Yerba Buena Gardens

Yerba Buena Gardens Review

There's not much south of Market that encourages lingering outdoors, or indeed walking at all, with this notable exception. These two blocks encompass the Center for the Arts, Metreon, Moscone Convention Center, and the convention center's rooftop Children's Creativity Museum, but the gardens themselves are the everyday draw. Office workers escape to the green swath of the East Garden. The memorial to Martin Luther King Jr. is the focal point here. Powerful streams of water surge over large, jagged stone columns, mirroring the enduring force of King's words that are carved on the stone walls and on glass blocks behind the waterfall. Moscone North is behind the memorial, and an overhead walkway leads to Moscone South and its rooftop attractions. The gardens are liveliest during the week and especially during the Yerba Buena Gardens Festival(May through October, www.ybgf.org), when free performances run from Latin music to Balinese dance.

Atop the Moscone Convention Center perch a few lures for kids. The historic Looff carousel ($3 for two rides) twirls daily 11 to 6. South of the carousel is the Children's Creativity Museum (415/820-3320 www.zeum.org), a high-tech, interactive arts-and-technology center (adults, $10; kids 3-18, $8) geared to children ages eight and over. Kids can walk through a model of San Francisco complete with hologram landmarks, make Claymation videos, work in a computer lab, and view exhibits and performances. The museum is open 1-5 Wednesday through Friday and 11-5 weekends during the school year and Tuesday through Sunday 11-5 when school's out. Also part of the rooftop complex are gardens, an ice-skating rink, and a bowling alley.