Silicon Valley with teens
May 16th, 2001, 10:45 PM
#1
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Silicon Valley with teens
Hi, I need help with accommodations in the San Francisco, Silicon Valley area. We are a family with 3 young teenage daughters. My husband will be working in San Jose for the month of June. My kids think this will be a vacation and are expecting resort accommodations. They are competitive swimmers and need a pool. We are from the Chicago suburbs, so when I told them they wouldn't be swimming in the ocean they where disappointed. We would require a suite or apartment that could accommodate the 5 of us, and would like to be centrally located so dad can commute to work in San Jose and we can see San Francisco and Santa Cruz, Monterey and Carmel. We need at minimum a fridge and micro. I need help entertaining my 3 young teens, and finding accommodations that will suit for a month. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
May 17th, 2001, 01:42 AM
#3
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xxx, thanks for your advice, but does the HR department have 3 young teen girls that left their friends, swim team, and boyfriends behind. Will the company be concered about my needs or theirs? I certainly would like to hear from more experianced people in this situation. I'd like to show my girls San Francisco, but I'm not sure they would see it through my eyes. My children have been fortunant enough to spend their "vacations" in Hawaii, DisneyWorld, or on the beaches of Destin, Fla. I personally love San Francisco, but I'm not sure my daughters will. I'm looking for an enviroment that will be convienant to work from, as well as enjoyable place to live in for a short while. I was hoping to hear from parents of teens that have had favorable experiences. By the way, we're coming from Chicago.
May 17th, 2001, 07:40 AM
#4
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Well, I have some experience in this area, as I interned in Palo Alto one summer when I was in college. I lived in a dorm that summer at San Jose State.
If your husband is going to be working in San Jose and you want to explore San Francisco, I would suggest living in Palo Alto or Mountain View (almost half way between). His commute wouldn't be too bad.
For a pool, you might want to check into facilities at Stanford University (in Palo Alto), as they have a world class swim team. Your daughters would probably think it was really cool to be able to swim there. Although I don't know if it is open to the public.
For other activities, there is the Great America amusement park. It is top-notch. Surely, your daughters would also like riding the trolley and shopping at Fisherman's wharf in San Francisco. While I was there, I also enjoyed weekend trips to Santa Cruz, Lake Tahoe, and Yosemite.
I'm not much help on places to live as I lived the the dorm and then with a family for my last 3 weeks there.
Anyway, hope this is helpful. Email me if I can be of more help.
If your husband is going to be working in San Jose and you want to explore San Francisco, I would suggest living in Palo Alto or Mountain View (almost half way between). His commute wouldn't be too bad.
For a pool, you might want to check into facilities at Stanford University (in Palo Alto), as they have a world class swim team. Your daughters would probably think it was really cool to be able to swim there. Although I don't know if it is open to the public.
For other activities, there is the Great America amusement park. It is top-notch. Surely, your daughters would also like riding the trolley and shopping at Fisherman's wharf in San Francisco. While I was there, I also enjoyed weekend trips to Santa Cruz, Lake Tahoe, and Yosemite.
I'm not much help on places to live as I lived the the dorm and then with a family for my last 3 weeks there.
Anyway, hope this is helpful. Email me if I can be of more help.
May 17th, 2001, 09:38 AM
#5
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Don't think Stanford's pool is going to be open to the public. There are several club with pools such as the University Club in P.A. Perhaps someone at your husband's work will have a membership. Also, many of the condo/apt. complexes have pools. Perhaps you'll have some luck finding a short term rental. My son's girlfriend was a competitive swimmer from Palo Alto H.S., so next time she's over, I'll ask her and repost if she has any wonderful ideas. I think you will need to rely on the HR person at the company as the Silicon Valley is very difficult. You might start by looking at www.sfgate.com and going to rental properties. There's also the little Palo Alto Weekly and the SJ Mercury News--don't know if they have a website, but you could search. Mountain View would be a good choice or perhaps Sunnyvale. From Mountain View you can get the CalTrain to go up to SF if you don't want to drive. It also cuts down on your husband's commute. For amusement of the girls, how about a weekend in Santa Cruz where they could get surfing lessons? The school will supply the wetsuits and it's a very California thing to do. Also, take them down to Monterey--see the aquarium and then rent kayaks to go out in the Bay with the sea otters. San Francisco is a great city for everyone. I would suggest a Mom/Daughters overnight to do girl things such as wander through the little shops on Union and Fillmore Streets. There's silver jewelry to buy on the street at Ghirardelli (city licensed vendors--not to worry about quality) and there's the Farmers Market at the Ferry Bldg. on Saturday morning. They might also enjoy seeing Cal in Berkeley and a tour of Stanford. There's a great outlet mall in Gilroy, which is south on 101 from San Jose if you are shoppers. You will not doubt have homesickness and missing friends and boyfriends, but if it's only a month and you keep busy, it might be a lovely experience. Good luck.
May 17th, 2001, 10:11 AM
#6
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Regarding your housing needs, I have two suggestions: first, start with the SJ Mercury News (www.mercurycenter.com), not www.sfgate.com, for a lot more Silicon Valley listings. Second, use a good search engine and type in "San Jose California short-term rentals." I just tried this with google.com and got a bunch of hits for agencies specializing in relocations and short-term rentals. There are actually a bunch of such services, because short-term jobs and contracts are so common in Silicon Valley.
And a bit regarding your "vacation" with your daughters: You said that they've been "lucky" to have vactions at the beach and DisneyWorld, and it sounds like they equate vacation with a beach. This is probably a great time for them to learn that there re all kinds of trips and that all kinds of things can be fun. You will be in the middle of an area that offers a hugely diverse amount of activities and environments, from big city to stunning nature. If they haven't been to Northern California before, it will be a great opportunity. (I grew up in the area, so I spent my teens doing all these kinds of activities.) Instead of worrying that they won't like the activities you've thought of, why not get a good Northern California guidebook and ask them to read it and choose the things that sound appealing to them? And make sure they all have camera (even if they're the disposable kind), so they'll really take a look at what's around them. Then they could also be thinking about how they can share their experiences with their friends and boyfriends back home and maybe alleviate some homesickness.
Some ideas on how to spend your time: Definitely spend some time in Santa Cruz. The surfing lessons are a great idea if your kids are into watersports, and it's a way they can enjoy the ocean even though it's too cold for swimming. You can alos get beyond the beach and boardwalk and wander the little shops and boutiques in downtown Santa Cruz and also tour the campus of UC Santa Cruz, which is nestled on 2000 acres of meadows and edwood forests with spectacular ocean views. If you like to hike, you can go to Big Basin State Park in the Santa Cruz Mountains and experience the massive redwoods.
Monterey and the aquarium is also a good idea; the aquarium is great for all ages, and once they're there they'll enjoy it and won't feel it's too young. The idsplays are all of the local marine habitat, so while it's not as diverse as Shedd Aquarium, it's very connected with the area. And there's nothing like the jellyfish exhibit anywhere else.
In SF, walking around Chinatown and shopping on Union Street are pretty sure to please; they might find the self-guided tour of Alcatraz cool, as well. If they've seen the movie "The Rock," they may be into it, or you could rent the movie so they can see it.
I absolutely recommend spending an afternoon or two in Berkeley, not so much for the UC Berkeley campus, but because they'll really like the town. Adjacent to the campus, Telegraph Ave. is full of record stores and cafes, and the sidewalks are lined with street vendors selling the jewelry, art, teeshirts, pottery, etc. that they make themselves, most at affordable prices. Other areas with cool shops for widnow shopping are the Elmwood and Rockridge neighborhoods on College Ave. between Ashby Ave and Broadway and Solan Ave between the Alameda and San Pablo Ave.
In San Jose, there are a couple of huge weekend fleamarkets, which might be fun. If they have to have a mall, Valley Fair in SJ and the Stanford Shopping Cnter are by far the nicest in the area. In addition to the huge outlet mall in Gilroy mentioned above (about a 1.5-2 hour drive), there is a smaller one right nearby in Milpitas.
And a bit regarding your "vacation" with your daughters: You said that they've been "lucky" to have vactions at the beach and DisneyWorld, and it sounds like they equate vacation with a beach. This is probably a great time for them to learn that there re all kinds of trips and that all kinds of things can be fun. You will be in the middle of an area that offers a hugely diverse amount of activities and environments, from big city to stunning nature. If they haven't been to Northern California before, it will be a great opportunity. (I grew up in the area, so I spent my teens doing all these kinds of activities.) Instead of worrying that they won't like the activities you've thought of, why not get a good Northern California guidebook and ask them to read it and choose the things that sound appealing to them? And make sure they all have camera (even if they're the disposable kind), so they'll really take a look at what's around them. Then they could also be thinking about how they can share their experiences with their friends and boyfriends back home and maybe alleviate some homesickness.
Some ideas on how to spend your time: Definitely spend some time in Santa Cruz. The surfing lessons are a great idea if your kids are into watersports, and it's a way they can enjoy the ocean even though it's too cold for swimming. You can alos get beyond the beach and boardwalk and wander the little shops and boutiques in downtown Santa Cruz and also tour the campus of UC Santa Cruz, which is nestled on 2000 acres of meadows and edwood forests with spectacular ocean views. If you like to hike, you can go to Big Basin State Park in the Santa Cruz Mountains and experience the massive redwoods.
Monterey and the aquarium is also a good idea; the aquarium is great for all ages, and once they're there they'll enjoy it and won't feel it's too young. The idsplays are all of the local marine habitat, so while it's not as diverse as Shedd Aquarium, it's very connected with the area. And there's nothing like the jellyfish exhibit anywhere else.
In SF, walking around Chinatown and shopping on Union Street are pretty sure to please; they might find the self-guided tour of Alcatraz cool, as well. If they've seen the movie "The Rock," they may be into it, or you could rent the movie so they can see it.
I absolutely recommend spending an afternoon or two in Berkeley, not so much for the UC Berkeley campus, but because they'll really like the town. Adjacent to the campus, Telegraph Ave. is full of record stores and cafes, and the sidewalks are lined with street vendors selling the jewelry, art, teeshirts, pottery, etc. that they make themselves, most at affordable prices. Other areas with cool shops for widnow shopping are the Elmwood and Rockridge neighborhoods on College Ave. between Ashby Ave and Broadway and Solan Ave between the Alameda and San Pablo Ave.
In San Jose, there are a couple of huge weekend fleamarkets, which might be fun. If they have to have a mall, Valley Fair in SJ and the Stanford Shopping Cnter are by far the nicest in the area. In addition to the huge outlet mall in Gilroy mentioned above (about a 1.5-2 hour drive), there is a smaller one right nearby in Milpitas.
May 18th, 2001, 09:51 AM
#7
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Just one more thought of things to do--drive up hwy 9 to Big Basin State Park and walk around in the redwoods--cool and dark and beautiful-- as good or better than Muir Woods because it's more remote. After that drive down the hill and have lunch in the charming little town of Saratoga and window shop for a while or continue over Skyline Drive and drive down the hill on Woodside Road and have lunch in the very rustic and very posh town of Woodside. On a weekend, you'll see lots of RUBs (rich urban bikers) at Alice's restaurant on Skyline in Woodside. The mountain roads will be a big change from Chicago! Do your girls like horses? There are lots of them up in the Sta. Cruz mountains. You probably need to try to get to Yosemite as well even though it's late to start planning that.
May 21st, 2001, 09:21 AM
#8
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I spent my teenage years in San Jose/Los Gatos area so here's what I loved to do and what I think your kids might enjoy. Definitely get them over to Santa Cruz for a weekend if you can. There's the boardwalk with some pretty cool rollercoasters. The surf lessons are a great idea. Why can't they swim in the ocean? I certainly did as a teen. The water is cold but when it's hot outside it feels good. Santa Cruz has a really cool downtown area with shops and restaurants that will appeal to teens.
There's Great America in San Jose, your standard Six Flags park with all kinds of crazy rides.
In San Francisco they might dig the Haight-Ashbury area. Lots of vintage clothing stores to poke around in and interesting people-watching. And they definitely would probably enjoy a cruise to Alcatraz and a walk across the Golden Gate bridge.
Lastly, you can't bring your children to California without getting them into a grove of ancient redwood trees, trees older than our country. Muir Woods should be on your list.
For accomodations I'd suggest a Residence Inn with a pool so you'd also have a kitchen. The idea of staying in Palo Alto/Menlo Park area is a good one. More centrally located in the bay area. In Menlo Park there's a public olympic-sized swimming pool. They also have a skate park. Here's a link:
http://www.ci.menlo-park.ca.us/comres.htm.
The Monterey Bay Aquarium is awesome!
There's Great America in San Jose, your standard Six Flags park with all kinds of crazy rides.
In San Francisco they might dig the Haight-Ashbury area. Lots of vintage clothing stores to poke around in and interesting people-watching. And they definitely would probably enjoy a cruise to Alcatraz and a walk across the Golden Gate bridge.
Lastly, you can't bring your children to California without getting them into a grove of ancient redwood trees, trees older than our country. Muir Woods should be on your list.
For accomodations I'd suggest a Residence Inn with a pool so you'd also have a kitchen. The idea of staying in Palo Alto/Menlo Park area is a good one. More centrally located in the bay area. In Menlo Park there's a public olympic-sized swimming pool. They also have a skate park. Here's a link:
http://www.ci.menlo-park.ca.us/comres.htm.
The Monterey Bay Aquarium is awesome!
May 23rd, 2001, 07:06 AM
#12
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For lodging, I would recommend the Embassy Suites or Quality Suites. There are several "suite" hotels to choose from, but I'm not sure about the pool. I would think they would have an indoor one.
If your kids like shopping, there's The Great Mall in Milpitas (just a few minutes from San Jose). It's a HUGE indoor outlet mall - it takes several hours, if not days, to see it all. They have a website with map and directions at http://www.greatmallbayarea.com.
There is SO much to do in that area of the state. San Francisco, Santa Cruz, and Monterey, are just a short drive away, and all have tons of activities and attractions. You shouldn't have any trouble finding plenty of things to keep the kids entertained. Oh, and don't miss the Exploratorium in San Francisco (http://www.exploratorium.org/visit/index.html). It's a ton of fun, and the kids will learn a lot!!
If your kids like shopping, there's The Great Mall in Milpitas (just a few minutes from San Jose). It's a HUGE indoor outlet mall - it takes several hours, if not days, to see it all. They have a website with map and directions at http://www.greatmallbayarea.com.
There is SO much to do in that area of the state. San Francisco, Santa Cruz, and Monterey, are just a short drive away, and all have tons of activities and attractions. You shouldn't have any trouble finding plenty of things to keep the kids entertained. Oh, and don't miss the Exploratorium in San Francisco (http://www.exploratorium.org/visit/index.html). It's a ton of fun, and the kids will learn a lot!!
