There are practical reasons to visit a city in wintertime, as well. There are fewer crowds when it's cold, and hotels frequently offer attractive weekend rates. Museums, theaters, shops and restaurants are all indoors, anyway. Public, indoor athletic facilities are springing up like mushrooms, and you'll really make your kids happy if you choose a hotel with a pool. The bottom line is that cities are exciting and fun, no matter what time of year it is. On your next weekend trip, take time to explore the city of San Jose, California where Spanish colonial character meets the technology revolution.
SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA
San Jose presents an interesting mix of old California and high-tech Silicon Valley. The town's two most family-oriented museums are downtown, just a few blocks apart. If you have older and younger children, one parent could head with the little ones for the Children's Discovery Museum of San Jose, while the other parent-child pair explores the Tech Museum of Innovation.
My family did both. What most impressed me at the Tech Museum was the live link to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Museum visitors use this to converse with divers deep in Monterey Bay Canyon. Many of the computer exhibits went right over my head, but every kid in the place was right at home. For adults who need guidance, there are scores of teenage volunteers ready to assist.
I got a good feeling the moment I spotted the big lavender Children's Discovery Museum of San Jose. I've been to lots of other kids' museums, and at too many, exhibits are closed for repair, the space is cramped, and it's obvious that funds are limited. It's quite the opposite in San Jose. Here, the Children's Discovery Museum is as architecturally important and well-maintained as a major art museum. Each exhibit is underwritten by a local corporation or civic organization. The overall feeling is that children really count.
Exhibits at the Discovery Museum are eclectic: Kids explore the old along with the new. One of the busiest groups I spotted was some little girls doing laundry with scrubbing boards, washtubs and a clothesline. The bank, post office, waterworks and real stagecoach are all terrific.
There are two other family-oriented attractions a short drive from downtown. Happy Hollow Park and Zoo, in Kelley Park, is unabashedly old-fashioned and a wonderful place for younger children. The park has a puppet theater with a crenelated castle stage, plus a big Viking ship to climb and a pint-sized fire station. This small zoo features only smaller animals such as wallabies, pygmy hippopotamuses and muntjac deer.
As we drove up to the Egyptian Museum and Planetarium, I wondered if I had stumbled onto the set of a '20s Hollywood movie. The facade is meant to be a reproduction of the Temple of Karnak, but to me it was pure California—a collage of lotus columns and monumental statuary. The museum is small and cozy, but its collection of mummies is one of the best I've seen. Not only are there the usual mummies of people (displayed in all degrees of wrapping), but there are cats, hawks, fish, a sitting baboon and the head of a sacred bull. A school group was visiting, and every kid there was riveted by the displays. We all went down together into the "tomb," which didn't feel at all authentic. I was sorry my visit didn't fall on a weekend. If it had, I could have taken a free class in hieroglyphics to "decipher the secrets of the ages" with "Dr. Diggs."
One of San Jose's best-known attractions is the sprawling, 160-room Winchester Mystery House. Sarah Winchester, the mansion's eccentric owner, was heiress to the Winchester Rifle fortune. After the deaths of her baby daughter and husband, Winchester was advised by spirits that in order to atone for the deaths of those killed by firearms produced by her husband's company, she must keep building her house forever. For 38 years, construction was continuous.
The Victorian mansion is one of the world's greatest architectural oddities. It has stairways to nowhere, doors opening onto blank walls, and a spirit room where no one but Sarah was permitted. The kids on the tour loved this funky find despite the guide's memorized script and unlively presentation. Nevertheless, I'd been wanting to see the place for years, and finally getting there rounded out my trip perfectly.
SAN JOSE
San Jose Convention and Visitors Bureau125 South Market St., Suite 300
San Jose, CA 95113
408-295-9600/800-SAN-JOSE
Children's Discovery Museum of San Jose
180 Woz Way
San Jose, CA 95110
408-298-5437
Tech Museum of Innovation
201 South Market St.
San Jose, CA 95113
408-294-TECH
Happy Hollow Park and Zoo
1300 Senter Road
San Jose, CA 95112
408-277-3000
Egyptian Museum and Planetarium
1342 Naglee Avenue
San Jose, CA 95191
408-947-3636
Winchester Mystery House
525 South Winchester Boulevard
San Jose, CA 95128-2588
408-247-2000
SAN JOSE HOTELS
The Fairmont HotelThis gorgeous, contemporary downtown hotel is family-friendly and has a lovely garden pool. Kids under 18 stay free when sharing a room with parents. Weekend rates are $179 to $269 per night. Call 408-998-1900 or 800-527-4727 for more information.
San Jose Hilton and Towers
This hotel is located in the heart of downtown and has a swimming pool. Kids under 18 stay free. Hilton's regular weekend rate of $269 per night includes continental breakfast. Call 800-HILTONS for more information.
SAN JOSE FUN FACT
San Jose was California's first state capital.Travel writer Joy Anderson has been city-struck since her early childhood in New York City.
Please keep in mind that phone numbers, addresses, and prices are subject to change. Updated July 2005.
