In San Jose for the night

[fenchurch]

Yesterday was spent driving to Salinas where we stayed the night, before heading to the Monterey Bay Aquarium today... rackham has wanted to go there since "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home" came out (or possibly before, but that movie *really* made him want to see it). It was quite impressive, although I couldn't help comparing it to the Melbourne Aquarium (they're actually quite different and each have things that blow the other away). The Kelp Tank, in particular, was absolutely incredible... but a good portion of the aquarium was geared pretty specifically toward children. Not a bad thing, but not as interesting to adults.

We walked around Cannery Row for a bit and ended up getting sucked into the Ghirardelli Shop there.. where I totally blew my diet out of the water with something called a Midnight Reverie Sundae (Ghirardelli chocolate ice cream layered with dark chocolate sauce and topped with whipped cream, dark chocolate chips and a square of Midnight Reverie chocolate (86% dark chocolate)). It was so good... but I don't think I'm going to want chocolate again for awhile. Apparently, it actually is possible to overdose on chocolate!

Afterward we drove up to San Jose, by way of Gilmore. What a surprise to find out that the tales are true: the town of Gilmore smells VERY strongly of garlic. We just missed the Garlic Festival by a few days (it was last weekend), but the scent permeates everything there. We got into San Jose early enough that we decided to catch a movie... so I *finally* got to see "The X-Files: I Want to Believe" (and now I can start reading through the backlog of peoples' comments on it), but I think I'll save my comments on it for another post, in case anyone is still trying to stay unspoiled.

We got back to the hotel around 9:30 and realized we still hadn't had dinner... the nearby choices weren't terribly promising (since neither of us are fond of Denny's), but just a few blocks away we found a nice-looking Phở place that was still open. Excellent food! And the owners were really nice people -- we didn't notice the handwritten "Cash Only" sign until we went up to pay and we were a bit short on the cash front (by about $2), so Rackham used the ATM they had in the lobby, all while the owner was telling us we could just pay part tonight and drop the rest off later. We chatted with her for a bit and found out that she used to live in Beaverton, OR when she first came to the US, but she thought it was too cold there and headed south (the very thing I like about the Northwest :-). Anyway, if you're ever in San Jose, I can highly recommend the food and service at Phở Bang.

Tomorrow we're heading over to the Winchester House, which is something I've always wanted to see... and then we're planning on taking I-80 back to Sacramento (so we can go through the tunnel) and eventually on up to Red Bluff for the night.

Comments

[rackham.livejournal.com]

I'd just like to say that my sister's raving about the kelp tank from her visit several years ago had a lot more to do with my desire to see the aquarium than Star Trek (though that did add to the attraction).

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

Your trip sounds really good. I was about to go 'Salinas - my friend lives in Salinas' - when I realised that it was unlikely that you had overnighted in Kansas.....

[rosiewook.livejournal.com]

Ahhh...my old haunts. When I was a poor federal, low-grade employee living in Oakland, the big trip was going to Monterey.

And if you think the garlic smell in Gilroy is bad now, you need to drive through during the Gilroy Garlic Festival. It's enough to knock you out!

That sundae sounds delicious, though. Yummy!

[fenchurche.livejournal.com]

I had no idea you used to live in Oakland! And I'm guessing one of the reasons the garlic smell was so strong was because we had just missed the Festival by a few days. It still took me by surprise, though.

[rosiewook.livejournal.com]

According to the internet, you did just miss it.

If the conditions are right, it still smells pretty strong! :)

[econopodder.livejournal.com]

My dad and I went to the Monterey Aquarium last Christmas. I admit I was disappointed. My previous big-league aquarium experience is limited to Baltimore, which blows Monterey away in terms of size and glossiness and especially colorfulness. What I did enjoy in Monterey were the two otter tanks. Fun to watch!

[jawajames.livejournal.com]

otters are the best.
my favorite exhibit at the san diego zoo is a large enclosure where they have african river otters mixing with Allan's Swamp monkeys... or as we call it:
Otters VS Monkeys!

[fenchurche.livejournal.com]

The one thing it really has going for it are those gigantic tanks... which were pretty darned impressive. But the smaller exhibits were just that... small. The otter tanks were pretty cool... as were the otters (and harbor seals) we could see out in the ocean from the balcony of the Aquarium.

[ukamikanasi.livejournal.com]

The Winchester House is awesome and very creepy. I want to go for one of their Halloween tours someday. :)

If you're in Redding around a meal time, I'm assured by a coworker that a restaurant called Cattlemen's has awesome steaks.

[jedihealer.livejournal.com]

Wow, chocolate and garlic in the same trip. ;-)When I lived in New York State there was a small town called Phelps, that held an annual sauerkraut festival. Never managed to get there....................

[evilawyer.livejournal.com]

If you look to the west and through the mountains, you may be able to see me sitting here waving wildly at you.

I hadn't realized the Gilroy Garlic Festival was last weekend! I'd have liked to go, although it's usually too crowded for my taste. Gilroy usually smells its worst about now; the rest of the year it's barely noticeable.

[fenchurche.livejournal.com]

Hee! I had no idea you lived down this way (as is often the case with people you know online, it's easy to have absolutely no clue where they live).

[jawajames.livejournal.com]

and how was the winchester mystery house?

i went there once as a kid with my family. other than the room of stairs, the tour was mostly boring since the tour group was way too slow for pre-teen that i was back then. the garden self-guided tour was even more boring

[missmurchison.livejournal.com]

Sounds like you're having a great trip. Is Winchester House the place that crazy widow turned into a maze because she was afraid of ghosts?

[fenchurche.livejournal.com]

Yep. Or at least they think that's why she did it. Part of the mystery is that they really have no idea. She was apparently a very private person and most of what they know about her comes from the people who worked for her and some of their family members.