The U.S.S. Hornet
Going to visit an aircraft carrier by myself or even with Chris is pretty boring and makes for a short tour. If the explanation isn't in the short information film or posted on a sign, I have no idea what I'm looking at. But if you take my dad and brother with you -- it is a whole different experience. It's like having your own personal interactive audio tour. For example: Me: "So... what's this?" Dad: "That? Oh that's a TBM-3E Avenger, a WWII torpedo bomber used until about the mid-fifties..."
We were able to take one of the tours offered throughout the day, and I thought it was fascinating to learn about the typhoon that the carrier had been through. It was crazy to think this huge ship was turned on its side during the storm and the control tower nearly filled with water.
Golden Gate Bridge
Its always a gamble when taking visitors to San Francisco to see the Golden Gate bridge; will you be able to see the bridge or not? It can be a bright sunny day in San Jose, the whole way to San Francisco, and even sunny in San Francisco, but the bridge will be covered in fog. This makes it impossible to see the bridge until you are on it. This was one of those days. Once we were on the bridge you could see about 100 yards ahead, but impossible to see the whole bridge.
Though you can't see the entire bridge, it's still fun to drive and walk across the bridge. You don't realize how big those cables are until you are right next to it. It makes it that much more impressive.
Winchester Mystery House
I agree, the listed ticket price for tours is outrageous. I still think its a fun tourist destination and nearly the only one located in the city of San Jose -- just find a coupon before you go :) I would love to be able to wander around the house on my own and go exploring.
Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum
Our original plans for the day had been to drive down to Santa Cruz and enjoy the beach and boardwalk, but on our way there, we'd made it only about 5 minutes away from our apartment when we hit heavy traffic going toward Santa Cruz. We forgot that since it was Memorial Day everyone was headed to the beach. We decided it was not worth a two hour drive and slogging through traffic to get to a super crowded beach, so we stayed around San Jose. They have a pretty cool Egyptian museum in San Jose, and we spent the afternoon exploring the museum.
Outside they have this game set up so you can learn and play a real ancient Egyptian game.
17-Mile Drive
It seemed like a perfect day for 17-mile drive, but when we finally arrived and got out of the car - whew! We nearly got blown away. It was a pretty windy, chilly day and we stayed as bundled up as we could while we enjoyed the stops along the drive.
Carmel-by-the-Sea
At the end of the 17-mile drive is Carmel-by-the-Sea, a cute little coastal town with lots of fun shops and a beautiful beach. We got there right in time to watch the sunset.
I'm so glad my family could come and visit! I loved showing them around and spending time with them. Come back soon!
