Merced Attractions. Merced Tourism and kids attractions

Mike Fox Park: Skater heaven in Santa Cruz
Just over an acre in size, Mike Fox Park in Santa Cruz is better known for another park located within its borders – the Ken Wormhoudt Skate Park. The 15,000-square-foot facility is just a short walk from the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, with the San Lorenzo River situated in between.

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Cantor Arts Center: See Stanford's remarkable Rodins – and it's free
Two things set Stanford University’s Cantor Arts Center apart from every other major Bay Area art museum. First, the museum’s main attraction is not even inside. It’s the Rodin Sculpture Garden outside the west entrance; Cantor’s collection of Rodin bronzes is the world’s second-largest behind only the Musee Rodin in Paris. Second, the Rodins and the wide-ranging art collection inside the museum can all be seen for nothing. This is that rare instance of a great museum that's virtually free.

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Coyote Hills: A bird-lover’s paradise
The scenic entrance to Coyote Hills Regional Park seeps you into nature from the get-go. As you drive towards one of two parking lots, passing acres upon acres of wetlands on the way, the beauty and tranquility of the area is quickly apparent. Imagine golden hills in the distance, with raptors flying low overhead, and miles of grass-covered marshes hiding shorebirds of every size and stripe.

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Lovers Point Park: A natural haven by Monterey Bay
Lovers Point Park is one of the crowning highlights of Pacific Grove, a place infused with natural beauty. Swimmers, surfers, kayakers, and divers all flock to the sandy beach at the edge of the 4.4-acre park for recreation in the Monterey Bay. The clear Pacific waters here are part of the nation’s largest marine sanctuary, where deep underwater canyons abound with kelp forests, fish, harbor seals, sea lions, and even blue whales.

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Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk: Family thrills down on the boardwalk
They don’t make amusement parks like this anymore. Oh, sure, there are modern theme parks with scarier rides, but the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk has charm, history, a huge beach and a unique mix of rides and attractions for all ages.

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Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum: A step back to the age of kings and pharaohs
There is nothing ordinary about the Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum, which boasts the largest collection of Ancient Egyptian artifacts in the Western U.S. It’s in a quiet residential neighborhood rather than a downtown location like most museums. The Egyptian Revival and Moorish architecture of the buildings and the Ancient Egyptian artifacts inside are exotic. Even the layout is unorthodox, with the museum sharing the city-block-sized grounds with gardens, a planetarium and a research library.

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Winchester Mystery House: A monument to eccentricity
You will never see another house like this one, nowhere, no way. The Winchester Mystery House is equal parts grandeur and madness, with 10,000 window panes—more than the Empire State Building, many of them Tiffany glass and some that open onto blank walls. There are also 2,000 doors, some that open outward to eight-foot drops. In all, you’ll see 110 of the 160 rooms during a walking tour at the House.

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The Tech Museum: A technology wonderland for all ages
The Tech Museum fits San Jose as snugly as the Louvre fits Paris. The Silicon Valley, after all, is the geographical heart of tech culture. And fortunately the museum’s curators have ensured that the exhibits are understandable to almost anyone.

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Santana Row: So much more than a mall
Calling Santana Row a shopping center is like calling Carlos Santana (no connection) a guitar player. It’s true, but it only scratches the surface. Opened in 2002, the design of the shopping district in central San Jose draws from successful elements seen in public squares and shopping boulevards from Barcelona to Beverly Hills.

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Monterey Bay Aquarium: The Carnegie Hall of oceanic life
Call it the Carnegie Hall or the Fenway Park of aquariums. After a day at the Monterey Bay Aquarium (MBA), the superlatives will gush from your lips as surely as the breakers that pour over you every 30 seconds in the Wave Crash Tunnel at this mega-aquarium. Some say it’s America’s best.

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