We continued our path north, spending an interesting day in San José.
Before entering towns, I search on tripadvisor.com for what we shouldn't miss. This quaint enclave Willow Glen, a neighborhood of San Jose, was an ideal location for a lunch pause. Began in the mid-1800s, it has walkable tree-lined streets, diverse architecture, specialty shops, and independent businesses.
To learn about this town, we have only passed through previously, we spent hours at its History Park. With 32 original and reproduction homes, businesses and landmarks, this unique space highlights Santa Clara Valley’s past. Complete with paved streets, running trolleys and a café (on weekends), this 14-acre site has the charm and ambiance of times gone by.
I appreciated the information boards that showed us these historic buildings at their actual location and usage.
We then meandered into the Pacific Hotel to visit the current exhibit at the Arbuckle Gallery- The Wireless Age: Electronics Entrepreneurs Before Silicon Valley.
Everyone is familiar with the local garage stories of Wozniak and Jobs, Hewlett and Packard, and the big semiconductor pioneers that gave today’s Silicon Valley its name. It is the earlier electronics pioneers of the Bay Area, however, who produced some of the most revolutionary communication devices, laying the foundation for what is today’s high-tech corridor. While exploring, we learned about some of the entrepreneurs who existed in a time when inventing was still an individual and passionate pursuit. Very, very cool.
Being a Disney fan, this exhibit about HP's start intrigued me. Hewlett and Packard's earliest project together was an audio oscillator. In 1938, the sound engineer for the movie Fantasia, from the Walt Disney Studios, saw it in action and ordered eight of them, at $71.50 each. This 'big' order was enough to launch the HP company. I had no idea about this Disney connection. You just never know what you will learn when you visit someplace new.
Now that we know what treasures are here, we so ♪♫... know the way to San José...♫♪ and will plan to return.
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3 comments:
If you'd been there on a weekend you could have seen the Print Shop in action. It's manned by S.J.Print Guild members--buddies of Stephen's when he's there. And I have pics of the girls in the same little pink cable car. When Harper is older the little zoo at the other end of the park is worth a visit too.
That post made me want to go borrow a book and lay under the awesomely, unique flowers.
I agree it makes me want to borrow a good book and lay under a shaded tree and enjoy! It is very hot here so it would be perfect!
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