Museums & Galleries in Alameda

By day, Jerry Cimino worked in the computer industry. By night, he quietly collected memorabilia from the Beat Generation, building up little piles of photographs, letters, and first editions of literature by Allen Ginsberg, Neal Cassady, and Jack Kerouac. Inspired by the beat poets themselves, who often traded what they had to pursue their passions, Cimino abandoned his 9-to-5 job and opened The Beat Museum. Located on the same ground that was once the epicenter for Beat activity during the 1950s, the museum hosts an ever-increasing collection of cultural ephemera and has been profiled in the Washington Post. The shelves and glass cases brim with signed editions of Allen Ginsberg's Howl, a sweat-dappled jacket worn by Jack Kerouac on his travels, and William Burroughs’s guide to perfect table manners.

Though it survived six war patrols in the Pacific and an at-sea rescue of 73 POWs, the USS Pampanito is no match for the ravages of salt and wind. That’s why every seven years the San Francisco Maritime National Park Association hauls the 300-foot submarine from its perch at Pier 45 and restores it, piece by piece, to its WWII-era glory. Such meticulous upkeep and respect for original detail have earned the vessel its status as a National Historic Landmark. While the museum's crews keep the exterior free of salt erosion and smudge marks from nuzzling seals, curators use the interior as a gallery for historic artifacts that tell about the ship's accomplishments and the men who ran it. The vessel's narrow halls host the 80-man crew’s letters, memorabilia, and oral histories, as well as interactive educational programs for adults and kids. For an extended visit with history, the ship is available for educational birthday parties that offer access to otherwise restricted areas of the vessel, as well as daylong and overnight outings.

Styled after early-20th-century fire engines, San Francisco Fire Engine Tours & Adventures’ sparkling red steed carries passengers on themed adventures that combine the excitement of racing toward a fire with the fun of outwitting time. From the vantage point of the "Big Red Shiny Mack Fire Engine," guests catch views of the Bay Area while pretending to be important pieces of firefighting equipment. Tours run year round, and during colder winter months the crew outfits patrons with authentic fire gear to keep them warm while they explore the city on one of four themed tours. Winery tours cruise to Treasure Island, where guests enjoy tastes of signature varietals, while the Golden Gate bridge tour begins in FIsherman's Warf before heading across the iconic bridge, through the village of Sausalito. Holiday-lights tours capture some of the city's most festive and decorated locations, and Halloween tours creep through Historic Presidio where ghosts are rumored to vacation.

The nonprofit Heidrick Ag History Center harvests the rich history of agricultural machinery and transportation through an extensive collection of vintage tractors and trucks. The 130,000-square-foot space houses both the Hays Antique Truck Museum—home to such artifacts as a one-of-a-kind Breeding steam-powered truck and broccoli steamer from 1916—and the Fred C. Heidrick Antique Ag Collection, an assemblage of olden-day iron horses and golden cows collected over a period of 60 years.

Using skills acquired from his childhood days building his own planes and combines from scraps of wire and wood, Mr. Heidrick himself restored most of the equipment—some of which was formerly little more than heaps of rust—to its original condition. Palettes of green, red, and yellow pop from John Deere tractors from the 1930s to the 1950s, a Deering reaper machine from 1891, and a 120-horsepower Holt built in 1917 to tow artillery during World War I.