San Jose. 6 hours. No car. What do you do? WHAT. DO. YOU. DO?

October 11, 2008 7:04 PM

Potential six-hour downtime in San Jose, CA. Conditions apply...

It looks like I'll be stuck in San Jose for around six hours next Friday. The conditions are that I almost surely won't have a car, and will be relying on VTA bus and light rail to get around. I'm up for the whole spectrum of activities, from doing touristy things, to having sitting around time at a coffee shop or bookstore. Lunch will probably need to happen sometime in this time range (starting around 11am. I need to be at the airport shortly before 6pm).

I'm aware of this old thread, but most of the options in that thread involve car-travel.

posted by gc to travel & transportation (5 comments total)

Downtown SJ is relatively close to SJC, you could take the shuttle bus to the light rail station on 1st and head south. You'll find the Tech Museum there (very close to a LR station) and they are currently running the only US appearance of the"Leonardo" exhibition. The Tech has a soup n' sandwich deli inside along w/ free wifi or you could go across the street for a nice meal at Il Fornaio, or a half block further to Original Joes. San Jose Museum of Art is across the park from the Tech as are many other restaurants.

If there's more specific categories of stuff you're interested in seeing, ask away. I live here.
posted by jamaro at 7:34 PM on October 11, 2008

Funny how I've lived in San Jose all my life and can't even think of a lot of cool stuff to do. But the light rail does go to decent places. Off the top of my head:

- Tech Museum - in downtown, should be reachable by light rail and bus, along with some walking
- Along that line, the city's art museum is within reach, though it's quite small.
- Then there's the Discovery Museum. Kids' stuff, but worth a look.
- Happy Hollow Park & Zoo can be visited through VTA, though it'll probably be a bit of a hassle (look up their website for more info)
- Like libraries? There's the MLK Main Library. It's BIG.

I can't think of any more off the top of my head, but if you can get to the San Jose State Uni area, there's bound to be stuff there to do and see.
posted by curagea at 7:41 PM on October 11, 2008

(Just as a caution: Happy Hollow Zoo is currently undergoing a massive renovation and is currently closed to visitors until Fall 2009. You'll have to catch Guinea Pig Island on another trip.)
posted by jamaro at 7:43 PM on October 11, 2008

You'll have to catch Guinea Pig Island on another trip.

Aww! =(
posted by gc at 8:22 PM on October 11, 2008

For lunch I might recommend Su's Mongolian BBQ. You've got to get there before 2:00 because they close from 2:00 to 5:00. Even though it's so close to downtown, getting there by bus would kill about an hour of your afternoon, alas -- perhaps a taxi ride (~$5 I would think) would work?

While Su's is just your average Mongolian BBQ, being an average Mongolian BBQ is heaven itself -- a Su's BBQ bowl with just the right amount of hot, spicy oil would be on my list of "Last Meals" if I were a condemned man.
posted by troy at 8:08 AM on October 12, 2008