Cool ghost town visible from train - San Jose to Sacramento…read more It was so fun discovering this small ghost town in the middle of the South at wetlands. A raucous history clings to Drawbridge - hunting and maybe gambling at one time or another. Built in the 1870s and it became 'ghostly' after the last person left in 1979. I like the background of the town and how it spices up the history of the southern part of San Francisco Bay.

I found out about Drawbridge on Atlas Obsura and was fascinated. It's definitely one the better…read moreelusive urbex destinations. You technically can't go here so I won't go into detail on how to get there but it's best to find someone who's been here before to guide you as it can be tricky to find and some entrances might be blocked off. The abandoned buildings on the side of the train tracks are spread out and you can get some nice photos with the hills and marshland in the background. It's worth going but this is a production. It's about a 9-mile walk and yes you do have to watch out for the train. Most of the time it's fine but there is a small stretch when you need to cross a bridge over water and let's just say you don't want to end up like those kids on Stand By Me. If you don't want to do the walk you can take an Amtrak Train which goes through it.

Located at Edith Morley Park in Campbell, near the percolation ponds, this wall sculpture is…read morecomprised of symbols of nature as portrayed by the artist, Glen Rogers. Her works focus on elements representative of feminism, spirituality, and living earth. This particular piece presents shapes and images that support this theme. And the setting features lovely trees along the wall that complement the steel sculpture beautifully. It's worth checking out if you're in the area.

***the lake itself is part of a community called HIDDEN LAKE as well***…read more OVERALL: Meh. Wouldn't go out of my way to drive here to walk; therefore the 4 stars rating. Due to being part of a community, there are a ton of guest parking (especially near the gates to this park) BUT if you keep driving, the parking lot for this "park" is on the outside (you turn in with the sign "HIDDEN PARK LAKE" in green lettering/tanish brown background and there are a few spots for you to pick from). Two stairways up to other flat cement ground trails. Very quarry lake vibes but not much water. Lake itself is a smaller circular flat cement ground leveled trail. Regarding up the stairs: One way does end up at another park whereas the other way just ends up in another neighborhood/main road. Lack of shade. Lots of ducks. There's few places to sit. Few trash bins. No visible toilets.

Not huge, but it's a great stop, especially when you're biking in the morning hours when the sun…read moreisn't too hot in Milpitas, CA. There aren't many cars on the roads between 10am-12noon, so it's a breeze riding a bike around and resting for a hydration stop here. Tiny public parking lot onsite off Milpitas Blvd. Hidden Lake neighborhood have peaceful homes and nice walking paths to get a glimpse of the small lake sometimes filled with ducks. You can easily walk up and down stairways or bike around the neighborhood area near the homes. Yes, there are picnic tables and families do stop to enjoy small gatherings. Hidden Lake Park is not far from retailers/restaurants/grocery stores/fast foods/etc. Convenient. Not many visitors on weekdays. It's always clean when I stop by seasonally for a morning biking routine. The clouds look great outside today, so it wasn't too hot under the sunshine. Overall, good place to chill before continuing onto Milpitas Blvd. where there's bike friendly streets now. Easy to follow the paths and navigate around town.

This 2023 aluminum metal sculpture, located in front of the Sunrise Senior Living facility in…read moreSunnyvale, is surrounded by a couple benches as well as a small garden of flowers and plants (and even a couple fruit trees) creating a simple but beautiful setting for relaxing and appreciating the artwork. The artist, Michael Kalish, is known for his unique license plate collection including portraits of iconic figures such as Albert Einstein and Superman, as well as impressive artworks (particularly roses) made of car parts. But his Floral Sky design and creation is just as impressive and beautiful, the Sunnyvale version, Sunflower Sky, creating a nice outdoor space I was able to take advantage of on a sunny Monday afternoon. There's also easy street parking on Manet Drive, adding to the convenience of checking out this lovely art piece.

"As my artist's statement explains, my work is utterly incomprehensible and is therefore full of…read moredeep significance."―Calvin San José has a long line of, shall we say, questionable Public Art (PA) projects; everybody knows about the giant dog turd statue Quetzalcoatl―or as I like to call him Quetzacaca ( goo.gl/lvswBr )―in the Plaza de César Chávez. Let's also not forget the Fallon Statue debacle ( goo.gl/wKEv0g )―and don't get me started on the mangled shopping carts (goo.gl/vbB6NE) passing for a statue on the corner of Alma Ave and Almaden Rd. Need I go on?! So, whenever CSJ does something right I love to point it out. I first read about Ursa Mater (aka Mama Penny Bear) in the Merc from my buddy Sal Pizarro's column. Ursa Mater is a gigantic piece of coin art that was put together by Hayward-based artists Mr & Mrs Ferguson. She first made an appearance at last year's Burning Man festival and is now prominently displayed in Paseo de San Antonio―just east of Plaza de César Chávez, right by Bijan Bakery. The statue of Mama Bear and her two cubs sits at least 10-12' tall and is completely covered in 200,000 pennies ($2,000 worth) to make up the bears fur. It's pretty cool to look at from afar, and even cooler up close. I suggest getting here quickly to check her out, as she will only be on display until the end of May. And then we'll be back to staring at Quetzacaca forever. FOL...

I like to think that these represent the bear on the California flag. The name Ursa Mater…read more Is an excellent play on words by the artist. Ursa Major is Latin for "greater she bear" So Ursa Mater translates roughly to "She bear of matter" ( I only understand a very small amount of Latin so this may or may not be the exact translation). The bear and her cub are made of pennies so it seems the artist's intention was to make a realistic mother bear out of " matter" , hence the name. Also behind the pennies is a concrete core. It's as if these bears have a real fur made out of metal. As the previous reviewer said, there are are a lot of bad San Jose art pieces, but this one is fantastic. Just an edit: it seems to be gone now. Very sad.

Highway 85! My favorite way to go from I-280 South to Hwy 101…read more A highway is for moving traffic quickly and smoothly, with less intersections or junctions along the way. Hwy 85 is actually a freeway. A highway has junctions, and a freeway has on and off ramps. Hwy 85 can get congested during the commute because everyone has the same idea. Be alert in the right lane, because there will be constant merging traffic. And of course, those drivers who wait until the last minute to merge. But OMG, at night when no one is on it ......Highway 85 is empty and a pleasure to drive on! From South San Jose to I-280 to the Stanford area, it's an easy high speed ride. One of the best and most useful roads they built in the SF Bay Area.

Before Hwy 85 was ever built, the only way to get around was using City street. Hwy 85 was built…read morein two phases. First phase was built in the 1960's from Steven's Creek to Mountain View. The rest of hwy 85 was built in the second phase and opened in 1994. The construction of Hwy 85 was much needed and today serves as a major corridor for many commuters. Hwy 85 consists of three lane each direction including a carpool lane. The carpool lane does get jam packed with all the electrical vehicles. The hwy is well constructed, no potholes, or dips in the roadroad unlike hwy 87. The grooves in the roadway suppose to help with reducing road noise. Over the years, theres been talks about adding a fourth lane. Theres been alot of opposition to this due too increase in noise in the surrounding area. Even adding a fourth lane would not relieve the traffic congestion.

As small business month is quickly approaching I was thinking how wonderful and vibrant a community…read moreJapantown San Jose is. There so many seasoned and new diverse small business owners here in the heart of Japantown. Classic Loot, Zonkey, Roy's, Santo Market, Taqueria Corona, Minato, Hukilau, Kazoo are among my families favorites. We have also enjoyed and welcomed new businesses too like Banne (yummy sourdough) and Furbaby Fancy petgrooming (the most posh and elite pet grooming experience) into our rotation as well! I should have just listed all the businesses here! So proud of the businesses that contribute to our community!

There's definitely a lot of history, community love, and shops and restaurants here. It's smaller…read morethan the other Little Tokyo in LA and Japan Town in SF (I think), but because we came around midday lunch time on a Tuesday after Fanime, not many stores or restaurants were surprisingly open? Maybe it's due to being after Memorial Day or because most of them were night time dinner service only restaurants. Either way it's much cleaner than Little Tokyo in LA and with less jump scares and trash everywhere. Easier to find parking and more affordable, in a sense, than Japan Town SF. Stopped by the Japanese grocery store and Santo Market while we were here. Fun to kill a couple of hours, I suppose. I just gotta come back here again when more things are open !

An oasis of calm, greenery and quaintness in the middle of the hustle and bustle of the Bay Area…read more Full of hiking trails, great restaurants and unique homes. Don't ever change Los Gatos.

Expansive and expensive. A little something for everyone…read more Downtown Los Gatos is popular play area for children and adults, especially if you have the money $$$. Yes, a bit pricey. However, it is also a very pleasant city. Old Victorian style houses abound walking distance from downtown. Expressive gardens in front of many of the houses. Restored buildings with cool architecture lends the downtown area with quite a bit charm, especially when outlined with large palm trees. For some, they come to Los Gatos for the exclusive shops and chic restaurants. I come here for the Los Gatos Creek Trail and the Cafes. The downtown pubs are quite good as well, which is exemplified by the difficulty getting a seat on a Friday and Saturday night. Quite fun to explore.

This is my favorite art piece among the awesome collection of exhibits at the Google Visitor…read moreExperience in Mountain View. The unique sculpture, created by Mr. and Mrs. Ferguson Art, features a grizzly bear made up 160,000 pennies and a steel frame. The illusion of this artwork is engaging, and the detail impressive, both during the day and under the moonlight. Love seeing this creative portrayal of my spirit animal on display at the Google Gradient Canopy :D