Silicon Valley 111: La Honda and Woodside

The sun only penetrates in patches on the Heritage Grove Trail. 

Benjamin is visiting us this weekend, so he and I took a road trip along switchback roads to La Honda, a "census designated place" (CDP), population 900 or so, in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Ben was surprised such wilderness existed just 25 miles from Silicon Valley.  There are houses built at the bottom of ravines along the way, but flat land is hard to come by here, and the dominant feature are miles of coastal redwoods.  We burned off our In-N-Out Burgers on two trail loops at the Heritage Grove Trail, one quite steep. 

Most of the redwoods were scheduled to be logged, like this one, before becoming a park. 

After working up a sweat, we thought we'd get a drink at La Honda's famous watering hole, Apple Jack's, a bar housed in a 1879 blacksmith shop, that was a hangout for Ken Kesey, Neal Cassidy, Allen Ginsberg, and other beatniks.  Now it's closed.  We stopped to take a look, and happened on the bartender who had also stopped by.  He said he was one of the bartenders, then corrected himself, and said he was the last bartender.  Apparently, they'd laid off the other bartenders, due to Covid-19.  But they did hope to reopen soon.

Apple Jack's roadside bar, built 1879.  Due to reopen soon. 

So we continued on to Woodside, another CDP in the curve of the road.  Fortunately, Alice's Restaurant was open for business.  This is a hangout for bikers and car enthusiasts.  It also has a lot of outdoor seating, useful during a pandemic.  I ordered boysenberry pie; Ben ordered mud pie. They had Alice Restaurant masks for sale, but I declined that purchase.  We sat out back, amid picnic tables, with a view of a pond and marsh.

Alice's Restaurant, Woodside, with socially distanced line out front.

Ben used some of his calories burned on the trial toward the Mud Pie, which was ginormous.  I highly recommend Alice's Restaurant (not to be confused with Arlo Guthrie's Alice's Restaurant), should you be in this neck of the wilderness.

Enough mud pie for a small army. 

#23 and #105 in 111 Places in Silicon Valley That You Must Not Miss.

Silicon Valley 111: Atherton and Belmont

Can I see all 111 places?

After months of sheltering in place due to Covid-19, I was able to step inside a bookstore last weekend.  Yes, they only let eight people in the store at a time, and yes, I was wearing a mask.  But it restored for a minute the delight that is bookstore browsing.  I was in Books Inc. on Castro Street in Mountain View when I spied 111 Places in Silicon Valley That You Must Not Miss.  I had to have it.  And now I have decided to try and see all 111 places (just don't tell Steven).  

Atherton's major park, Holbrook-Palmer.
The water tower was built in 1883. 

The book lists adventures alphabetically by town, so we started with Atherton, just north of Palo Alto. Atherton is the second most affluent zip code in America. Six square miles of oak-lined streets inhabited by the likes of  Sheryl Sandberg, Eric Schmidt and Meg Whitman. The houses are not incredibly extravagant but the setting is idyllic (and oh, houses here start at $2.7 million). We went to the central park, donated by Ms. Olive Holbrook-Palmer in 1958.  This is a classy and historic park, with Mr. Holbrook's carriage house (built 1897) just behind an 1883 water tower.  Not to mention an art studio, preschool, tennis courts, trails, playgrounds, and fountains.  Well done, Atherton.  

Water Dog Lake, Belmont. Note dog in water. 

Now on to Belmont.  Belmont is just a little further north of Atherton, but not so affluent.  Nonetheless, it is the headquarters of Oracle and Safeway.  (How 'bout that for a combination?)  It also has a "mid-century modern" feel to it.  Lots of that '50s architecture and signage that I find Mayberry nostalgic. Our goal was to visit Water Dog Lake, which is an open space with a reservoir in the center.  Water Dog Lake was indeed filled with dogs when we visited, but 111 Places  informs me "water dog" is actually a type of salamander. I saw none of these critters.    

Park rules require a mask.  It's around my neck.  

Now, we had planned on having lunch at another Belmont landmark, The Van's Restaurant. But sadly, it closed three weeks ago after 47 years of business. The owners decided to retire early due to the pandemic. The Van's occupies a 1915 building on top of a hill and served stuff like Southern fried sirloin steak draped in gravy.  But now we'll never taste that it.  Instead we had to settle for Classic 101 Burgers & Shakes, established 1956.  (Yummy curly fries!) 

Not quite The Van's but really good! 

The Van's Restaurant, a Belmont institution for 47 years, closed May 2020. 

Bay Area Reopens: Sauntering in Sausalito

Steve ponders the strangeness of life on a dock in Sausalito

The Bay Area is reopening bit by bit now that Covid-19 infections have slowed. We decided to see how reopening was taking shape north of us, so we took a day trip to Sausalito, the tony town perched on a steep cliff across the bay from downtown San Francisco.

The iconic Golden Gate Bridge, up close.

 We drove across the Golden Gate Bridge to get to Sausalito, a treat all its own. A native Californian, Steven had never driven across the bridge, so now he can mark this off his bucket list.  You emerge from a tunnel and then you are on the bridge, with views of Alcatraz and Angel islands. When the bridge opened in 1937, it was the longest and tallest suspension bridge in the world.  It has a beautiful deep brick red color, darker than I expected when viewed up close.  You can also walk across it, but bring a wind breaker. 

A hardware store in downtown Sausalito. Even the prospector outside wears a mask. 

As we exited the bridge, Google maps decided we should take a circuitous route to downtown Sausalito, via vertiginous switchbacks. Houses are perched precariously on hillsides and many seem to have nearly vertical driveways. Roads are narrow and turns are sharp.  Residences deal with it for the views, which are, to put it mildly, spectacular.

Views from a downtown Sausalito park.

We fortunately parked on level ground in the downtown area, and stopped to eat at Lighthouse Coffee Shop, the first outdoor restaurant we saw (we really had to use their restroom.) But despite it being a rushed choice, and a little windy, it was quite tasty.  I watched a stream of cyclists pedal past as I had chicken apple sausage and scrambled eggs.

Then we strolled, stopping for ice cream while taking in the views. Stores were open, but you couldn't go inside.  Instead, tables with select merchandise were wedged into the entrance.  But we were still happy to shop.  I got a puzzle and t-shirt; Steven bought a baseball cap.  It felt good to support local merchants. 

Bay Area Reopens: San Jose Al Fresco

 

 This past Friday, June 5, 2020 was dubbed Al Fresco Friday.  After twelve weeks of take-out only, restaurants were given the nod in San Francisco, Santa Clara and San Mateo counties to offer table service outdoors.  The coronavirus doesn't spread as quickly outdoors. Of course, the wait staff all wear masks, and you're supposed to as well when not imbibing beverages and nibbling appetizers. It's a little loose, but most practice this social nicety and safety precaution.

New dining protocol.
No shared menus (scan the Q code and view it on your phone!) and masks at ready.

We ventured out this weekend to bolster the economy and frankly to enjoy someone's else's cooking.  We drove South to San Jose and its Santana Row. This is a stretch of newish blocks  (built in 2002) meant to look old, with vibrant 20th century architecture.  Apartments are piled on top of restaurants and shops, with a tree lined corridor between.  We parked (2 hours free!), grabbed our masks and hustled over to Ozuma Japanese restaurant. 

Steven reads the menu from his phone. Less germs that way.

Ozuma had installed plexiglass shields to extend their outdoor dining and maintain six feet social distancing. We were seated against a wall that is normally a corridor. Across the street I could see boarded up shops, recent evidence of protests against the death of George Floyd in police custody a week before.  A pandemic followed by protests and rioting across the nation makes for an unsettling first date out in three months.  But we persevered. I had the brussels sprout and garlic vinaigrette appetizer, followed by veggie don and a very nice beer. I watched masked pedestrians saunter past, out, at last, for a weekend night on the town.  Our waiter told us four restaurants in Santana Row had closed, unable to survive the pandemic shut down.

Almost a normal night out.

We strolled down the street as well, coming to a Mexican restaurant that had set up a DJ outdoors. Twentysomethings were dancing in the street, having a drink.  You could say they were a little foolish, what with a pandemic still on the loose, but you could feel the happiness rolling off them.  Life as is should or was, just for a little while.