CA Extreme Arcade, Great America, Santa Clara

7/23/14

Having been to Dave and Buster's the night before, we really weren't impressed by the small, pricey arcade at Great America.  It's cool that they have an arcade, but how much cooler would it be if tokens weren't $0.50 each?! I mean, I know they nickel-and-dime you at these amusement parks, but really... you put in a $1 bill into the change machine and get back two tokens?!




The rides are free once you've entered the park (all except Xtreme Flyer) - perhaps the arcade should be free also. Wishful thinking, I know.  Go have fun on the awesome rides and keep your quarters.

Only two kids were in the arcade while we walked around. They tried over and over to win a prize in the skill claw. We tried also. (You can't go to an arcade and not play at least one or two games)! A perfectly aimed claw hovered over an unobstructed stuffed Mario Mushroom, and yet, the claws just couldn't muster the strength to lift the small toy. Somebody call the weak sauce patrol! That's just not fair.

Star Tower, Great America, Santa Clara

7/23/14

This no-impact ride is perfect for the entire family, except maybe the person with acrophobia. But even though it's pretty high up, you feel wonderfully safe inside the cool, spinning, glass-walled enclosure.  The Star Tower is near the park entrance and is a great place to visit mid-day when it is starting to get really hot.














49ers New Stadium

The Tower is air-conditioned so it's nice and cool inside. The windows were a little bit dirty and scratched up, but it was still really easy to take wonderful pictures from inside.  It spins slowly, so give you views of the entire park and valley and the new stadium. It is the tallest observation Tower in Northern CA. Thankfully it doesn't drop at full speed, like the Drop Tower (which is just slightly taller than Star Tower!)  A slow descent deposits you safely back on the ground.

The line moved fast and the ride itself isn't very long. Really cool, especially if you have very small children, infants, or anyone with you who can't ride the thrill rides and roller coasters.



Subway Great America, Santa Clara

7/23/14

After looking at the food options at Great America, I decided on Subway. It was a healthy choice and a salad sounded good after walking around in the sun for hours.  Sandwiches were about double the regular price, so my husband passed on the foot long (close to $13), but my salad was under $10 (about $7) and it was wonderful.












I ordered the veggie delight and asked for all of the veggies. I even received extra black olives upon request. Light dressing was added and I was set with a healthy, affordable lunch! I did drool a little as I watched husband eat fried chicken and hot gravy from a nearby restaurant, but I was completely satisfied with my vegetable medley!

Hops Bar and Grill, Biltmore Hotel, Santa Clara

7/20/14

The good thing about Hops is that it's the only bar around the immediate area and since we are staying at the Hotel it's connected to, we didn't have to walk far. We had already eaten elsewhere so we stopped in just for a drink before bed. The bartender, Armando, and the hostess were the only two people inside. Wow, really quiet and dead. A lively bar was what I had my fingers crossed for but it's Sunday night in Santa Clara. Not hoppin'.

Armando made a terrific chocolate martini but it was in a tiny martini glass. For$10 (!!!) this was surprising. Get a standard size glass to serve your overpriced drinks. Expecting to pay a little extra, husband's vodka tonic wasn't a surprise at $6.50 for the tiny glass. Also well-made, also not a great value for well vodka.

Disappointing experience, but to no fault of the staff. Friendly, engaging, smiling service.

Contra Costa Canal Trail, Contra Costa County

6/25/13

MY LAWLESS CHILDHOOD

My first run-in with the police took place on the CC Canal Trail. At the time (probably 1990ish), the portion of the trail I was on was still unpaved. It was a dirt trail paralleling the creek. My parents purchased their Walnut Creek home in 1989 and on the other side of our fence was the trail so I spent a lot of time on it. My sister and I used to ride our dirt bikes up and down a portion of the dirt trail, even into a part of the creek that had no way around it except through it. One day, WCPD showed up and crushed our fun after receiving a noise complaint. Yeah, guess our 50 cc bikes were too noisy for one of the stuffy neighbors.

It was a couple years later that they paved the trail. And they even added a bridge! The neighborhood kids used to gather and sit under it and hang out by the creekside. There had been a rope swing at this part of the trail but the entire branch of the large tree was cut, after removal of the rope failed time after time. I caught a lot of crawdads in the creek. We used bacon as bait and ate them back at home. Then I decided to keep one as a pet and subsequently stopped eating them. I probably wouldn't eat anything out of the creek now. There are still crawdads in it, and a turtle (not kidding) but the water is clouded and much more shallow.

I remember riding my bike to Sequoia Middle School with my sister. I can even remember when we were allowed to do this together, without mom. The trail ride was so cool! To us, it meant we were grown up. To Mom and Dad it probably meant a safe, direct path to school without a lot of time on the main road.

Some years later, I ran cross-country for Acalanes High and many afternoons in high school I spent running on the Canal Trail for practice. I would run until the trail intersected with Iron Horse and then turn around.

Finally, as an adult, the trail was a direct path from home to the bar. I could walk to Masse's Sports Bar in Walnut Creek in less than 20 minutes and stumble home without doing any driving.

My home now is only half a mile from the trail and I love running it up to the Open Space.  My parents still live in their home on the Canal Trail. I walked there from work yesterday (2.5 miles - 35 minutes) to borrow a car. It was really nice being on that portion of the trail and seeing changes to homes and the landscape. It'd been a few years since I'd walked that far on it. It was a great reminder to how much time I spent on the trail as a child. Glad I don't live all that far from it now!

Taqueria Los Portales No. 2, Hayward

6/25/13

Fresh salsa bar

HABANERO CARROTS ON THE SALSA BAR

I don't even know how I'm going to decide where to eat next time I'm in Hayward. I love the Hawaiian BBQ place in this plaza, but just tried this Taqueria and it was wonderful also!


I ordered a vegetarian crunchy taco and a carnitas soft taco. Husband had carnitas and shredded chicken soft tacos with sour cream, and a fountain soda. He paid $19.83 but then asked for a detailed receipt. The girl gave him one and he pointed out that she had charged us $13.90 for burritos. Instead of refunding that amount and charging him for the tacos like he asked, she handed him $6, which she said was the difference. Whatever. We sat down and moved in on the complimentary chips and salsa bar.

The hot salsa was great. Verde was good too. My favorite thing on the bar was a mix of thinly sliced habanero peppers with carrots and onions. They had the traditional jalapeno carrot mix as well, but this was so much better!

Carnitas soft taco

The tacos were really good. Fresh tortilla taste on the soft one. The veggie taco had beans in it and they were to die for. So much flavor! I'm not even a big fan of beans but these totally stood out. They forgot the sourcream and cheese on one of my husband's so he returned it for the add and the cook came out and apologized. That was nice. Only one star lost for the experience at the register.

Crunchy taco

Seng Salee's Seasonal Strawberry Stand, Dixon

7/6/14

Seng Saelee sells some seriously sugary strawberries!

We stopped at this stand after filling our tank at the gas station next door. I love small produce stands because of the freshness and quality. I bought some strawberries, a couple elephant garlics, and some sweet potatoes. In retrospect, I should have used some of the water they offered to clean off one of the strawberries and taken a bite. Had I done so I probably would have bought every berry they had left! Every delicious berry.

They were perfectly sweet and moist! Probably the best berry I've ever had, aside from growing them in my own front yard. Even my produce market (with amazing, fresh produce) had nothing on these. If you're driving by, STOP and get some. The prices are low and the quality is high. The elephant garlic was also amazing - wish I saw this more often. I use a million cloves of garlic every time I cook anyhow, just a couple of these babies would be so much more convenient.

St. Stephen's Cemetery, Concord

7/6/14

This historical cemetery in Concord has caught my eye several times as I've driven down Monument. It was consecrated in 1899 and opened in 1904. I recently met someone who works here, and told me some tales of people doing terrible things like switching headstones or stealing from the place.  My husband and I decided to stop here and walk around a couple weeks ago.

I loved looking over the names of the people laid here to rest. We walked around slowly and looked at the different sized monuments, noting especially the small ones in the children's section. Some of the little angels were only days old, and some were only a couple of years.

My family lost my cousin earlier this year. His body was laid to rest at a Cemetery in Southern CA, and since then we've visited many other memorials and cemeteries.  I've always enjoyed seeing them, especially historic ones like St. Stephen's, but now it seems more important to me. I want to visit these people, and read their names, and in some cases, learn about who they were.

 

St. Stephen's is a little beat-up looking, with some dry grass and weedy areas through it, but it's a beautiful place nonetheless, and if you've driven down Monument and have seen it but never stopped here, grab some flowers, pull open the big metal gate at the entrance, and stop in for a visit. It's a great place to walk around (though, there's not much shade/grassy areas for sitting/resting).

Taqueria El Molino, Walnut Creek

7/6/14

A mini Molino! This location is a smaller version of the Concord tortilleria / taqueria. I was at Concord Molino only a couple days before coming to the WC store, and ordered a taco dorado (crunchy taco with beef and potato filling) and enjoyed them both equally.

The fresh, hot taco was outstanding!

The cashier taking our order was really friendly, and hooked me up with some of the spicy salsa on request. We bought a bag of fresh chips for $1 and a bottle of Coke to wash the tacos down.

The place was clean and the food was great!