Mountain View is the perfect place to learn about computers. Its Computer History Museum is a great venue for families with children of all ages to explore. The museum houses the largest collection of computer-related artifacts in the world, including hardware, software, documentation and hands-on exhibits. Tours are offered daily, and a speaker series brings the history of computers to life. Learn about Charles Babbage, who designed the first automatic computing engine, and see what went into designing a computer capable of beating the world's best chess players.
Before Santa Clara County became high-tech, it was a rural agricultural area. To get a feel for what Mountain View was like, you can visit Deer Hollow Farm, an educational center where school classes and community groups participate in a historic, 150-year-old working farm that still produces food. Farm-fresh eggs and produce are for sale in season. You might even see rabbits, goats, chickens, sheep and pigs -- some of the residents of the farm. Farm buildings and pens are generally closed to the public, but you can take a self-guided tour, or call for information about Spring Farm Tours, Ohlone Day, and Farm Merchandize Days. Visitors enjoy hiking 24 miles of trails in the surrounding Rancho San Antonio Open Space Preserve.
The town's 50-acre Shoreline Lake park area is a must for a picnic or a nap. Miles of trails offer opportunities for inline skating, walking, running and jogging. The park's historic Rengstorff House, Mountain View's oldest home, is a beautiful example of the Victorian Italianate architecture that once graced the West Coast. This restored home is open for tours three days a week. At the Shoreline Aquatic Center, learn to sail or rent a canoe, kayak or pedal boat, or have lunch at a lakeside cafe.
There's no better way to see the entire San Francisco Bay Area than from a blimp. Airship Ventures at Moffett Airfield offers tours of the City By the Bay and the Monterey Coast. The Zeppelin NP can carry 14 passengers and is the size of a Boeing 747. You'll learn about how these behemoths stay up using nonflammable helium, and how they have evolved over the decades. The NASA Ames Exploration Center is also at Moffett Field. Visitors there will learn first-hand what it feels like to be an astronaut on a space mission. The center is free and open to the public.
