By Nicholas Katers
Fun Places in San Jose
San Jose, California, is often overshadowed by northern neighbor
San Francisco in terms of tourism. It has a public university, an NHL franchise and an international airport. Among its many attractions are sports venues, parks, museums and other fun places where tourists can mingle with residents. These attractions educate and entertain visitors to San Jose without overextending their travel budgets.
Winchester Mystery House
The Winchester Mystery House is a popular San Jose destination with multiple tours running daily. The former home of Sarah Winchester features 160 rooms and 47 fireplaces that were once used by the widower's house staff. The Mansion Tour allows visitors to explore more than 100 rooms where paranormal activity has been reported since the early 20th century. The Behind the Scenes Tour takes visitors to the stables and basements.
Winchester Mystery House
525 S Winchester Blvd.
San Jose, California 95128
(408) 247-2101
www.winchestermysteryhouse.com
Happy Hollow Park and Zoo
The Happy Hollow Park and Zoo maintains habitats for 150 animals, including Sophia the jaguar, wallabies, lemurs and other mammals. The zoo accommodates around 360,000 visitors per year. Happy Hollow Park features jungle gyms, slides and other activities for kids up to 10 years old. The zoo's Summer Family Movie Nights screen popular movies and cartoons featuring animals to entertain the entire family. The Old Mill at Happy Hollow is a working antique mill that was installed when the park opened in 1961.
Happy Hollow Park and Zoo
1300 Senter Road
San Jose, California 95112
(408) 277-4193
www.happyhollowparkandzoo.org
SaberCats and HP Pavilion
The San Jose SaberCats play Arena Football League games in front of thousands of fans each summer at the HP Pavilion. The team, founded in 1995, won championships in 2002, 2004 and 2007. The SaberCats experience includes T-shirt giveaways, inexpensive concessions and performances by the SaberKittens dance team.
SaberCats at the HP Pavilion
600 East Brokaw Road
San Jose, California 95112
(408) 573-5577
www.sanjosesabercats.com
San Jose Museum of Art
The museum presents more than 1,400 paintings, sculptures and multimedia art projects from the 20th and 21st centuries. It offers guided tours of special and ongoing exhibits for school groups around the year. Museum visitors with iPods and iPhones can download recorded exhibit tours at the museum's website. Admission is free for kids under six. The museum also hosts Kids Summer Art Camps.
San Jose Museum of Art
110 South Market St.
San Jose, California 95113
(408) 271-6840
www.sjmusart.org
Resources
About the Author:
Nicholas Katers has been a freelance writer since 2006. He teaches American history at Carroll University in Waukesha, Wis. His past works include articles for "CCN Magazine," "The History Teacher" and "The Internationalist" magazine. Katers holds a bachelor's degree and a master's degree in American history from University of Wisconsin-Green Bay and University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, respectively.
Photo Credits:
Photo: Ocuish/Wikimedia Commons
