San Jose Goes Virtual

Believe us. We know more than anyone that these days you’re desperately sad to not be able to go out into San Jose and experience the wonders of our fine city in person. But while we all shelter in place together for…however long we’ll be doing this…you don’t have to miss out on the best that San Jose has to offer! Avoid the parking garages, traffic, and crowds and let San Jose come to YOU! 

Pick a few of these virtual experiences and paint the virtual town red. 

THEME PARKS

Take a ride at California’s Great America

Not only can you virtually ride some of your favorite attractions from our beloved theme park, you should definitely follow their Twitter account too. You’ll find a bunch of activities for kids to do (including a Great America word search) and nostalgic pictures of the park that will have you reminiscing about, well, times when we could be within 6 feet of each other. 

Get wild with Happy Hollow Park and Zoo 

Here again, following Happy Hollow’s Twitter will lead you into a delightful array of animal videos and pictures from around the park, plus you’ll get live, critical updates around such important events as Vintana the black and white ruffed lemur’s pregnancy and imminent labor. If that’s not enough, Happy Hollow is ready to make your Zoom meetings more enjoyable with an array of virtual backgrounds you can charm your co-workers with–including one of Danny himself. 

MUSEUMS

History San Jose online exhibits…and super-weird pics from their warehouse

Who doesn’t want to time travel out of 2020 right now? Visiting any of History San Jose’s online exhibits is your chance to escape COVID-mania and see San Jose in eras of DIFFERENT viral outbreaks! Plus, on their Twitter account they’re posting some of the very bizarre historical artifacts from their extensive archives including: 

 This old but probably still totally delicious can of soup from 1883: 

This assortment of frogs from their “very large frog collection”:

…and this EXCEPTIONALLY upsetting Chuck E. Cheese animatronic:

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Get artsy on a Thursday

The San Jose Museum of Modern Art is offering “Virtual Views” on Thursdays — tours through virtual exhibits led by curators who will be answering your questions and fortifying your tour experience with videos, audio playlists, and articles. They’ve got sculptor Donald Judd and photographer Dorothea Lange on exhibit for the remainder of April with more to come in May. 

All-ages field trip through The Tech

Children in your house getting antsy? Let two virtual buddies lead them on a virtual field trip through the Tech and get 30 valuable minutes to regain your sanity. It’s really well done and will get your kids excited for their next trip in person. As a bonus, once they’ve done the tour, give them a chance to solve a cyber crime in 8 different activities from coded communication to scam alerts and the Internet of Things. 

A tour through the house of the world’s #1 social distancer

What San Jose virtual experience is complete without a trip to the Winchester Mystery House? They’re offering virtual, guaranteed ghost-free tours of the mansion where you’ll see a selection of some of the 200 rooms and thousands of architectural oddities that make Sarah’s house one of the premier destinations in San Jose and in the nation. 

OUTDOOR ADVENTURE

Walk it out

If you need a break from walking around your neighborhood, or if you’re unable to go for a walk during quarantine, check out these virtual walks sponsored by Keep Coyote Creek Beautiful. Upcoming events include a virtual walk at Shady Oaks Park and another at Almaden Quicksilver — with live Q&A chat if you have questions about the flora and fauna you discover. 

FOR THE BOOKWORMS

Rhyme time with Hicklebees

Everyone’s favorite local bookstore, Hicklebees in Willow Glen, is serving up all kinds of fun events from storytimes to challenges. April is Poetry Month (who knew?) and if you follow Hicklebees on Twitter you can join in on all kinds of poetic adventures. 

Read and win with San Jose Public Libraries

People are dusting off their piles of “to-reads” while we’re shut in, so if you’re doing it anyway, why not go for a prize while you’re at it? Log your reading minutes during the Spring into Reading challenge, and–depending on your age group–you can win anything from backpacks with school supplies (for Fall, naturally!) to airpods. (And while this contest ends April 30, keep an eye on the library website; we’ll likely see more fun events like this in the coming months!) 

And speaking of the library…

Get an eLibrary Card

While libraries are shut down, SJPL is offering new eLibrary Cards with access to online learning, electronic checkouts, streaming services, and downloads for any resident of San Jose. 

MUSIC

San Jose Jazz: Live from Home

Nothing more soothing for the soul than smooth jazz while we obsessively wash our hands to the beat. These 30-40 minute live streams of local San Jose musicians are truly delightful, and give you a chance to find some new favorites that you’ll want to hear live when the world starts spinning again. 

THEATER

Cure the blues with the best medicine


First of all, if you haven’t been to a ComedySportz performance live (with the whole fam OR for the 18 and over late show) you must put this near the VERY top of your post-quarantine to-do list. But the next  best thing to seeing live improv comedy is a virtual show featuring our San Jose team. Check out their Facebook page to find showtimes and get guffawing in your living room. 

CityLights: “Coded” on stage

CityLights Theater — like so many others– had to close down before opening night on their brand new show “Coded” — but the good news is they’re still welcoming theater patrons to watch a recorded performance of the show for free (though do be sure to make a donation if you can!) 

A quick synopsis of this timely, virtual reality-themed show: 

Jerrie was on her way to being a leader in the gaming industry, until a competitor armed with a legion of internet trolls launched an all-out assault on her, and she was forced into hiding. Now, she’s back with a hand-picked team and a plan to revolutionize virtual-reality gaming. If she can keep the trolls at bay and control over her staff, she might be able to dismantle the industry’s boys’ club. But when the virtual world begins to invade the real one, things get more surreal than she could have imagined.

SHOPPING

Show some love to local retailers

SJMade has launched an awesome storefront (perhaps in a timely nod to the Animal Crossing New Horizons craze?) called SJMade Town— a videogame-themed tour through some of our local artists’ and retailers’ virtual stores. Browse through and buy local from some really cool vendors you may not have known existed! (It’s possible I’ve already purchased an “Emotional Baggage” tote from Dollgirls and have my eye on a beeswax candle from Dandy Roots). 

What San Jose-themed virtual experiences are you finding? Share them with our readers (and us — we can’t get enough!)

The Fight for the Swine Sign

Across the street from Poor House Bistro and Diridon Station is a pig not quite as famous as Wilbur, not quite as well known as Babe, but to San Jose, is his own special, porcine celebrity.

The Dancing Pig on the vintage Stephen’s Meat Products sign has been proudly hoofing it since the 1950’s…even after the business closed. But, contrary to what people believe, weather happens in San Jose, and the iconic sign fell into disrepair. Cue pigpen jokes.

This didn’t sit well with the Preservation Action Council of San Jose (PAC*SJ) who has been trying to raise money to revitalize the sign for quite some time. And with “Google Village” slated to move into town riiiiiight around Montgomery, they’re working even harder to raise awareness.

Ideally, they note, Google would absorb this piece of San Jose history and physically feature it in some way. (Or digitally– it would make a HECK of a Google Doodle). 

 

We caught up with John from Preservation Action Council of San Jose (PAC*SJ) during their most recent fundraiser at Poor House Bistro on February 25, where 25% of food and beverage sales went to perking up the pig. Here’s what he had to say about why they’re doing this at all:

 

 

Landmarks. In a city that could easily be seen as just corporate buildings and suburban sprawl, there’s still a need to “find yourself” in this place. Some find themselves in our history, even with something so ordinary as a vintage meat products sign. Others find themselves in looking ahead to the future, with new businesses and buildings that facilitate the constant innovation happening here. 

And there’s certainly enough room here for both. No snout about it. 

Cool Runnings: An Interview with Treatbot

It’s a hot Thursday in June. You want some ice cream. But dang it, you also want to SING.

 

I’m sure we’ve all been in this predicament before, and the good news is, San Jose’s infamous Treatbot karaoke ice cream truck is the answer—bringing the songs AND the sweetness to delighted San Jose residents for 7 years.

To kick off our new summer series featuring the best of the best in San Jose ice cream, we were lucky enough to catch up with Treatbot owner Christine to get answers to some of the questions that have been chilling in our readers’ and our minds.

 

What led to the birth of the Treatbot?

We started Treatbot in 2010 hoping to have  a “side business” after I had my son. We had paid all our debt off and had quite a bit of savings and money to invest from other sources so it was either buy a house or start a food truck. So we decided to start a food truck. With the economic downturn at the time all our equipment and labor was inexpensive and it was a good time to get our foot in the door as food trucks were up and coming at the time in the Bay Area. Everyone was doing fusion food but no one was doing gourmet dessert, so we decided to go for ice cream sandwiches and then add karaoke onto the truck to give us a niche but also add our personal “flavor” to the truck, because we love karaoke. After all the love we got from social media and fans loving the concept, it was hard to stop the momentum and it became more than a side business and has become our passion and livelihood.

We need the ‘dish’: What’s your most popular flavor of ice cream?

It’s “408” hands down—our caramel ice cream, fudge ripple and crushed oreos. However Eastside Horchata comes in a close second, which is our cinnamon flavored ice cream fashioned after the Mexican rice drink. Closely after that is our Filipino flavors Macapuno (young candied coconut) and Ube (purple yam).

What’s the weirdest flavor you’ve put out there?

Bacon and Cheese, Durian, Banana, with peanut butter and bacon.

Talk a bit about the “karaoke” part of the Treatbot Karaoke Ice Cream Truck. Do you still give people the opportunity to sing? Or are you pretty stationery in San Pedro Market Square now?

At our store at the San Pedro Square Market we have karaoke every Thursday night from 7:30-10:00 pm. We are revamping our karaoke on the truck so that we have it available for the masses more often for public events. It’s a big part of our roots. Being of Filipino descent, karaoke is a huge part of family parties, so it’s a special thing. Add ice cream to that and you have good clean fun!

What’s the strangest song choice someone’s made when singing with Treatbot?

Strangest song….hmmm that’s a tough one. I can’t say, to be honest, because karaoke can be strange and wonderful all in one fell swoop whether you know the song or you don’t. It really depends on the person singing.

What’s a song you WISH people would do?

My personal preference would be some older R&B. A lot of pop gets done, and show tunes, but not enough oldies. That’s my jam and I’d love to hear more….maybe we’ll start doing themed nights so we can hear some of this stuff!

We want an invite to the first theme night if you do! Final question: How do you feel about San Jose, and what makes you passionate to operate here?

What makes us passionate to operate here is that this is our home and we want to make our home awesome to be in. We want to put it “on the map.” There is so much diversity here that breeds our creativity along with the innovation of Silicon Valley. It truly is a special place a diamond in the rough.

To get a scoop of 408, visit Treatbot in San Pedro Public Market, or learn more at https://treatbot.com/.

San Jose – Where Beer and Baseball Met

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It’s opening day and a great time to remember just how well baseball and beer go together.  In 1997 Dan Gordon and Dean Biersch were in dire need of space.  For nearly 2 decades Dan and Dean had been successfully brewing their Gordon Biersch beer out of a small restaurant facility in downtown Palo Alto but the pair was finally ready to hit the big leagues of bottling and distribution.  One problem, brewing and bottling mass quantities of beer takes a massive amount of space, something that was sorely lacking in Palo Alto.  Enter Mr October; Reggie Jackson.  By this point the hall of famer was enjoying retirement and his hobby of collecting classic cars, many of which were housed (along with 81a-MTfWWLL._SY355_an alleged mistress in a top floor penthouse as the tale goes) in a large warehouse facility on East Taylor and 9th just outside of Japantown in San Jose.  Fortunately for Dan and Dean, Reggie had found a new space for his vehicles in Monterey and was vacating the San Jose warehouse.  Gordon and Biersch snapped up the space (presumably without said mistress) and the South Bay’s largest brewery remains there to this day.

Fortunately for Mr October, if he’s missing his San Jose digs Gordon Biersch offers free tours of the brewery and bottling facility Monday through Thursday by appointment.  The tour is a fantastic way to learn more about the colorful history of Gordon Biersch (followers of 16th century German beer purity laws), the brewing process (Gordon Biersch uses San Jose water!), and the business of beer (Gordon Biersch restaurants are not actually owned by the brewery).  Check out the Gordon Biersch Brewery website to learn more and to schedule your group’s tour!