Help, please! My husband has a business conference in San Jose in July. I will be hanging out with our 11 year old son. Could anyone give me suggestions for things to do during the days. I'll have a car, but don't want to drive long distances. Thanks. Restaurant suggestions also appreciated.

If you do a text search for "San Jose," you'll find past conversational threads that might be helpful to you.

Do not miss the Winchester Mystery Mansion. Very different and weird, my boys loved it. I wrote about it on another thread so if you do a search with those words it should bocome up.
It is listed in the AAA guidebook and I also found a lot of detail by doing a web search. Sorry I don't have the URL but I did list it on a past thread.
Also in the AAA guidebook were coupons for composite tickets to a few sites so that should give you an idea as to what's available.

There is also the large Tech Museum in San Jose. If you're willing to drive 45 inutes to Santa Cruz, you can go hiking in the redwoods of Big Basin State Parkand to the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, an old-fashioned amusemnet park on the beach. Along similar lines, but closer to SJ, is (Six Flags, I think) Great America, a bigger amusement park with all the latest/biggerst rollercoasterss. Another possibility is the Rosicrucian Museum, a strange little place chock-full of ancient Egyptian artifacts.

I second the Winchester Mystery House. Loved it as a kid and still love it. Wacky and strange, fuels the imagination. Another interesting thing is the boardwalk in Santa Cruz. Rides, carnival games etc. A real kid hang out. A little bit of a drive, though. Have fun.

Downtown San Jose (Casual) Italian: Original Joe's. My husband is a Shrimp Louis fan and he says he's never tasted better. I like the Joe's Special and the lamb sandwich. They're open for all 3 meals; are crowded and take no reservations but it's huge and if you get their a bit before or after the rush times the wait isn't too bad. My very favorite is a lunch special on Wed. and Sat: Osso Bucco -- wonderful. You need to get there no later than 12:00 to be assured of getting an order as it sells out fast!

For something upscale, I like La Mer Michelle in Saratoga -- not too far from San Jose at all. Men in jackets and ties preferred (if no longer required), but it is NOT a stuffy place.

Casual lunch: ToGo's Sandwich shops. They're a franchise and consistently good, scattered all over Santa Clara County...very good hot pastrami, they have about 30 different sandwiches. A 'small' will fill up anyone except for football players!

If you like Vietnamese food, downtown San Jose is full of them; we liked Saigon (we retired and moved away 2 years ago) on Santa Clara Street. By all means, try the hot French Coffee at any Vietnamese restaurant -- so rich it's a dessert.
Near downtown: San Jose also has a Japanese section..but can't remember the name of our favorite.
Chinese restaurants abound but our favorite closed a short time ago due to retirement of owners/operators.

Be sure to buy the San Jose Mercury newspaper on Friday's for its entertainment section and coupons for various restaurants.
Bring cool clothes..San Jose is much hotter than San Francisco; expect temps in the 80's or 90's.

San Jose has a AAA Minor League Baseball team called the Giants. Their small and charming stadium is near downtown San Jose near the small and nice San Jose Zoo / Kelly Park. Adjacent to Kelly Park is the Japanese Friendship Garden...it's free and a wonderful spot to walk and sit and admire the huge koi in the ponds. Once inside, you'd think you were miles away from busy roads and freeways. A nice place to bring a take-out lunch.

San Jose has more Mexican restaurants than you can imagine...we had 2 good ones in our neighborhood so can't recommend one in downtown San Jose.