flying overhead represent the colorful atmosphere down below on the wharf. Mimes, musicians, magicians and other street performers provide entertainment for visitors to the wharf area. Just two blocks east from the crab stands on Fisherman's Wharf, Pier 39 contains over 110 one-of-a-kind shops, restaurants and a complete family amusement area, including a double-deck Venetian carousel.

For chocolate lovers, Ghirardelli Square is a must. From 1893 until the early 1960s the block between North Point, Polk, Beach and Larkin was occupied by the Domingo Ghirardelli family for the production of chocolate. Today, Ghirardelli Square is a retail/restaurant center with more than 70 chic shops and award-winning eateries. But don't worry, you can still find plenty of delicious chocolate at Ghirardelli Square!

With the sweet tooth satisfied, the next stop might be educational as well as "experimental." The Exploratorium at the Palace of Fine Arts, on the outskirts of the Presidio, is full of educational, cultural, and "hands-on" experiences. The word "museum" can sometimes be a bit overwhelming to children. (Learning on vacation is seen as akin to attending school on Saturday.) But this unique museum promises to be entertaining and fun.

New displays, designed by staff artists and scientists, are constantly being added to the Exploratorium's wide variety of more than 700 exhibits. One can explore how human memory works with interactive games, experience blowing around in a "tornado," and experiment with touch by crawling around in total darkness.

With the variety of attractions San Francisco has to offer, even the pickiest family should be able to find activities on which all can agree. San Francisco has a lot to offer the visiting family, maybe even too much! But, if you can't get everything in during your stay, you can always use the trip home to start planning for your next visit to San Francisco.