What to do in Santa Clara when you're not coding

March 4, 2006 9:43 PM

I'm going to be doing some traveling in the near future to a part of the world with which I'm not familiar. I'm going to be in Santa Clara, CA for Eclipsecon, and I want ideas on what to do in the evenings assuming that I don't have a car and will be there from March 20 to March 23rd, leaving on the 24th.
posted by ChrisR to travel & transportation (24 comments total)

Well - you'll be about 15-minutes from San Jose (South) and roughly 1 tp 1-1/2 hours from San Francsico (North). What are you looking for? Bars, clubs, music, restaurants?
posted by ericb at 9:53 PM on March 4, 2006

*1 to 1-1/2 hours*

*San Francisco*

Also -- there is some activity in Palo Alto (about 1/2 hour north of where you will be) -- being a college town with Stanford University located there.
posted by ericb at 10:00 PM on March 4, 2006

Being without a car -- my bet is that you'll be best to check out San Jose nightlife by taxi.
posted by ericb at 10:05 PM on March 4, 2006

Check out the Winchester Mystery House. Last tour on Thursday is at 5:00pm.
posted by MonkeySaltedNuts at 10:42 PM on March 4, 2006

I live in San Jose; I lived in Santa Clara for 5 years before that, and I've lived in the general area (Cupertino, Sunnyvale, etc.) for 12 years.

You didn't say what sort of things you like, but you did mention evening so I'm assuming hiking, etc. is out. You also mention not having a car, which can be a significant problem in the Bay Area.

That being said, the Santa Clara Caltrain station will let you get to San Francisco (About a 1 hour train ride) or San Jose (About 10 minutes). In San Jose there are clubs and bars, some of which are pretty nice. There's an Improv downtown, and what do you know -- For the nights you're in town, so's Bob Saget. Which I would never have though recommending to anyone until I read somewhere that he's supposed to be funny as hell. Maybe try to get tickets?

Sadly, the Sharks are on the road that weekend, or I'd suggest a hockey game. However, given that the Shark Tank's free of hockey, they're holding a Monster Truck race for the days you're in town. You didn't mention if you're a redneck or not, but either way you might enjoy it. :)

For random bars and stuff you could check here.

Any of that sound interesting? Not your thing? If so, be more specific and I'll try to dig up more.
posted by wolftrouble at 10:42 PM on March 4, 2006

definitely check out upcoming.org's SF Bay-related listings - there are a bunch of them - and laughingsquid.com, which as more offbeat/eclectic/artsy type stuff. Looks like you'll be traveling by taxi though.

There's activity in Palo Alto? Really? I keep on waiting to stumble upon the Secret Life of Palo Alto - I'm not hopeful it exists.
posted by rmm at 10:42 PM on March 4, 2006

You can use caltrain to get to San Jose, San Francisco, and Palo Alto.

As far as what you actually can do, I guess, depends on what you're interested in. The very bestest ever pizza is in Sunnyvale, which is close, and also with a caltrain stop - Giovanni's.

If you've been dying for those latest Japanese crafting books or all of the Elegant Gothic Lolita Bibles there's the Kinokuniya bookstore in San Francisco's Japantown.

San Jose's relatively new "hip" spot is Santana Row.
posted by birdie birdington at 10:45 PM on March 4, 2006

is the conference at the westin (now hyatt)? the light rail goes right by there on tasman. you can get to palo alto by taking the VTA light rail to mountain view (castro street, which is the main food/shopping street), and then getting on caltrain to palo alto. palo alto has 2 "main" streets, california and university. california is much smaller than university and as you might guess, university street is very near stanfurd.

also if you keep going north on caltrain you'll dead-end into san francisco. SF is about 10,000 times more interesting than san jose for evening activities (IMHO of course)
posted by joeblough at 10:46 PM on March 4, 2006

giovannis is a favorite lunchtime destination for my crew. superthin new-york style pizza, though they do make a deep dish pizza that i've never tried. its worth visiting.

if you are crazy about pizza then you can find your way to the BART and head up to rockridge to get Zachary's. some people think its the best chicago style pizza in the world.
posted by joeblough at 10:48 PM on March 4, 2006

oh yeah - for public transportation in the bay area, check out transit.511.org
posted by joeblough at 10:50 PM on March 4, 2006

Ptth. Giovanni's is good, but Vito's is better. A little further from where he's going to be, but worth the trip (if he can figure out a way to get there).
posted by wolftrouble at 10:53 PM on March 4, 2006

Does Santa Clara for a convention mean you'll be at the Santa Clara Convention Center? Maybe staying at a hotel across the street? If so, be prepared for the worst sort of Silicon Valley experience -- that area is just office parks and the occasional strip mall, and a totally bleak ghost town, by night.

However, the VTA Light Rail has stops nearby, which you could ride right into downtown San Jose, or to Mountain View (where I live) at the end of one of its lines. At that Mountain View terminus you could have a fun walk up and down our main drag of Castro Street, lined with many restaurants and some good bookstores. (This Castro is not to be confused with the one in San Francisco.)

Or maybe your convention is somewhere else in Santa Clara? Doubtful that it would be in Santa Clara's downtown as there's nothing there of note, really, except the old Mission. You might be in a hotel along the Penninsula's main boulevard, el Camino (Real), in which case you'll be able to explore by taking the VTA #22 bus -- you can ride it as far north as Palo Alto where you could explore University Avenue, another fun main street lined with a different set of shops, restaurants, and bookstores -- more collegiate, less Asian than Mountain View.

You could also explore the Penninsula via Caltrain which has a stop at the old Santa Clara station. Its northern terminus is in San Francisco, but far from the usual tourist destinations -- you shouldn't really plan on a Caltrain trip up to the City unless you have a day to spare.

Sunnyvale is one stop north of Santa Clara on Caltrain, and its little downtown of Murphy Street is adjacent to the station.
posted by Rash at 11:06 PM on March 4, 2006

Eclipsecon is indeed at the Santa Clara Convention Center. I work about a block from the building. Um, there's not a whole heck of a lot in the immediate area except for a handful of eating establishments that I frequent. There's an amusement park across the street but it's closed for the off-season.

There's a lot of little "downtown" areas that are peppered with restaurants & clubs. Santana Row, Murphy Street, Castro Street.. it really depends on what you're interested in.

You can take VTA light rail to cool places like downtown Mountain View (castro street) or the other way to the Great Mall in Milpitas. Dave & Busters is there, and provides lots of arcade entertainment. Or you could catch Caltrain into San Francisco but to be honest with you, San Francisco is kind of overrated. If you've never seen the Golden Gate Bridge or some tall buildings before, then go for it. Just note that Caltrain (and VTA) are not 24x7 operations.

So it really depends on what your interests are. Post some more and let us know. :-)
posted by drstein at 11:28 PM on March 4, 2006

The Stanford Theater in Palo Alto shows vintage movies in a restored theater. Strongly recommended.

There are two Togo's Sandwich shops near the SCCC. It's a locally-founded regional chain with a good array of sandwiches. There's one at Tasman and Lick Mill and one at Great America Parkway and Mission College boulevard.

The Computer History Museum in Mountain View is worth a look. It's relatively new, so the hours are limited. Intel also has a museum right down the street on Mission College Boulevard.

The Tech Museum is a short light-rail ride away in downtown San Jose. It's a little more lively and hands-on then the other museums, and it has an IMAX dome.

Check the weekly alt-paper Metro for more ideas and information.
posted by JDC8 at 11:11 AM on March 5, 2006

I was going to mention the Stanford till I checked the dates ChrisR would be in town. Since they're only showing movies on the weekend^* I figured he'd be out of luck but perhaps their long-delayed Ronald Colman festival will have started by then.

* I'll be heading there in a couple hours to see The Treasure of the Sierra Madre -- "We don' need no stinking badges!"
posted by Rash at 11:36 AM on March 5, 2006

there is a togos right down the street from the convention center that's a tad closer than either of the two JDC8 mentioned. its next to the Taco Hell where the shell station is as great america and old mt.view-alviso rd.

but togos? yikes. quality has gone way downhill since their heyday and there are lots of other, much better places to eat. like the mom-and-pop Old Ironsides cafe.
posted by joeblough at 4:10 PM on March 5, 2006

Someone take him to St. Johns and get him a cheesesteak sandwich.
Or Tasman Teriyaki. (I eat there about once a week)

Can't swing a dead cat around here without hitting a mexican joint, but Pedro's is about 1 mile South on Great America Parkway and has excellent food. There's also a small place in Alviso that has great Mexican food as well, but it's a bit too far to walk.

Maybe he'll reply and let us know WTF he's interested in. Or if he is in fact a he! ;)
posted by drstein at 5:18 PM on March 5, 2006

Man, drstein, I should have thought of St. John's right off the bat. Freaking awesome burgers and steaks. Good call.
posted by wolftrouble at 6:12 PM on March 5, 2006

a small place in Alviso that has great Mexican food

Would this be Maria Elena's? (On Gold St.) Somewhere I heard her chicken mole was great but I've yet to visit.
posted by Rash at 8:20 PM on March 5, 2006

yah he's talking about maria elena's. as a vegetarian its hard to eat there, since i think everything has lard in it.
posted by joeblough at 10:35 PM on March 5, 2006

all: Embarassing as it is, I completely forgot I'd posted this until this morning.

Some great answers, many of which make the (valid) point that I should be more specific about what I'm interested in. Assuming any of you are still checking it out, here's the skinny:

Demographics: 28 and male
Geopolitics: I'm Canadian and (socially) liberal
Activities: I'm not much of a drinker, I don't generally do drugs (and pretty much never, when traveling) and I've become a bit of an improvised theatre hound in the last year or so. I'm a geek, as the fact that I'm attending EclipseCon will pretty much attest.

Speaking of, the con is being held at the Santa Clara convention centre, and I'm staying at the Hilton across the street. So the train ideas look good to me.

I'm going to sweep up the list of answers, tagging ones that are interesting to me, and hopefully anyone who was needing more info will have more for me now that I've been a good poster.

Thanks for the replies so far.
posted by ChrisR at 7:16 AM on March 6, 2006

Oh... And musical inclinations: If I were in LA, I'd be at Das Bunker, if only because there's really nowhere else I know of that comes sort of close to the mix of twitchy/clicky/bangy noise that I prefer to listen to.
posted by ChrisR at 7:23 AM on March 6, 2006

well, the legendary jwz owns the dna lounge in SF and they seem to book shows that fit the bill, but i didnt check their schedule to see how it lines up for you.
posted by joeblough at 9:00 AM on March 6, 2006

joeblough, I had forgotten about that lounge. I've kind of wanted to check it out, in an idle "I live 2000 km away" sort of way. Sounds like a good opportunity.

The taxi ride back to the hotel will be a killer, though :)
posted by ChrisR at 1:27 PM on March 6, 2006