Visiting Silicon Valley

suggestions on places to go?

[LostOne]

I would surely love to get in the front door at google, but that doesn't seem possible. I've never been to the area. Any suggestions on where to go, what to see, good places to stay near some action?

Action?

Interesting stuff. There must be some kind of geeky high tech museums and the like.

[choster]

Silicon Valley is suburban wasteland :).

Palo Alto is has a cute cafe district along University Ave, and the Stanford campus. San Francisco is an hour to two hours away depending on traffic.

[swa66]

Intel has a museum to visit, free as well.

[martinibuster]

Silicon Valley is suburban wasteland...

Ha! choster's right. San Francisco is about forty minutes away although choster's point about traffic is true. Hwy 101 after 3pm can be hellish. Fortunately there's a commuter train that can take you into the city and back.

What do you mean by action? There used to be a horse track out there but they're tearing it down to make room for even more Whole Foods and Bed, Bath, and Beyond stores surrounded by yellow faux-Tuscan condos. Oh joy. That's pretty emblematic of what's wrong with that part of the world in the South Bay, where things with character get pushed out in favor of the same crap you'll find from coast to coast. Bitter? You betcha. But on the bright side I now have no reason to ever get out of my car in San Mateo, the bland shaved armpit [cityofsanmateo.org] of Northern California.

You might want to check out the SF Bay Guardian [sfbayguardian.com]'s event page to see what's coming up in terms of public events, museums, theater, and live music. Wicked [shnsf.com] is enjoying another run.

NBCBAYAREA.Com [events.nbcbayarea.com] may have some ideas for you, too.

[incrediBILL]

You drive-by city dwellers can't judge the peninsula by what you see passing on the freeway.

Downtown San Mateo, San Carlos and Burlingame are much like Palo Alto, just not quite as many places but still all the rustic charm.

[edited by: incrediBILL at 11:49 pm (utc) on Feb. 4, 2009]

[martinibuster]

Sorry Bill, I'm native to the area. I used to work and play out in San Mateo in the early eighties and beyond, including the nightclubs in Palo Alto. Nothing's changed. The south bay has little to no charm to speak of. It's the land of hotel buffets, overpriced rubbery seafood in Foster City and faux-tuscan condos springing up like mushrooms in the forest after a hard rain. I'm sure you enjoy it out there Bill, but I'll be happy with that level of peace and quiet only when I'm dead. ;)

[incrediBILL]

You are so out of touch with the south bay it's laughable, we can't all dodge bullets trying to drink a beer in Oakland.

I've lived on the peninsula 20 years now so I do know where some places are to go hang to dine, drink and entertain.

True, you have to go to SF to get the most party per sq. mile, but that doesn't mean we don't have some party tucked away here and there on the peninsula.

FWIW, at least our faux-tuscan condos are seismically sound opposed to all those rustic shacks in the north bay that can come crumbling down when a big truck rattles down the street a little too loud.

[edited by: incrediBILL at 12:02 am (utc) on Feb. 5, 2009]

[g1smd]

There's a few SEO related conferences and meetings in the area at various times of the year, so you could combine business with pleasure...

[choster]

Don't get me wrong. There's plenty of nice places in the valley. But you wouldn't go to New York and spend all your time in Queens, either. Sure, Queens has better ethnic food and nice old neighborhoods, and activities you can't do in Manhattan like go to the beach. But if someone asks me what to do in New York, Queens things are going to be pretty low on the full list.

[incrediBILL]

Yup, wouldn't want to tell anyone to drive down the peninsula, CA 1 perhaps, see Devils Slide, drop in on Moss Beach or HMB for lunch, end your trip at Santa Cruz, none of that, it's just spectacular, not worth seeing ;)

[Tastatura]

Hey , I am on the peninsula too. Drive from/to SF to Half Moon Bay (or there about) on hwy 1 (PCH - zz top :) ) is nice and scenic. I am not sure if they finished repairs on Devil's slide yet...seems they are constantly doing something there especially with "newly" proposed tunnel. If you are in San Jose, beside already proposed places, you can also visit Tech museum. If you want to see where all the money in silicon valley (apparently) is, aka VCs, you can drive down on Page Mill road. Let me warn you - there is nothing special about it. San Francisco has well established "attractions" (btw - locals here call it just "city" not San Fran, or Frisco, etc. :) )

[LostOne]

Thank MB. I appreciate that mail mention of SMX in Santa Clara. Haven't been to any such web event get togethers since Orlando Pub Con. Thanks! Timing is great!

That's the kind of stuff I was looking for. Action? No party animal here anymore. I drank enough beer trucks in my life. Beer trucks? Yup, 12 pack a day x ten years equal 1 1/2 beer trucks. I used to sell the stuff too.

[Munster]

I went to the Muirwoods to see the giant redwoods which is just over the Golden Gate Bridge, or if you go further north you can go to the Redwood national park (Or Endor as they called it in return of the Jedi).

I was lucky enough to get chatting to a Google developer in a Bar in Sunnyvale who offered to give me and my brother a tour of the plex one evening which was VERY interesting.

Skyline BVD is worth a drive if you have a car, and Sand Francisco itself is unmissable. Alcatraz, Lombard street (I drove this in a mustang, to be honest you wont be short of things to do, watch Bullitt/Dirty Harry etc etc and decide what you want to see!