A few weeks ago, Neil and I came up with the idea of a day of touring mysterious attractions within the South Bay. In particular, I wanted to go on a family Mystery Hike at Big Basin Redwoods Park, and Neil wanted to check out the Winchester Mystery House again. I thought why not do…
Category: Out & About
San Jose Culture Vultures Devour the San Francisco Symphony
The San Francisco Symphony came to play a free outdoor concert at noontime in downtown San Jose, and I was absolutely thrilled about it. I can’t afford even a stuck-in-the-rafters ticket to the San Francisco Symphony. Heck, I can’t even afford a decent ticket to the Symphony Silicon Valley, Ballet San Jose, or even the…
Our Unexpected Golden Gate Bridge Adventure
We’re having the typical spectacular Bay Area fall weather: this is the one time of year it’s sunny, but not to hot (or fogged over), and I love to get into the outdoors. This was one of those weekends with a multitude of fun things to do: the San Benito County Fair, the Morgan Hill…
The Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum
Last week, we took advantage of a special extra benefit of our San Jose Museum of Art membership and took Peter to the Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum. I’ve been there a few times before, but I really enjoyed it this year, when Neil was happy to show off his knowledge of Egyptian history, and I could…
Zen Garden Escape
One public school ritual I have come to loathe is the last-minute-of-summer posting of class rosters. And this year I had a particular chip on my shoulder, knowing my son’s marvelous learning capabilities under my private guidance, and having hung out with a crowd actively opposed to government-controlled schooling. The last minute posting is just…
The San Mateo County Fair
Last Friday, our whole family went to the opening evening of the San Mateo County Fair. We were delighted with it. It had all a county fair ought to have: livestock exhibits, a pony ride, home arts competitions, a bustling midway, kiosk food, and vendors exhibiting rarely seen products. To explain why we found the…
The Golden Gate Park Band
I’ve been wanting to see the Golden Gate Park Band with Peter for several years now. It’s the only brass band I know of in the entire Bay Area that gives public concerts, and they play in the Spreckels Temple of Music, a wonderful acoustic shell in the park’s main concourse surrounded by statues of…
The Shoreline Kwik-E-Mart
Peter saw the Simpsons movie last week, and he loved it. Just the week before, we’d stumbled upon the 7-11 in Mountain View that’s been transformed into a Kwik-E-Mart as a promotion for the movie. Shiaw-Ling and Loretta have been there a few times since it opened, and brought Simpsons-themed goodies, like Buzz Cola and…
Webcast Fame on the Exploratorium’s Make Saturday
Today we drove up to the Exploratorium for one of their special Make Magazine‘s Saturdays. This Saturday happened to feature a special exhibition where Exploratorium visitors could make magnetic toys, and a Webcast featuring the founder of the Tech Shop talking about the shop’s tools and a gear-driven LED clock he’d made at the shop….
Escape from Fisherman’s Wharf
On Sunday, I did two things I had promised myself I would never do: I went to Fisherman’s Wharf in the summer, and I went downtown during a ballgame. The last time we were at Fisherman’s Wharf, Neil wanted to go to the Ripley’s Believe It or Not Museum, but he complained so much about…