While the world may just be discovering the charms of the South Bay, I grew up there, volunteering at the Children’s Discovery Museum, singing with a school choir at Santa Clara University, frequenting Great America theme park with my season pass, enjoying one of the country’s first mixed-use community Santana Row before it turned into an industry standard, and dining through the area’s growing number of delectable Asian eats. (All-time favorite: family-run Khanh’s Garden in Campbell for Vietnamese, and recent discovery Ju Sang Jang in Santa Clara for Korean BBQ.)
Over time, I’ve watched the South Bay transform from San Francisco’s sidekick into its own leading destination. Here are nine of my favorite spots that make visiting my hometown so unique.
525 South Winchester Boulevard, San Jose
Photo: Albert Lam / Courtesy of Visit San Jose
Reeling from the loss of her infant daughter and husband, Winchester Repeating Arms widow Sarah Winchester bought an eight-room farmhouse and started building onto it frantically in 1886. Still a work-in-progress at the time of her passing in 1922, she left behind a 24,000-square-foot mansion with 160 rooms, 10,000 windows, 2,000 doors, 52 skylights, and 47 stairways. While massive in scale, the bizarre labyrinth has led visitors to wonder if she was instructed to keep building by a psychic or ghosts—after all, some staircases lead to nowhere. For a spookier take, flashlight tours are offered on select February dates—including on Friday the 13th.
1401 North Shoreline Boulevard, Mountain View
Photo: Getty Images