Arcade Games of Yesteryear at Musee Mecanique

When the electronic trappings of modern life get to be too much, close up the laptop, put away the iPhone, turn off the TV, unplug the Wii and head into San Francisco and spend the day at Musee Mecanique. What is Musee Mecanique, you ask? It's an eccentric private museum devoted to arcade games and attractions of a bygone era.

If you grew up in the Bay Area, you may remember the Musee Mecanique back when it was housed underneath the Cliff House. (If you're a real San Francisco old timer your recall the collection from your days at the long-defunct Playland at the Beach amusement park.) When the Cliff House underwent remodeling a few years ago, the collection moved to Pier 45 at Fisherman's Wharf.

While the Pier 45 location doesn't have the same ambience (if that's the correct term to describe the cold, dark, and slightly dingy former site), it more than makes up for it by actually being there at all. And some people even prefer the Musee Mecanique's current bright and airy setting.

Brave the crowds of tourists on the sidewalks eating their clam chowder in sourdough bread bowls, head through the front doors—did we mention that admission is free?—and step right into the past. You'll marvel at the sight of dozens of strange and wonderful machines ranging from the somewhat frightening clown automaton Laffing Sal (who once graced the Playland at the Beach) and animated scenes to Edwardian player pianos and band organs to arcade games and amusements to kinoscopes and photo booths. All are coin-operated and all are in original working condition, so make sure you come here ready to play.

Avail yourself of one of the change machines and get yourself a whole mess of quarters. If you need to break larger bills and don't want to commit to getting $20 worth of quarters, Musee Mecanique owner Dan Zelinsky will happily oblige—he's the guy cruising around the building on roller skates with the badge that reads "I work here". You can spend hours here wandering around and playing all the different machines. The museum also has a collection of newer (1980s and '90s) pinball machines and arcade games and even skee ball in the back, so even us Gen X types can wallow in a little nostalgia, too.

Everything here is definitely worth a quarter, although some machines are more worth a quarter than others. For example, with the automaton labled "Share a Laugh with Jolly Jack" (there are two, actually) you put your quarter in the slot and Jack—a plump animated sailor doll—laughs. Or, more precisely, shakes and rocks back and forth while a faint laughing noise emits from the machine. That's it. I guess that back in the 1890s it was amazing that the machine did this at all, so take it for what it's worth.

More exciting are the pre-video shooting galleries and games of skill, most of which seem to date from the 1920s through the 1960s. There's actually an early '70s upright PONG game thrown in for good measure, too. Other favorites are the whimsical and often rather complex animated mechanical scenes, depicting farms, fairs, an Old West town, Santa's workshop, a Mexican dance hall, and more. Don't forget to test out your romantic appeal on one of the many "love meters", and of course find out what the future has in store for you through the mystical mechanations of one of the fortune-telling machines.

Some of our favorites include the not-really-gruesome English and French execution dioramas, featuring a hanging and the guillotine, naturally, the baseball and soccer arcade games (you have to love the tiny knitted sweaters worn by each of the little soccer players), the 1950s German "Bimbo Box" that features a band of little stuffed monkey toys who play Tijuana Taxi, and movie machines showing footage from the aftermath of the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake and Fire.

You and your family can spend hours here and will probably have a blast, unless you're so corrupted by modern-day technology that you are no longer capable of having fun without electronics. While technically it's free, you have to pay to play the machines. It still ends up being a pretty cheap outing, though, and a measly $10 goes a long way. If you absolutely have to spend more money there's a gift shop as well as a number of machines where you can insert 51¢ and get a smashed, stretched, and stamped penny in return.

If You Go

Remember to bring plenty of cash so you can play the arcade machines to your heart's content. You don't want to be a Bad Parentand run out of quarters before you and your kids played everything you want to.

There's no place to eat at the museum, but you're at Fisherman's Wharf, remember? My lunch recommendation is to resist the siren song of the sidewalk crab and chowder stands, old school seafood joints, and overpriced tourist trap chain restaurants (Rainforest Cafe and Joe's Crab Shack, anyone?) and head for San Francisco's only In-N-Out Burger, just around the corner on Jefferson Street, between Jones and Leavenworth.

Also nearby at Pier 45 are two restored World War II vessels, the submarine USS Pampanito and the famous Liberty Ship Jeremiah O'Brien, both of which you can tour if you're up for it.

Musee Mecanique is open 365 days a year, from 10 am to 7 pm weekdays and 10 am to 8 pm weekends and holidays. For more information about Musee Mecanique, visit www.museemecaniquesf.com or call (415) 346-2000.

Getting There

Musee Mecanique is located in Pier 45, smack dab in the middle of  Fisherman's Wharf, at the foot of Taylor Street (at the Embarcadero). Parking in the area can be a challenge, but if you're up for a walk, you can do like we did and park near the yacht harbor at the Marina Green and walk over the hill down to the Fisherman's wharf area.

From Marin, head over the Golden Gate Bridge and take Doyle Drive to Marina Boulevard. Turn left into the parking lot at Buchanan Street. Make sure you don't park in any of the reserved spaces for the yacht harbor tenants. If you get there early enough, you'll have plenty of parking spaces to choose from.

Otherwise, you can battle it out for street parking or pay for a parking lot or garage, of which there are plenty in the area.

Another transportation option is to take the Larkspur or Sausalito ferry in to San Francisco and then head to Fisherman's Wharf via the historic F Market streetcar line. That almost sounds like too much fun.