Bay Model Visitor Center — Attraction in Sausalito

I work with developmentally disabled adults and our population absolutely loves to visit the Bay Model site. We have always been well received and the staff has always treated us with the utmost respect. Except for today. Today we went back, after months away and were treated like lesser beings. While waiting for the video to start in the upper theater, an uniformed female staff came in with a mixed group she was guiding and proceeded to tell the three disabled people with me to move to other seats and give those chairs for the people in her group. She motioned them to chairs against a wall, next to a trash can with an angle view of the screen. Two of the people with me had vision problems and that is why we were sitting front and center. We simply left the theater, emotionally hurt and upset. My question is: if it were a group of non disabled people sitting in the same spots we were sitting, would they have been told to give their sits to others? I doubt it. This was just a reminder of how much discrimination still lingers in the hearts of some people in a county where most residents are well educated and like to boast about their acceptance and diversity. Today we...

It is a great exhibition of the Bay. It was built in 1957 to help model any project design changes in the bay. (Now computers do the work this was intended to do.) It takes about an hour or so to take in, but it is worth the time spent. It presents a visual of the entire Bay from the Pacific to South Bay--San Jose--to San Pablo Bay to Suison Bay to Sacramento / San Joaquin River Delta. There are demonstrations of where the water comes from in the Sierra Mountains and its journey through the Bay. It's really not for kids younger than Junior High--but certainly suitable for High School kids. The really important part here to understand is that is is an appropriately scaled model of the Bay in order to get an accurate reflection of what happens if certain changes occur in the Bay so the model is a technological marvel as well. There are signs along the way to show the visitor where they are in relation to the model, bridges are labeled, and significant areas are labeled. It is well...

There is a huge amount of information presented both on the Bay Model itself and on the the Bay watershed at large, plus the history of the Marinship from WW2. If you're like me and what to try to absorb every bit of information presented allow 3-4 hours.

It was unfortunate the model wasn't fully functioning when I was there but I'd like to visit again when it is just to see it doing its thing (and to catch a few things I ended up skipping due to time or that weren't functioning). The building and exhibits also are showing their age and would really benefit from a refresh. Most didn't detract from the exhibits but there were a few video setups that were offline.

The nature of the information means it probably isn't for real small kids, but if you have a passing interest in the Bay, hydraulics and hydrology, or infrastructure/engineering you'd likely find it...