Hey TB-ers... Help Me Plan a Trip to San Jose

[jaywa]

Well the wife and I have decided we want to take a getaway and we've tentatively decided on San Jose. She wants to go see the dolphins (seals, whatever) and drink wine, I've never spent any time in California and we both want to go someplace that's reasonably warm in the winter and where we can find some good accommodations, dining and night life without spending "big city" prices (hence, staying away from San Francisco and L.A.).

So, would love to hear from anyone who lives in the San Jose area or has traveled their re places to stay, where to eat, the music scene, attractions to check out (or avoid), etc.

Thanks!

[Phalex]

First things first there fella! Do you know the way to San Jose?

[bassic.science]

Few things:

1) I'm gonna guess that CA winters are nicer than SD, but San Jose winters aren't sunshine and margaritas. You can get some sun, but temps can range from the 30s to 50s and I wouldn't be surprised if you got rained on.

2) San Jose can and will deliver on "big city prices", don't forget the Silicon Valley and all the rich entrepreneurs and computer nerds all drove up the cost of EVERYTHING around that area.

3) The nearest place to see dolphins/seals would be Santa Cruz or Monterey. Both will take about an hour to get to from San Jose. Based on what you've described, I'd almost say that Monterey is a better destination for you, but the weather there will probably be cold and damp.

I recommend you look into heading further south and hitting San Diego instead. Absolutely gorgeous winters, and all the things you were just asking about. If you have questions about either locale feel free to ask me.

[bassteban]

San Jose is landlocked. Go to San Diego(nice people), or Monterey(seals, otters, THE aquarium).

[arbitrary]

I would never in a million years, out of all the places in CA to go to, actually choose to vacation in San Jose. sorry to be a buzz kill. Try Monterey/Carmel, Santa Cruz area, or the southern shore line, hell the Northern Coast is beautiful too.

[bassteban]

Fort Bragg/Mendocino- although it would be COLD there right now, methinks...

[Munjibunga]

Yeah, Monterey or San Diego. There are a million more things to do in San Diego than in San Jose, not the least of which is Bass San Diego. The weather is much better, too.

[MakiSupaStar]

Another vote for San Diego. Another option might be Santa Barbara. From there you could also head towards Solvang. Lots of wineries and wine tasting tours there if that's your thing. Santa Barbara can get cold too, but that wine area is generally warmer and sunnier. Still, if weather is your thing then San Diego is a better choice.

[bassguppy]

The coast of northern California is likely to be cold, a mix of more clouds than sun, and damp/rainy during the winter. Days will most likely never reach above the low 50's during the winter. During the winter LA or San Diego is the place to go. You can't beat San Francisco any time of year though, a world-class city.

[pacojas]

i'm voting for Sandy Eggo, also!

infact, i'm heading there Thursday to tail-gate at the Raiders vs Chargers game. after said game, it's off to Tijuana to celebrate a Raider victory. the border is less than 20minutes from the stadium.

take your woman to Deggo AND Mexico in one fell-swoop! FTW

[Starrchild]

Originally Posted by pacojas

i'm voting for Sandy Eggo, also!

infact, i'm heading there Thursday to tail-gate at the Raiders vs Chargers game. after said game, it's off to Tijuana to celebrate a Raider victory. the border is less than 20minutes from the stadium.

take your woman to Deggo AND Mexico in one fell-swoop! FTW

Raaaaaiiiiiiiiiiiidddddddeeeeeeerrrrrrsssssss!

[skwee]

San Jose is a really sprawled out city. You'd have more fun in Carmel, Monterey, and the coast. Otherwise, go up to San Francisco!

[smeet]

San Jose is actually bigger than San Francisco I believe. It's also not a pretty place, quite urban actually. If you want warm, I echo the recommendations for San Diego, a very nice relaxed place to visit. There are beautiful places in Northern California (San Francisco is actually really nice, Marin, Carmel, Monterey), but the winter weather is cold and misty.

[onewebfoot]

Originally Posted by skwee

San Jose is a really sprawled out city. You'd have more fun in Carmel, Monterey, and the coast. Otherwise, go up to San Francisco!

Yeah, in my opinion, this. And San Diego is otherwise worthy of the predominant emphasis in this thread.

Ride a bike in San Jose, get killed. It's in the news. Stay off bikes in San Jose. Next door Santa Clara is OK thus far, by my twice daily experience, but likely not relevant (in discussion at hand).

[bassteban]

IME people in SD are very nice.

[UncleFluffy]

Yeah, sorry. Agreed.

I live in SF (or, at least, did until June) and work in the South Bay. San Jose will cost you just as much but deliver half as much fun. You're going to hit the rainy season soon as well - if you're going to be planning on a trip before April, go well south, or go north of the GG bridge and find somewhere cosy to nest.

[jaywa]

Cool, thanks for all the advice.

It looks like San Jose is off the table now anyway (the wife changed her mind and now wants to visit her sister out East)... but from the majority opinion, we won't be missing much.

[bassic.science]

Originally Posted by pacojas

infact, i'm heading there Thursday to tail-gate at the Raiders vs Chargers game. after said game, it's off to Tijuana to celebrate a Raider victory. the border is less than 20minutes from the stadium.

GREAT victory, and I really didn't think Oakland stood a chance with so many key injuries. That injury to McNeill ended up killing the Chargers, Kamerion Wimbley DOMINATED Dombrowski/Rivers.

Qualcomm had to be mostly filled with Oakland fans, every time they made a play there was tons of applause and when things went the Chargers' way it was real quiet.