South Bay attractions?

[fiddlingfrog]

My brother's coming to visit next week for a couple days and I'm trying to come up with a plan of stuff to do. Monday he's having dinner with friends in the South Bay, so we're planning on hitting up the Winchester Mystery House and the Tech Museum earlier. Any other recommendations? Good places to get lunch? Something else we should try and

Comments

[mme_n_b]

Rosicrucian museum is a lot of fun. The San Jose rose garden is nearby and in bloom.

[soru]

I'm not sure about attractions, but here's some good lunch spots:

For lunch, if you're into burritos, La Victoria's in downtown San Jose is amazing. They make a sauce called orange sauce that I swear you haven't lived til you've tried it. Veggie friendly if that matters.

There's also a burger place called St. John's in Santa Clara with amazing burgers. The atmosphere can be a little crowded/loud on Wednesday/Saturday nights due to half price burger nights, but so worth it. Veggie friendly if that matters.

I second the Rose Garden. I live a few streets from it and it's beautiful. It's right next to he library/school.

If you're into Starbucks, there's one on Park Ave down the street from the Rose Garden. You can get a coffee & walk around it.

Shopping: there's Santana Row (strip of shops) & Valley Fair (big mall). They're across the street from each other. Most of the shops are high end mixed with the usual mall shops.

[tarzxf]

The two malls are also within stumbling distance of the Mystery House.

The Japanese Friendship Garden at Kelley Park is also a nice serene place, and History Park is right next to it.

For a bit of History with your Tech Museum, the Computer History Museum in Mountain View is a good spot, and is in the middle of Google's sprawling building network (formerly SGI's).

[arethinn]

There's also a burger place called St. John's in Santa Clara with amazing burgers.

Are you thinking of http://sites.citycheers.com/96605 ? That's in Sunnyvale... or maybe there's more than one location?

[azov]

Stanford Campus & all the art there, Computer History Museum, SLAC, HP garage, Lick Observatory, Intel Museum, maybe some wineries with good views in Santa Cruz mountains. If Santa Cruz itself is considered "south bay" - add boardwalk & beaches. A bunch of good parks if he's into hiking.

Mystery House is a gimmick, can be skipped safely. Tech Museum is so-so, Computer History is much better.

[haruhiko]

For lunch I'd explore San Jose's Japantown or depending on how far out you are willing to go drive to Cupertino for some excellent Taiwanese food.

[arethinn]

Following on azov's suggestion of wineries in the SCz mountains, if you're into that, here's some I would recommend:

Savannah-Chanelle
Mountain Winery
David Bruce
Byington
MJA Vineyards (go to their tasting room on Summit Rd, not the one in Santa Cruz proper, although that one also has a brewing company right nearby if you like beer)
Cinnabar, Michaud & Martella (aka M4), and Big Basin Vineyards have tasting rooms right next to each other in Saratoga just before Highway 9 starts going up into the mountains.

Some of these places have live music and such events, especially this time of year.