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Master of Master Baiters Joined: 06 Feb 2008 Posts: 720

Has anyone visited the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose if so comments on it please
Good or Bad?

Posted: Sun Aug 03, 2008 7:48 pm

Doodle:

I was there a few years ago. IMHO not worth the cost of admission. It was just mostly an empty house. The Travel Chanel or Discovery or one of those has a special on it that makes it look a LOT more elegant than it really is.

Posted: Sun Aug 03, 2008 9:44 pm

Go on Halloween and do the flashlight tour. Tis spooky!

Posted: Mon Aug 04, 2008 3:44 am

I found it quite interesting.

She was definitely a very very strange lady. If you haven't seen it before, I would recommend it!

B

EDIT: Spelling

Posted: Mon Aug 04, 2008 4:02 am

I found it the worst waste of money I have made to date. Sure the lady was a little deranged and did a few silly things; but they really had to reach pretty far to come up with the occult connections. All of the occult stuff used on TV had a fairly reasonable explanation why is was done, not ghosts telling her to do it. But the Winchester museum was very interesting and the history of the house is kind of interesting. So if you do go on the tour don't expect more than a large house.

Posted: Mon Aug 04, 2008 4:31 am

Do you know the way to San Jose? Pass up the Winchester House and go to the Exploratorium.
http://www.exploratorium.edu/

Posted: Mon Aug 04, 2008 5:10 am

Yea. The Exploratorium is pretty cool.

Master of Master Baiters Joined: 06 Feb 2008 Posts: 720

Thanks Folks for your reply’s

More Answers please
What tips could you give on using the 3 Cable car routes in San Francisco ?
Yes I have learned not to call it Frisco

Is the Napa Valley wine train trip a good deal ?

My trip is in early September

Thanks

Posted: Mon Aug 04, 2008 5:54 pm

I don't know about the train trip, but Napa Valley is worth the visit, even if you don't drink wine. The scenery is breathtakingly beautiful.

The cable cars are well worth the price. I don't remember the names of the lines, but they all cover great scenic and tourist-attraction places in the city. I used to take the line from Embarcadero up California Street to the top of the hill, where the Ritz Carlton is now. It was a school and office building when I worked there. Just a block below (literally) is Grant Street, and Chinatown. Another line goes to Fisherman's Wharf, with the Ghirardelli Chocolate and other wonderful food-type places. Union Square is also worth a visit.

When are you going? The weather is iffy as far as cold or fog most of the year. My sister visited me in August and took a city tour. I asked her if they crossed the Golden Gate Bridge, and she said, "I think so - they said that was where we were, but we couldn't see a thing."

Posted: Mon Aug 04, 2008 8:14 pm

Doodle Bug wrote:

Yes I have learned not to call it Frisco
Is the Napa Valley wine train trip a good deal ?

I grew up in the south end of the state but moved to the bay area to go to school. As soon as I heard someone complain about my calling it Frisco, I was convinced that I would never call it anything else.

As far as wine, I'd recommend that you go to the Russian River/Dry Creek portion of Sonoma. The wines are better, the people are friendlier and the tasting is cheaper (most places are still free).

Posted: Mon Aug 04, 2008 8:50 pm

Napa is very nice but getting expensive. I remember staying in a B+B about 20 years ago. I just dropped by to see if they had a vacancy. It was a bargain at $50 a night and I tried to get another night. It was over a hundred so I went on to the place I had a reservation for. A cow-orker with a kid at Pacific Union College told me that the same place is now $400 a night. An alternative is to get driven in and driven out on the same day. Depending on your tolerance, you should be able to hit up 4 wineries.
When I was there I passed 2 sobriety checkpoints set up right outside major wineries and my cow-orker says that the checkpoints are still there. I found that sending the winery a snail mail letter, followed by a call got me special treatment. At the Domaine Chandon place, I did not have to buy the glass and at Mondavi I was signed up for the picker's tour. It was raining so they took us to a special wine tasting. Every wine was a Reserve.