California Travel Guide
Oakland
A curious place. Oakland with a population close to 400,000 is an industrial port city with a rough reputation, yet is not without its charms. Where nearby San Francisco can be damp, Oakland gets the sun, there are several decent attractions and it is much less of a tourist trap. Above all else though Oakland is one of the biggest and busiest ports on the west coast; it is very much a working town. It may well be the harshness of the working life was the final straw that led to the formation of the Black Panthers movement here in 1966. This militant organisation grew from the large black population of the town.
The main feature of tourist Oakland is Jack London Square, named for the author of White Fang and Call of the Wild. Now, with the exception of a small amount of boozing that London did in Oakland, he was hardly there, although he did live and work in San Francisco. Anyway, back at the point… Jack London Square is a collection of touristy shops and restaurants, the one highlight is Heinholds 'First and Last Saloon' a bar that dates back to the 1880's, it's built from the hull of a whaling ship. Bet that whiffed a bit when they first opened up.
Elsewhere in Oakland the Museum of California is well worth a visit, and has excellent exhibits on Californian history.
The area surrounding the town, the hills above the city offer some good hiking for those who fancy a stretch of their legs.
Oakland is connected to its larger near neighbour via a bridge nearly 9 miles in length. This makes it a place easy to visit for a glimpse of 'real' California.
San Jose
Do you know the way? By US standards San Jose is an old town yet it sits on the edge of Silicon Valley, famed worldwide as a symbol of the technological age. San Jose is not a small place either, surprisingly it's almost twice the size of it's northern neighbour, San Francisco.
Founded in 1777, San Jose was the first city in California and briefly served as state capital in the mid 1800's. As the unofficial capital of the Silicon Valley, the city has grown massively in the last 30 years and is now a sprawling place devoted to large techno/industrial parks. However there is more to the place than just the pursuit of the silicon dollar.
The Winchester Mystery House
A wonderfully weird attraction, with a story straight out of a David Lynch movie. The story goes like this: Sarah Winchester was the heir to the fortune amassed through sales of the Winchester rifle. She believed that the ghosts of men killed by the rifles had snatched her husband away and that they would come and get her unless she kept building. She thought she would continue to live so long as construction went on day and night. The result is a very odd place indeed with numerous doors and staircases that go nowhere.
Ooh How Surprising, A Tech Museum of Innovation
Despite the trace of sarcasm you may have detected this is not a bad place to spend some time. The hands on displays offer a glimpse of what the future may look like in an increasingly technological world.
Culture Anyone?
The highlights here are the Rosicrucian Museum and the San Jose Museum of Art. The former contains exhibits from the ancient world with an emphasis on Assyrian, Egyptian and Babylonian civilisations.
The Museum of Art has decent permanent exhibits as well as ever changing touring exhibitions.
Food, Drink and a Place to Sleep
The influence that the business world exerts means that hotels, geared towards expense account executives, can get a bit pricey. For a city this size the nightlife is not much to be excited about. The bars and restaurants tend towards run of the mill American.
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