Bay Area Attractions

[Basquo]

One thing I just ran across while surfing... The Winchester Mystery House!  Ever hear of it? I've been wanting to go since I was about 7 or 8. Freaky-ass mansion. It's in San Jose, I think an hour or so from SF.  I saw a tour website but I won't drone with the details unless someone else is interested.

The other place I found interesting is the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk.  Didn't they film parts of The Lost Boys there?

[JohnOso]

Creighton,

I'll admit i've never been to the Winchester Mystery House, but San Jose is indeed about an hour(ish) drive from San Francisco.  Old Lady Winchester sounded like one crazy-ass bat.     

I'm not sure if you're going to rent a car or not, but getting to downtown San Jose from SF (Fourth and King Station) is very easy...you could hop on CalTrain for the ride down the Peninsula.  VTA is the name of the transit agency in San Jose, with both buses and light-rail vehicles in that area.

www.caltrain.org

www.vta.org

The all-encompassing website for the various Bay Area transit agencies, plus trip planning is 511.org.....

www.511.org


Santa Cruz is a bit more difficult without a car, but can be done.

It's really the only big "beach city" in the Bay Area, and is probably just shy of two hours from San Francisco (in a car).  There's a lot more palm trees, with broad sandy beaches, and of course the Boardwalk.   It's also an extremely liberal college town, with a jazzed-up downtown pedestrian mall (and panhandling homeless people).

Personally, I don't go to the beaches here too much because it pains me not to be able to get in the water (cold water, rip currents and the occasional Great White shark).

Adding insult to injury,  much of the time summer high season for Northern California beaches means fog-shrouded shoreline unfortunately (although I have heard that much of the time Santa Cruz escapes the persistent fogbanks).

The middle of September is traditionally the beginning of "summer" for Northern California, since the cold fogs of the traditional summer months have more or less subsided.

More than you wanted to know, but there you have it....

John

[allanq]

Creighton,
I'm not sure how public transportation would work out to get to the Winchester Mystery House. The website gives directions, but only by car. Getting there by public transportation may be theoretically possible, but it would probably be very time-consuming.

I would recommend taking a guided tour that leaves from San Francisco. It's a four-hour tour, including travel time. You can find out more about it at the following website:
www.supersightseeing.com

This will cost more than taking public transportation, but it will be a great deal more convenient.

Allan

(I just noticed another instance of how crazy the English language is:  "four-hour tour."  All three words end in "our" but they're all pronounced differently.)

[Basquo]

Thanks, Allan, that site is exactly what I was looking at yesterday before I started this thread.  I like that they pick you up at the hotel!

[pozattitude]

San Francisco has more than enough places to go and see.  I wouldn't recommend going outside the city except for maybe going to Sausalito on the ferry.
For those staying longer than the weekend, SF Bay is one of the most beautiful places on Earth.  Enjoy the beautiful towns of Sausalito and Tiburon (both offer spectacular views of San Francisco).  The North bay also offers you the best wine country in the USA ( Sonoma and Napa).  If you have the time and energy, take a drive to Russian River where you can taste some of the best wines while you drive or bike through the gorgeous valley.

The South Bay is home to Silicone Valley and the city of San Jose ( 3rd largest in California, 10th largest in the country).  High tech industry and the feeling of being in suburbia.  The valley is about 20 degrees warmer than the city.  The only things of interest would be Great America Park (rollercoasters), the Winchester Mystery House (A crazy lady kept building her house in the hopes that she would stay alive as long as the construction kept going) and Stamford University in Palo Alto.
Although somewhat considered South Bay ( I disagree) is Santa Cruz.  The only true beach town in the area.  Very laid back, tolerant almost hippie like college town with the famous boardwalk ( yes, Lost Boys was filmed there).
On the East Bay you will find Berkley (birth place of the student protest movement of the 60's).  Still is very eclectic.

Regardless of what you are into, San Francisco Bay will have what you are looking for!

[Oceanbeach]

I have been to the Winchester Mystery House and been on three of the five tours.  Having lived in Santa Cruz and Cupertino it is kind of hard to miss.  I guess I could say I have been to the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk a few times too.  Both of these locations are in different counties and the travel/logistics would be difficult for a large group such as ours.  Both trips are over an hour away from San Francisco.

Great America in Vallejo is close to BART and is a much better amusement part than Santa Cruz.  I am kind of insane over high tech fast roller coasters and have been on all the Great America rides in San Jose and Majic Mountain.  However comma since this is in my back yard and I don't have to travel like most of you just to be here, I am up for whatever everyone else wants to try.  Have the best day
Michael

Some members of my family are very touchy about the term "Kenchester Mystery House" because Uncle Ken and his swimsuit model wife kept designing and building and redesigning and building a showplace home in Corinthian Bay.

[Oceanbeach]

The caverns used in The Lost Boys do exist but they are a few miles away from the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk.  In the film, Kiefer Sutherland and Jason Patric were racing their motorbikes across the tressle.  Across that railroad tressle is the Third Street Beach.  The caverns used are actually underneath the University of California Santa Cruz campus.  Been there a few times with Geology majors.

Having been a Santa Cruz resident during the filming, it seemed odd to me the story line was about vampires because at that time Santa Cruz had the largest amount of covens than anywhere in California.  As a student at the university, it was not unusual to be sitting next to any group of other students talking about witchcraft and spells.  The witches have moved and now Sonoma County is the area where the most covens are located in California.   Don't know about the vampires... just chalk that up to Hollywood fiction.  Have the best day
Michael