Customer Reviews

Fun with the Family in Northern California, 4th: Hundreds of Ideas for Day Trips with the Kids

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Although this book lists many attractions, I found it lacking in letting me know which attractions my kids might actually like. I find that it does not add much more than a regular guide book not geared towards families. It could use more editorial recommendations and hints on who might like a particular attraction, or what makes it special. I found the book to be very dry, and not up to the standard of other family guide books I have used.

I think this book can be useful in discovering fun places to go with the family. I am basing this review on just one trip, but the weaknesses of the book make me wonder whether I should trust the other listings. Today my friend and I took our 7-year-old and 5-year-old sons to Sausalito to visit the Bay Model and the Marine Mammal Center. I wondered if the author had visited either. She recommends them both for "all ages." The Bay Model, while fascinating to adults (especially locals), has very little to offer young children. My friend and I agreed we would not return until our youngest was 10. The Marine Mammal Center was far from "a must-see." My son loves marine mammals, but the set-up was such that he could see very little and there were no hands-on exhibits so he could make sense of the place. Instead there were just a bunch of cages with sleeping sea lions in them (you could only see four of them anyway since the rest was roped off to visitors). Again, I question whether the author has visited these places. She also needs to do a better job in recommending ages for visitors!