On the road to...

Fremont, Saratoga, Los Gatos, Gilroy, Dublin, San Ramon... the list goes on and on.

There are a lot of wonderful smaller towns in the mix here. While there are the three major cities, San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose that form a bit of a triangle around the Bay area; in between each of these cities are a line of small towns that dot the landscape.  And each one of them has their own personality and design.

They each have a downtown area that is lined with shops and restaurants.  My current favorite restaurant in the area is the Bella Saratoga.  It is an Italian joint that is housed inside a house (Wow, diagram that sentence...).  But I also recently enjoyed Satomi Sushi in Fremont.

It really is a ball to discover new places in these little gems.  While the cities of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose have almost anything that a person could want, it is really nice to just take a side trek and visit the town/cities of Palo Alto, Berkeley, Mountain View, Cupertino... well, you get the idea.

Just pull up to the downtowns in these places and get out of the car.  Roam around and find the most interesting things and places.  I will bet that you will find a new favorite place again and again...

Making new friends

Made a new friend

My mother and sister came into town for the past weekend and it has been a lot of fun.  I even made a new friend as you can see here on the right.  I  am STILL just tickled at the fact that there are animals that I loved as a child but only saw in zoos.  Hearing a seal vocalize and seeing it lay under a wharf is just wonderful.  I sent this picture to everyone I have EVER met!

The weekend started off on what could have been a rocky beginning.  We got dinner at a place called "The Left Bank" in an area called Santana Row.  The area is really a great place to wander and people watch.  It is a rather hip residential/shopping area and we were having a blast wandering around.  Then we sat down for dinner.  The service was wonderful, my trout was great but my mother's steak (while very flavorful) was tough as nails.  Unfortunately, she refused to return it because she didn't want to be a bother.

Saturday was the obligatory trip to San Fransisco's Chinatown and lunch in the Italian section.  Once again, great people watching.

Anyway, on Sunday we had a great time in Santa Cruz.  Everything was damn near perfect.  While the water is a bit chilly, my sister got to walk on the beach for the first time.

We stopped for lunch on the wharf at a place called Riva's Fish House where I had a passable fish and chips.  The prices were rather reasonable (in comparison).  My sister ordered the crab sandwich and my mother got a burger.  I will say that the cole slaw that came with my mother's burger was fantastic.  Yes, I would go back.

On the way back to San Jose, the ladies wanted to visit a winery (when in northern California, I think it is required by law...).  My sister picked Rapazzini winery in Gilroy, California.  Now, you have to understand that Gilroy calls itself the "Garlic Capital of the World", so when we pulled up to the winery there was a garlic shoppe next door.  On the other side of the winery was a roadside fruit stand.  Needless to say, we got back on the road with quite the haul.

The mother is happy and so is my baby sister.  They both are tickled pick with their first visit to the northern section of California.  Of that, I am glad.

This really is a great place to be.