Re: Going to Palo Alto - Updated
For awhile, Palo Alto was home to a kid named Jim Morrison, the same Morrison that would grow up and front the Doors. P.A. is a town build on land leased from Stanford University. I doubt the university will ever get it back, but until the lease expires they are paying rent. Stanford Uni was founded by Leland Stanford, the builder of the western part of the transcontinental railroad. The govt was paying 3-times the price per mile of railroad that was built in the mountains. California has these gentle, sloping, foothills that Stanford claimed were mountains since they werent exactly flat. He prevailed. This allowed him to build more miles of railroad faster with Chinese labor at a phenomenal profit.<br /><br />It is worth walking the grounds of Stanford University. Check out the statue gardens, and several museums there.<br /><br />If you have a chance, on California Street in Palo Alto is a camera store called Keeble and Shuchat. The store has two parts, one for consumers on the North side/corner of the street, and one for professional photographers across the street next to Kinkos copy center. Everyone in Palo Alto knows where this is. You want to go a couple doors down from the K&S pro photo store to a little hole in the wall, literally, both little and a hole in a wall. There is an old Chinese man there that makes only pot stickers. They are the best!!! I like the sweet pork buns the best but everything he makes is exceptionally good, served on a paper plate, and you get to drink Coka Cola out of the can. The shriveled up old lady wondering around in back is his ancient mother, if she is still with us. If he doesnt talk to you when you go in, dont worry. He understands English better than he speaks it.<br /><br />From P.A., San Francisco is 20-mins north, silicone valley is 20-mins south. Half Moon Bay is 20-miles (40-mins) west at the end of hiway 92. At the north end of the HMB harbor is where the restaurants are. Nice atmosphere. The party boats that leave out of HMB have access to fishing grounds that boats out of the SF Bay usually dont have the time to go to. Just past the restaurants you will see a hill that overlooks the Pacific Ocean. Walk to the top of the hill. You will often see huge, I mean really huge waves rolling in. Those are the famous mavericks that only the best of the best surfers will attempt. This time of year you may see surfers there on the weekends trying to master what can be 40-fters.<br /><br />Santa Cruz is 30-minutes south of silicon valley (Santa Clara/San Jose) at the end of hiway 17. As was mentioned, it is an extremely liberal town of stoned out hippies that refuse to accept that Jerry Garcia is dead. It is also near the epicenter of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake that collapsed the Cypress Freeway 60-minutes away in Oakland. SC is a quaint little town, fun to walk around it. A decent fish sandwich can be had at the Crows Nest restaurant at the harbor.<br /><br />Just a few minutes north of Santa Cruz is Ana Nuevo State Reserve. Make reservation NOW! If you need help with it, let me know. This is the time of year when the elephant seals come from all over to breed. People are prohibited from accessing the beach while the elephant seals are here. Its for your own safety. You will be taken on a walk thru the beach area with a guide-person that will keep everyone a safe distance from the enormous animals, but they can move and move fast over sand, kind of like Jabba the Hutt on speed. Its a little un-nerving to walk among carnivores the size of a car, but they mostly just lay there looking at you, sizing you up as either a meal or something to be used to relieve their sexual frustration. I'm not sure which would be worse. Take you camera.<br /><br />
http://www.parks.ca.gov/default.asp?page_id=1111 <br /><br />If you have the time
Monterey Bay is 30-mins south of Santa Cruz along hiway 1. Monterey was originally settled by the Chinese that built Stanfords railroad, but Italian fisherman moved in and chased the Chinese out. The Chinese moved south to what is now Carmel By The Sea (we call it just Carmel) and Point Lobos but the smell of their fish drying in the sun didnt go over well with the Italians, so the Italians burned the Chinese out. Point Lobos is a wonderful seaside park to walk around in. If you want to snorkel, Whalers Cove is a phenomenal cold water playground. Diving is possible by requires advanced reservations, hard to get because Point Lobos is considered one of the best 5 places in the world for diving. <br /><br />From silicon valley to Monterey is a 90-min drive. It is a town you can spend a whole weekend in and not have enough time. The Packard family (as in Hewlett and Packard
HP, headquarters in Palo Alto) paid for the initial Monterey Bay Aquarium. It has since been expanded. Its well worth the time to visit the aquarium. Carmel is in that area, too. It is one of my favorite towns to walk around in. Clint Eastwoods house is there. Cant miss it; its surrounded by 10-ft stone walls with gargoyles on top. Knock on the door and see if hes home. <br />
<br /><br />When will you be here and how much free time will you have?
