[ErikaLeigh]

Anyone know of anything fun to do in this area?<br><br>
And how gay friendly is this area?<br><br>
I'll be visiting this summer and just wondering.

 

[mama_daba]

my mom lives there. i don't know ow gay friendly it is but you can easily take caltrain to san francisco from palo alto. there are some amazing bike trails and parks in palo alto to. when i go there i just ride my bike every place not sure what else is around.

 

[gypsyfaery]

Hi<br><br>
We lived in Palo Alto for 4 years...There are lots of fun mom/kid things to do! First I would check out the Junoir Museum and zoo (here I used to work) It has a small collection of animal that were rescued but couldn't be re-released into the wild. There is also a hands on art/museum part with tonnes of fun things.<br><br>
There also many short walks and hikes etc... I could go on and on...We are going to be visiting too this summer in June.<br><br>
If you want more ideas feel free to email me. As for gay friendly, the city (San Francisco) is more so but it is a very open place.<br><br>
Hope that helps a bit!

 

[ErikaLeigh]

thanks.<br><br>
I'm going partially on business and i'm not sure how much time we either will have for the zoo, but I will bring that up.<br><br>
Thanks for all the help.<br><br>
More is welcomed!

 

[Panthira]

I grew up in Palo Alto, though it's changed a lot since we moved out of the area 2 years ago.<br><br>
Most of the city parks there are well maintained and fun for kids. If you can make it over to Stanford U., it's beautiful to walk through, and there's Stanford Shopping center.<br><br>
Palo Alto is very "gay friendly." It's funny because that phrase is not even a term there, it's just a common everyday thing. No one trips off of gay couples there. You can hold hands walking down the street and no one will bat an eye, because Palo Alto is a part of the SF Bay Area afterall.<br><br>
Will you be staying downtown? It's nice to just walk in Palo Alto, and there are parks everywhere. One of my favorite parks is... trying to remember the name. Gotta look it up, preggo brain.<br><br>
Rinconada Park. Oy, how can I forget! You can go swimming in the pool during rec hours and they have a very nice playground, the children's museum, and maybe a play or two for the kids to see. I think the little children's zoo thing is there too, so it's all in one location, making it easier for you to enjoy your time.<br><br>
Here's a link to the city park page:<br><a href="http://www.cityofpaloalto.org/community-services/pk-rinconada.html" target="_blank">Rinconada Park</a><br><br>
There's more to look at on that site, so take a look around. <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/smile.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="smile"><br><br>
I HTH! <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/smile.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="smile"><br><br>
And enjoy your time here in the Bay Area.

 

[ErikaLeigh]

Oh thank you so much!<br><br>
I'm not sure where we are staying yet.

 

[languid_kitty]

I'm in PA. There's a lot of fun kid stuff to do while you're here.<br><br>
Depending on what you mean by gay-friendly, I would tentatively say that PA is. If you mean "is it safe" then certainly. As another poster said, PA is part of the bay area, so no one's going to hassle your family. Hopefully someday no one will have to wonder if a particular US area is safe for families to visit, regardless of the family's makeup. <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/greensad.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="greensad"><br><br>
If you mean "are there lots of GLBTQ-family things to do," unfortunately not. But the city is very close, and depending on when you'll be here there's the Pride parade/festival in June, and the Our Family Coalition has a few other events listed on their website: <a href="http://www.ourfamily.org/calendar.html" target="_blank">http://www.ourfamily.org/calendar.html</a><br><br>
Some fun family stuff to do:<br><br>
Palo Alto Junior Museum & Zoo<br>
tons of good hiking ranging from super-easy to all-day trips<br>
go up to the city for the museums or Golden Gate park