California Science Center

If you ask me (or my husband the engineer), the California Science Center is one of the West's best science museums. It's roomy, offers a wide variety of exhibits on timely topics and provides some interesting insights into things scientific.

Unlike similar institutions in other locations, this place has enough hands-on exhibits to go around, and even on a busy day you don't have to wait long to try any of them. They also rely more on interesting science than gee-whiz gadgets or computer-aided graphics, and have an exceptional life sciences section. And to top it all off, admission is free.