Revelry Reverie

Do you know the way to San Jose?

Next week I’m taking Henry to Monterey Bay Aquarium as a special trip for the two of us. We will fly into San Jose and have a day to bum around there, then make our way to Monterey. Then we will spend a full day at the aquarium! We are both really looking forward to it!

I was planning on taking him to the Museum of Computing History, but it won’t be open the days we will be there, so now I’m looking around for something else to do in the area (I’m sure it won’t be hard to find something he will love!). We went to the exploratorium a few years ago – right before COVID, as a matter of fact. It was great, and there’s this map of a river bed over time that I want to look at again. But it’s also possible we will find something new to do! I thought about taking him to the SF Automattic office, but that would really be more for me than him. And I don’t know how to get in! I’d figure it out for him if he really wanted to go, though.

I’m looking forward to spending some one-on-one time with him. He’s lovely, and tells me about the things that matter to him, and I hope our trip will be something really special for him to remember.

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2 responses to “Do you know the way to San Jose?”

  1. m7zhao Avatar
    m7zhao

    I live like 20 minutes away from the aquarium!

    Some unsolicited notes and suggestions, as a local:

    San Jose itself is kinda boring — but there’s a lot of good food in and around the South Bay area
    If you are driving down from San Jose to Monterey, there’s two paths: Highway 17 is more squiggly and goes through the Santa Cruz mountains, Highway 101 is much less squiggly and goes through Gilroy (famous for garlic farms) and farmlands
    Santa Cruz has a number of fun activities: the Santa Cruz Boardwalk which is on the beach and has amusement/fair-type rides, Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park (maybe he’ll like the name), the Santa Cruz Mystery Spot (I’ve never been but it is well-known)
    In and around Monterey itself there’s a lot of great scenery/hikes/coast to look at.

    17 Mile Drive is a well-known stretch of the Monterey peninsula, although IMHO it’s a bit of a ripoff ($12 to drive it) when the coast around it looks just as beautiful, like Asilomar State Park.
    Carmel-by-the-Sea is a very cute little town just south of Monterey, good restaurants, and a nice beach.
    Point Lobos State Park just south of Carmel-by-the-Sea is also nice — has good trails, tidepools, and a lot of seals you can see lying on rocks.
    Further south is Big Sur which is the most beautiful stretch of coast in California, involves more driving.

    In SF another fun place is the Cal Academy of Sciences which has a big rainforest dome, some fish tanks too, and this “planetarium” with a really big/cool wraparound screen.

    I hope you guys have a great time! Feel free to message me if you want more specific suggestions!

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    1. Zandy Avatar
      Zandy

      Thank you Marina! This is awesome!

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