San Jose’s Winchester Mystery House

by Jeremy Kressmann on

This past weekend I found myself in San Jose, California. As far as Bay Area tourism is concerned, San Jose has always been the red-headed stepchild to more well-known destinations like San Francisco, the Napa Valley and Berkeley. However, during my stay I discovered a great reason to make the hour-long drive down to San Jose from San Francisco – the Winchester Mystery House.

This sprawling, ornate Victorian mansion sits just a short distance from the city’s downtown. Spanning a property of over 4 acres, the mansion contains more than 160 rooms, 40 bedrooms, 2 ballrooms and 3 elevators. But it’s not just pretty to look at – the Winchester Mansion boasts a mysterious history thanks to its late resident Sarah Winchester, heiress of the Winchester Repeating Arms Company.

Sarah’s husband William Wirt Winchester amassed great wealth through the sale of his company’s most famous product – the Winchester rifle. The gun was responsible for many deaths in the late 1800’s, which weighed heavily upon Sarah. She was convinced she was being haunted by the spirits of those killed by Winchester rifles. In an effort to confuse these spirits, Mrs. Winchester began construction on a massive estate near San Jose. From 1884 until her death in 1922, the house underwent 38 years of continuous, non-stop construction, taking on a confusing and labyrinth-like floor plan. Stairways were built that led to nowhere and many doors open onto blank walls. All of this a tribute to the madness and persistence of its reclusive owner, Sarah Winchester.

The next time you’re in the Bay Area, why not swing by San Jose for a visit? For what you paid for that bottle of Napa Cabernet you’ll get to experience a real piece of Americana and a house that truly has to be seen to be believed.

Stinkiest Festival Around: Gilroy’s Garlic Fest

by Martha Edwards on

My dad was the king of garlic. I know many people think they own that title, but consider this: My dad thought that a clove of garlic meant the whole bulb. And a ‘clove’ of garlic went into virtually everything he made. He put garlic salt on MELON, for the love of all things sacred. I’m not nearly as extreme but garlic is definitely a major staple of my diet.

If you think your love of Garlic can match my dad’s, perhaps you should head to the Bay Area for the weekend of July 27-29th? One of North America’s stinkiest (and most flavourful) towns is hosting one of North America’s stinkiest (and most flavourful) festivals — the Gilroy Garlic Festival. Don’t eat beforehand because you’ll get to sample some creative garlic inventions, including garlic fries and garlic ice cream. Plus, enjoy live music and demonstrations, all for a $12 admission fee.

But a word of advice: Don’t plan any important meetings (like job interviews or first dates) for at least a couple of days. Trust me on this one.

Via Daily Travel Deal Blog

Muni: A Noob Does Public Transportation in San Francisco

by Sarah J. Gim on

If you’re familiar with taking trains, the subway, and the bus, then you can ignore this post (or you can
read it and snicker at me). If not, and you’re going to be traveling to San Francisco any time soon, then here’s how
you use the Muni. That’s San Francisco’s city bus.

This isn’t a backhanded
way of bragging with my nose up in the air that "Oh mah gawd, I’ve hardly ever taken public
transportation." I grew up in the Midwest where the only bus I ever rode was bright yellow and went from my house
to that horrible place called "school." Now, I live in LA, and we know about public transportation in LA
(wait, we have public transportation in LA?!?!?)

So traveling in San Francisco, I learned how to take the bus.
The Bay Area public transportation system is extensive,
efficient, and very friendly to the likes of me – a newbie to buses and a traveler.

You should know where you
are and where you’re going. You can either use the Muni’s Trip Planner to type in starting and ending
points to find out which line(s) to take, or you can be brilliant and use a route map or schedule. We ended up asking out hotel concierge
(we’re not very brilliant), who told us we needed to take the F line to get to the Ferry Building from Union Square. A
one-line trip is easy. If you need to use multiple lines, well, that’s the advanced class and I haven’t gotten there
yet. Okay, actually, it’s easy. That’s where the transfers will come in later.

Muni stops are
obvious. Just make sure you’re on the right side of the street and when a bus rolls up, make sure you’re getting on the
right one. Lots of buses stop fairly often at the same place. If you’re obsessive like me, you can ask every person
waiting at the stop, and confirm with the driver when he opens to door to let people on. F? Does it go to the Ferry
Building? Is this the F Line?

Muni costs $1.50 for adults. If you
have ID, then you can get the senior, youth, or disabled person discount, which means a ride costs you $0.50. You have
to have exact change to put into the money box because the drivers don’t take money or provide change. When you board,
you also get one free "transfer."
We’ll get to the transfer later.

Some of the Muni buses look like they’ve been airlifted from another time and
place. Thats because they have. Apparently, the bright orange one that we took is from Louisiana. The way it
was rattling and shaking along the rails sure felt like it was from the 1800s.

At rush hour, the Muni gets very
crowded. Actually, even when it’s the middle of the day, the Muni is crowded. Just pray that everyone used
Dial.

You got on through the front door, but don’t try to exit that way otherwise you’ll be fighting against all
the riders who are trying to get on. Use the middle of back doors.

Your
"transfer" is a slip of paper that lets you get back on any Muni before the time that’s marked on the paper.
If you’re using more than one line to get somewhere, the transfer lets you get on that second bus. If you land at your
final destination, then it gives you about an hour and a half. If you’re efficient in your shopping, sightseeing, or
whatever you’re doing in the City, you could get back to homebase for free! Unfortunately, I got carried away at the
Ferry Building Marketplace, so the transfer expired.

Oh well, $1.50 to get back is cheap.