Away to San Jose!

The first thing that must be acknowledged is yes, every time I hear that city name, the song goes through my head. I did not sing it to any natives though, and maybe only once to my traveling companions. You have to be considerate like that. Actually, the hotel was in Santa Clara.

The second point is that it was not the coolest trip I have ever taken by a long shot. I don’t regret going, but if I never make it back there, that is okay.

Little Sister M, Friend H, and I arrived around noon on Thursday. We needed to pick up the rental car and head over to the hotel where Little Sister J would be waiting, having finished her last meeting.

We were there because Intel is there, but we saw other high-tech names everywhere. I think it is more obvious when you are in the Silicon Valley than in the Silicon Forest.

The road layout is interesting in that you spend the majority of your time on expressways, at least using the driving directions we had. We would change expressways about four times on the average excursion, and then once you get onto a regular street it is one block to your destination.

Our first stop was Winchester House, located in San Jose proper. This was one I had wanted to go to for a long time, and I would say it is the one most worth going for. I was surprised to see how it is smack dab in the middle of the city. The surrounding land has been sold off and developed, so it’s basically next to a strip mall.

I did not feel anything spooky whatsoever, but it was still interesting to see. Our tour guide was knowledgeable and enthusiastic, and you cover a lot of ground on the tour.

If you do not already know, Sarah Winchester was told by a medium that the spirits of those killed by the Winchester rifles were angry and would haunt her, and she needed to keep adding onto a house to make room for them. Not only is the house huge, but there are some oddities like a door to nowhere, stairs to nowhere, and similar things. The obvious thought is that she’s crazy.

One thing we learned is that their only child died of failure to thrive, and that was followed by her husband dying of tuberculosis. So, she basically saw the two most important people in her lives waste away, dying by inches. You can see how malevolent spirits could seem reasonable. Also, she had the money to get away with it.

I was surprised to see an option to purchase a year pass to the house, as it does not seem like a place you would keep coming back to. However, they do have three different tours: the standard (which we took), a behind the scenes tour, and a flashlight tour. You can also do a self-guided tour around the garden. I explored the garden while my exhausted entourage rested in the café, because you do cover a lot of ground. If you wanted to do everything, and you lived nearby, it would make sense to do things on different days.

On Friday we headed down to Gilroy to visit Bonfante Gardens.

I have contemplated doing a guide to Disneyland based on body type, because depending on your shape, some rides are less comfortable than others. However, you can still go on almost everything. This is not true of Bonfante.

Many of the rides are set up for children only, and that is fine. We just did not happen to have any children with us. However, even on some of the all access rides, access was indeed limited by size and weight, even for those who were not particularly heavy.

There was an episode of Designing Women where they go to a spa, and Charlene and Suzanne end up in the weight loss program while the rest are pampered and coddled. Charlene is embarrassed to be there, and keeps piping up that she just had a baby. Finally Suzanne snaps, “Yes. As opposed to the rest of us who are just fat and childless.” That’s what I was thinking.

Also, because on the web site there was such a focus on agriculture and horticulture, I kind of expected better landscaping. Yes, they had the circus trees, but it just was not as pretty as it could have been.

Finally, the prices inside the park were expensive, and the customer service was pretty indifferent. We only found one friendly employee in the entire day.

Do I hate the place? No, but I can’t recommend it. If you are in the area, perhaps for the garlic festival, and you have small children, it’s a reasonable stop, but it is not a destination, kind of like you would not travel cross-country just to go to the Enchanted Forest in Salem.

Our last stop was Great America in Santa Clara. Size was an issue again, though not as much. Customer Service was indifferent again too. I guess Disneyland has spoiled us because they really train them well there, and they recruit students from all over the country, and their staff in general is just friendlier and better informed. No one knew if the theater with the motion simulator was operating or exactly where it was. That should not be a hard question.

The rides are pretty cool for the most part. I loved The Demon. (The Grizzly is probably also pretty good, but it broke.)

It was far too crowded, but of course it was a Saturday. Generally we are only at amusement parks during the week, and we go during the off-season. Great America is only open on weekdays during the summer, so you either have hot weather or weekend crowds. I don’t know how crowded the summer weekdays get, as I think California is year-round school, so you would not have everyone out on summer vacation. I could go back here, but I would be more likely to try Magic Mountain or a Six Flags, just for something new. And, who knows? Were I to develop a new body I might want to try them all again just to see what that was like. I would probably still not do Bonfante again without small children.

So there you go. Nothing fantastic, but nothing horrible either. Chances are the worst day on vacation is still better than the best day at work. It’s just that work pays for them.

I still need to report on Toronto, but it will not be until I get back from Italy. Arrivaderci!

http://www.winchestermysteryhouse.com/
http://www.bonfantegardens.com/
http://www2.paramountparks.com/greatamerica/