Do You Know the Plan for ConJose?

[davidschroth]

We (lsanderson, laurafish, and davidschroth) are planning to use Conjose as an excuse for a bit of an expedition. So, our tentative (as in, until lsanderson and laurafish see what I've written and tell me how wrong I am) plans are as follows:

Arrive in San Francisco Saturday, August 24, and check into hotel TBD. Spend several days checking out sights. Possible things to see include Exploratorium, Chez Panisse, Good Vibrations (toy store), SF Museum of Modern Art, Cartoon Art Museum, Ferry Building, Chinatown (Dim Sum is a must). Further suggestions accepted.

Wednesday, August 28, check out of hotel in SF, check into ConJose hotel. David wants to visit Computer Museum History Center, someone wants to visit Winchester Mystery Castle, supposedly there's a nifty technology museum in San Jose. It's possible that this might be a good day to do shopping for Minicon party.

Thursday, August 29, I get to pick up my nephew and drag him to ConJose. On Sunday, September 1, I get to pour him back on the plane home.

Conjose runs from Thursday, August 29, to Monday, September 2.

Tuesday, September 3. Check out of ConJose hotel, head to Napa or Sonoma. Cruise wineries, stay in Napa/Sonoma overnight.

Wednesday, September 4. Head to Monterey, visit aquarium. Head back up coast to Santa Cruz, overnight in Santa Cruz.

Thursday, September 5. Drive south through Big Sur to San Simeon or Cambria. Possibly spend time in Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park. Overnight in San Simeon or Cambria.

Friday, September 6. Do one (or more) tours of Hearst Castle. Head south to Santa Barbara, overnight in Santa Barbara.

Saturday, September 7. Drive to Los Angeles. Spend Saturday and Sunday in Los Angeles. Mandatory destinations in Los Angeles include Getty Museum. Other possible destinations include Hollyweird, LACMA/La Brea tar pits, MOCA/Geffin contemporary, etc.

Sunday, September 8. Get on plane and return to Twin Cities.

Comments

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

We are showing up on Thursday, and leaving on Monday. We're staying at the Fairmont.

B & K

[davidschroth.livejournal.com]

We're staying at the Fairmont as well. At least, we are during ConJose. Where we're staying the rest of the time is not yet determined.

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

If you want to get into Chez Panisse, you need to make reservations exactly one month in advance during the first minutes the restaurant is open; reservations fill up that fast. The last time I was in Berkeley--last month--I tried and failed for two nights to get a reservation, and snagged one on the third night.

The Cafe at Chez Panisse, downstairs, serves a more bistro-style menu and does not take reservations.

B

[davidschroth.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the advice. Larry, are you taking notes?

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

Eek! You should try and minimize your driving!

Go to the wineries *before* the con, since you've 4 days in SF, and the wine country is north of there, and you only plan to be there one day. It'll take hours to drive to the wine country after the con, and then hours to come back the next day. The most fabulous thing in SF itself is Alcatraz. I loved the audio tour, with the voices of actual guards and prisoners telling stories. It's exceptional. GV is splendid, and perhaps discuss in advance if anyone would like to buy, but do so without their friends peering over their shoulder. It'd be a shame not to get that perfect something because someone was feeling shy. It could happen.

Go to Santa Cruz after the con, THEN Monterey; don't double back. The traffic through the mountains can be nutz. Possibly overnight not in SC?

There's several places to see redwoods along your route (Muir Woods, etc.), Santa Cruz Mts., etc. Do That.

Santa Barbara is OK; nice for antiquing. Getty Museum is excellent, as is LaBrea.

What a fun trip!

K. [surprised at how much I know about CA]

[davidschroth.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the advice.

I think we're trying to maximize use of the rental car, which gets rented after ConJose, and gets returned in LA. As someone who's spent a fair portion of their life driving in California, the amount of time spent driving never registered with me.

I've never been to Alcatraz (honestly never had any desire to go there), but it appears to qualify as something at least one of the party would like to do. And with this glowing recommendation, it should probably move onto the "must do" list.

I had to think about what the heck GV was - oh, yeah, that's the "toy store" I suggested. Good advice, thanks.

The reason for possibly staying in Santa Cruz rather than Monterey was cost - I expect lodging to be cheaper in Santa Cruz than Monterey. The drive from Santa Cruz to Monterey did not seem long enough or difficult enough to cause much trouble. I could be mistaken.