Hall of Flame

On Friday, I woke up and decided we'd head to the zoo. I called a couple local friends to see if they wanted to join us, but they had other plans. I packed lunches, found the sunscreen and loaded the wagon into the van. It had been a while since we had been to the zoo, so we were all looking forward to it.

Then, we got close. And large signs told us "Zoo Parking Full! Park in Muni Lot and Take Free Shuttle!" Hmmmm, I thought. Riding the shuttle with the wagon was going to be impossible, and I didn't bring a stroller. I decided to brave the parking lot, and they were right. It was completely packed. This was the first time I had seen that happen, and then I remembered it was the last day of spring break! Apparently everyone else woke this morning with the same idea.

The boys were disappointed, and I had to run into my office, so we took a short trip to my training center where the boys got to see where I work and the office manager gave them pretzels and sodas. They all perked up at that, but we were still 40 miles from home.

My oldest suggested the Botanical Gardens, but our membership had lapsed and I couldn't swing a new one just yet. Then, I remembered seeing a sign for the "Hall of Flame" museum. We headed back up the road, and after a few turns we pulled into the parking lot.

My 6yo was grumbling a bit while we were in the parking lot, and I told him he needed to have a better attitude! We headed inside, paid our admission, and thoroughly enjoyed 2 hours in the Hall of Flame Firefighting Museum. It is the largest firefighting musuem in the country and it is jam-packed with restored fire trucks from the earliest handpulled ones to ones made in the 1950's. Nate quickly mentioned that he didn't know why he was grumbly about visiting!

When we came in, we were offered a binder with information about each of the exhibited pieces. They included so much information that I wish L wasn't such a quick runner these days! I would like to come back again with another adult so we could trade off chasing duties and we could read more information.

They also had an informative dvd about the museum -- which began after the founder received an old firetruck as a Christmas present from his wife! There was also a gallery of heroes, walls and walls of patches from around the country/world, a fire truck the kids could climb on, and a safety play area for kids, complete with a firepole.

We had a wonderful time and plan to visit again soon. If you're in the area, I highly recommend checking them out!