Things to do in San Jose
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La Taquería
Excellent burritos and tacos are assembled in this wonderful little taquería.
reviewed
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Winchester Mystery House
The billboards up and down every highway in California may have triggered your tourist-trap alarm, but Winchester Mystery House is a bona fide curiosity. It's a ridiculous Victorian mansion with 160 rooms of various sizes (many of them utterly useless), dead-end hallways and a staircase that runs up to a ceiling all jammed together like a child's build-a-house game.
The woman responsible for it is Sarah Winchester, heir of the Winchester rifle fortune, who, beginning in 1884, spent 38 years building this sprawling mansion because the spirits of those killed by her husband's guns told her to do so. Apparently no expense was spared in the construction and the extreme result…
reviewed
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Santana Row
A completely planned real-estate venture, Santana Row is a mixed-use space that brings together shopping, dining and entertainment along with townhouses, lofts and flats. There's a large boutique hotel and a multiplex cinema.
At its heart is a pedestrian-friendly thoroughfare that calls to mind 'Main St' ideals of traditional American small-town life, but the style of the architecture and overall effect is Mediterranean. The restaurants spill out onto sidewalk terraces, and public spaces have been designed to invite loitering and promenading. The idea is a popular one, and on warm evenings, the area is swarming with an energetic crowd. There are some excellent restaurant…
reviewed
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Peralta Adobe & Fallon House
Peralta Adobe & Fallon House are historic San Jose houses that represent two very different early architectural styles, sitting across the road from each other near San Pedro Sq. To see the houses, drop by the visitors center.
The Peralta Adobe, the city's oldest building, dates from 1797 and is the last survivor from the original Spanish pueblo. The building is very basic, and the two rooms have been furnished as they might have been during their occupation by the Gonzales and Peralta families. Luis Maria Peralta came to the Bay Area at age 16 and died an American citizen and a millionaire, the owner of a large chunk of the East Bay.
Thomas Fallon married the daughter of …
reviewed
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History Park
Historic buildings from all over San Jose have been brought together in this open-air museum southeast of the city centre in Kelley Park. The centerpiece is a half-scale replica of the 237ft-high 1881 Electric Light Tower.
The original tower was a pioneering attempt at street lighting, intended to illuminate the entire town centre. It was a complete failure but, lights or not, was left standing as a central landmark until it toppled over in 1915 due to rust and wind. Other buildings include an 1888 Chinese temple and the Pacific Hotel, which has rotating exhibits inside. The Trolley Restoration Barn restores historic trolley cars to operate on San Jose's light-rail line.…
reviewed
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Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum
One of San Jose's more interesting attractions is the odd and educational Egyptian Museum which has an extensive collection that includes statues, household items and mummies. There's even a two-room, walk-through reproduction of an ancient subterranean tomb. The museum is the centerpiece of Rosicrucian Park west of downtown San Jose.
Even more intriguing is the Rosicrucian Order itself. Headquartered in Rosicrucian Park, the order is a nonreligious fraternity whose members seek to achieve spiritual enlightenment and material success through the study of mysticism and metaphysics. As the order's own website slyly says: 'Rosicrucians are normal men and women. Perhaps some …
reviewed
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Almaden Quicksilver County Park
There are several parks in the hills around San Jose, each laced with a network of walking and cycling trails. Almaden Quicksilver County Park is south of town at the site of the old New Almaden mercury mine. Don't eat fish from the reservoirs, but do check out the trails, spring wildflower displays and mining museum, open Friday to Sunday. From San Jose, head south via the Almaden Expressway.
reviewed
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Tech Museum of Innovation
You don't know the meaning of interactive until you've been to the 'Tech' Museum of Innovation, possibly the slickest museum on earth. You'll see bright and shiny exhibits on robotics, genetics and animation, with lots of cartoon characters hopping around in them. It's all like being dunked in a neon-bright, Nickelodeon-inspired pool of warm liquid silicon.
reviewed
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Electric Light Tower
Electric Light Tower The centerpiece is a half-scale replica of the 237ft-high 1881 Electric Light Tower. The original tower was a pioneering attempt at street lighting, intended to illuminate the entire town center. It was a complete failure but, lights or not, was left standing as a central landmark until it toppled over in 1915 due to rust and wind.
reviewed
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Waves Smokehouse & Saloon
Waves serves barbecue platters and burgers in an Old West-style saloon and former brothel dating from 1873. If you're not hungry, a drink in the historic bar, where stained glass and dark wood prevail, will take you back to a time when Post St bustled with all manner of sin and commerce. At night there's music, dancing and karaoke.
reviewed
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San Jose Museum of Art
The city's central art museum is one of the Bay Area's finest, with a strong permanent collection of 20th-century works and a variety of imaginative changing exhibits. The main building started life as the post office in 1892, was damaged by the 1906 earthquake and became an art gallery in 1933. A modern wing was added in 1991.
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Plaza de Cesar Chavez
This leafy square in the center of downtown, part of the original plaza of El Pueblo de San José de Guadalupe, is the oldest public space in the city. It's named after Cesar Chavez - founder of the United Farm Workers, who lived part of his life in San Jose - and is surrounded by museums, theaters and hotels.
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California Theatre
This landmark venue has undergone a thorough renovation and its absolutely stunning Spanish interior is cathedral worthy. It is home to Opera San Jose, Symphony Silicon Valley and an ongoing classic film series. This is one venue for the city's annual film festival, Cinequest, held in late February or early March.
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Children's Discovery Museum
This Downtown tech museum for kids has hands-on science and space displays, plenty of nifty toys and some cool play-and-learn areas such as the kooky 'Alice's Wonderland'. The museum is on Woz Way, which is named after Steve Wozniack, the co-founder of Apple and now a fifth-grade teacher.
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Amber India
Just off Santana Row, Amber is an upscale Indian restaurant offering a full complement of kebabs, curries and tandooris. The cooking here is superb and the presentation highly styled, with artsy china and groovy paintings on the walls. Whet your whistle with an exotic cocktail.
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Castle Rock State Park
West of San Jose lies Castle Rock State Park, where hiking trails are alternately lush and sun-drenched, providing beautiful ocean vistas. The park is on Hwy 35 in the Santa Cruz mountains, just south of the intersection with Hwy 9. Parking is available.
reviewed
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HP Pavilion
The San Jose Sharks, the city's NHL team, plays at the HP Pavilion, a massive glass-and-metal stadium. The NHL season runs from September to April.
Tickets are available from the Compaq Center box office or, for a surcharge, through Ticketmaster.
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Cathedral Basilica of St Joseph
At the top of Plaza de Cesar Chavez is the Cathedral Basilica of St Joseph, the pueblo's first church. Originally constructed of adobe brick in 1803, it was replaced three times due to earthquakes and fire; the present building dates from 1877.
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Spartan Stadium
Major League soccer team the San Jose Earthquakes (formerly the Clash) plays at the Spartan Stadium from late March to mid-October.
Tickets are available from the Compaq Center box office or, for a surcharge, through Ticketmaster.
reviewed
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Arcadia
Chef Michael Minna, San Francisco's biggest celebrity chef, opened this fine New American restaurant in the Marriott Hotel. It's not the daring, cutting-edge style Minna is known for, but it's slick, expensive and, of course, very good.
reviewed
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Almaden Feed & Fuel
If you've been hiking all day in Almaden Quicksilver County Park, stop for a bite and a beer at this funky, century-old joint that was once a stagecoach stop. It's about 10 miles south of San Jose, just off the Almaden Expressway.
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Trials Pub
If you seek a well-poured pint in a supremely comfortable atmosphere, Trials Pub, north of San Pedro Sq, has many excellent ales on tap (try a Fat Lip), all served in a warm, friendly room with no TVs. There's good pub food too.
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Agenda
Agenda is a bar and restaurant that also serves up live jazz and cocktail music upstairs and house music in the cellar. A happy-hour cocktail in the lovely upstairs bar makes a pleasant start to the evening.
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Pizza Antica
Artisan pizzas baked the old-fashioned way, in stone ovens, are the specialty here. Grab a sidewalk table on Santana Row and enjoy a cold tap beer while San Jose's best pizza is crafted to order.
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Emile's
Emile's, run by Swiss-born chef Emile Mooser since 1973, is San Jose's longstanding standard-bearer. The setting is romantic, if slightly dated, and the California-European cuisine fabulous.
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