What to do if you want nothing to do with the Super Bowl

With the Super Bowl 50 game looming around the corner, frenzied football fans and events alike will undoubtedly attract extreme traffic conditions, booming noisy distractions, and a copious amount of crowds to San Francisco this week.

If football and crowds aren’t your thing, or if you simply want to escape the boisterous sights and sounds of Super Bowl City, fear not, for SFBay has complied a list of a few events of what to do if you want nothing to do with the Super Bowl.

IF YOU WANT TO BRAVE THE CITY

•  San Francisco Bay Cruise Adventure takes you on a beautiful 60-minute ride from Pier 39, under the Golden Gate Bridge, and finishes off with a lap around Alcatraz. Hosted by Blue and Gold Fleet, take off times vary throughout the day, all week-long. Tickets cost $30 for adults, $20 for children, (65+) are $24. Discount tickets sold here.
• The Exploratorium on Pier 15 is free and open to the public from 10:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. on February 2.
• Take part in a fun-filled adult Rock, Paper, Scissors tournament and pub crawl starting at Northstar bar on 1560 Powell Street and the corner of Green Street. Starting at 8:30 P.M. (get there early for tournament entry) on February 3, the free crawl and tournament Facebook information page can be found here.
• Visit an array of art galleries that stay open late on the first Thursday (February 4) of each month for free at First Thursday Art Walks. 
• The Legion of Honor presents Watson’s Adventures’ Wizard School Scavenger Hunt for Harry Potter Fans for ages 10 and up. The scavenger hunt occurs on Saturday, February 6 at 2 P.M. and costs $16 for kids, $19 for adults in addition to admission prices for the museum.

EAST BAY

• Take the kiddos to Lego Mania at the Oakland Public Library, Friday the 5th at 3:30 P.M.
• Modern soul music superstar Booker T. Jones will appear at Yoshi’s – Jack London Square on Saturday, February 6 at 7:30 & 9:30 P.M. Tickets start at $32 for a night of music and sushi.
• Sunday fun pack night at Plank! in Oakland. Starting at 11:00 A.M. into midnight, Plank! is offering $50 in arcade game play along with a one-topping, 16-inch pizza for $49.95. Plank! also has bocce ball courts, a billiards room, bowling lanes, and a beer garden at various prices.
• On Wednesday, February 3 from 5:00-8:00 P.M. Walnut Creek hosts a festive street party with food trucks, beer and wine, live music, and shopping on Cypress Street between North Main and Locust Street for all ages.
• Clayton Valley Bowl in Concord brings comedy for free at their bowling and comedy event every first Wednesday of the month. Hours: 8:00-10:00 P.M.
• If you want to catch some basketball, Stanford University visits UC Berkeley in the Haas Pavilion Friday at 7:00 P.M. for women’s basketball and again on Saturday for the men at 1:00 P.M.

NORTH BAY

• For $4 entrance fee at Hopmonk Tavern in Novato you can enjoy a night of trivia at Nerd Nite. This week, Tuesday the 2nd is geared up for Valentine’s Day: “Sex Trivia: Satisfaction Guaranteed”. The questions start rolling at 7:00 P.M.
• The Rivers for Change and Sea Trek asks you to join them for their “Wild & Scenic Film Festival”- the largest of environmental film festivals,  showing at The Bay Model in Sausalito on February 4th, 2016 from 7:00 – 9:30 P.M.
• The Pez Museum in Burlingame is having a free admission day on February 4 from 10:00 in the moring to 6:00 P.M.

SOUTH BAY

• The Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History is free Friday the 5th, all day.
• South First Friday’s Art Walk, displaying various work from artists paired with local bars and shops, is free from 7:00-11:00 P.M. on the 5th.
• Downtown Ice in San Jose is hosting figure skating champion Kristi Yamaguchi on the 7th, starting at 11:00 A.M. Yamaguchi will be reading and signing the children’s books she has written and will be later joined by Olympic skater Polina Edmunds as well. Skating prices will be discounted that day (10 and younger: $13; 11 and older: $15 – prices include skate rental).