• Great America, [3]. Nestled among the office buildings is one of the Bay Area's largest amusement parks. Yes, from their cubicles they can hear you screaming on the roller coasters.

• Santa Clara Golf and Tennis Club, 5155 Stars & Stripes, tel. 408-980-9515.

• Intel Museum, [1].

• Mission Santa Clara

• Santa Clara University

• Agnews Developmental Center, 4030-4070 Lafayette Street (just off the Montague Expressway). The Agnews Historic Park preserves three buildings from the old California Hospital for the Chronic Insane. Founded in 1889, the facility's original buildings collapsed in the "San Francisco Earthquake" of 1906, killing 117 people. The new buildings, including the still-standing auditorium, clock tower and superintendent's residence, are good examples of early twentieth century Mediterranean Revival architecture, heavily influenced by the Arts and Crafts style. The new buildings represented a more modern attitude toward the mentally ill. The smaller buildings with larger windows were designed to comfort and stimulate the mentally ill, rather than imprison them. The state of California moved the last few hundred residents out in the mid 1990's, and sold the campus to Sun Microsystems, who promised to preserve the grounds and buildings, and make the auditorium and executive mansion available for public events. Unfortunately, you cannot get inside to see the very impressive interiors of the buildings, unless you've got a Sun employee badge or are lucky enough to slip in during a meeting or public event. Neither tours nor docents seem to be available. You can visit a small shelter that has public restrooms, as well as historic photographs and information about the hospital.

• Triton Museum of Art [2].

• Harriss-Lass Historic Museum, 1889 Market St. Open Sa-Su only, 12PM to 4PM. This 19th century farmhouse has been restored and converted to a museum of local history.

• KoreaTown. Not officially recognized, but the area of El Camino beginning at Lawerence Expressway and extending east about 2 miles is home to many Korean owned businesses, stores, and restaurants.

Just west of San Jose, Santa Clara is adjacent to San Jose Mineta Airport.

By train

Caltrain stops at Santa Clara Station, on the east side of Santa Clara University. Though Caltrain doesn't really stop at San Jose Mineta Airport, the free Airporter bus shuttles passengers between the airport and the Santa Clara Caltrain station.

The Altamont Commuter Express (ACE) is an Amtrak express train running from the central valley towns of Stockton, Tracy, Livermore and Pleasanton to San Jose. The train stops at the Santa Clara Amtrak station at Lafayette and Tasman, near the Santa Clara Convention Center. Only a few trains run per day. Note that the Santa Clara stop doesn't include a station building, just a platform under an overpass, so plan connecting transportation before you arrive.

• Westfield Shopping Town at Valley Fair

Probably the largest shopping center in the area and certainly the most successful. Most of it is technically in San Jose, but that is because of the crazyquilt of San Jose's growth. Originally it was two shopping areas, one was a Macy's store with other smaller stores in an open air mall. The other was an Emporium store, two or three blocks away. The present shopping center is now one large building with multiple floors, food courts, and Nordstrom. The Emporium is no longer in business, but Macy's occupies the old store with their Men's clothing, kitchen and glassware and some other features. It's good excercise to walk from one Macy's to the other. When Westfield took over Valley Fair, they increased the parking substantially. Building literature says that a previous version of this mall was intentionally built with hard walking surfaces to keep the noise level up. Now, with unique carpeted areas in the main walkways, it is not so noisy.

• Santana Row

Across Stevens Creek Blvd in front of Valley Fair is Santana Row, a newer boutique shopping area with more restaurants, a hotel and other interesting stores (as well as Crate&Barrel, Best Buy, ..) Consider this the Rodeo Drive of Santa Clara/San Jose. There are 70 stores which include: Tiffany's, Gucci, Oakley, Ann Taylor Loft, Ted Baker, Lucy, Urban Outfitter, Diesel, Burberry, and much more. Santana Row also offers apartments and condos above the center. [4]

• Farmer's Market

There's a farmer's market in the morning on Saturdays right next to the Franklin Mall.

• Starving Musician

Shopping Centers

• Rivermark Village

With a supermarket, cafes and specialty stores located along a pedestraian friendly main street at the south border of the community, Rivermark Village is a 136,000 sq. ft. premier neighborhood shopping center. It features a 65,000 sq. ft. new generation Safeway super market. Restaurants include: Yan Can, Peet's Coffee & Tea, Jamba Juice, Quizno's, Red Robin, Baja Fresh, Prolific Oven, Premier Pizza, and many other shops.

Splurge

• Parcel 104, 2700 Mission College Blvd. (at the Santa Clara Marriott), Phone: (408) 970-6104, [5]. One of the best restaurants in the South Bay is hidden at the ground floor of the Santa Clara Marriott, just off the Great America Parkway at highway 101. The cuisine is a sophisticated example of California cuisine (light dishes, good fish, flavorful fruits and fresh vegetables), combined with Asian influences such as Japanese ingredients. Excellent wines and desserts too. Prepare to spend and enjoy.

Midrange

• Gaesung Tofu, 2089 El Camino Real (at the corner of El Camino Real and Scott, in the strip mall behind the Union 76 station), 248-8638. Among the dozen or so Korean restaurants in Santa Clara, Gaesung is one of the best. Their specialty is the tofu based hot-pot stews of Korea. The restaurant is not entirely vegetarian, but does offer vegetarian dishes.

• Yuki Sushi, 1827 Pruneridge Ave (in the Cedar Tree Shopping Center at the corner of Pruneridge and Winchester), 248-9144 (Fax 260-1988), [6]. Lunch: Tu-Fr 11:30AM-2:00 PM, Dinner: Tu-Sa 5PM-9:30 PM, Su 5PM-9PM. Closed Mondays. A small restaurant with excellent sushi, Yuki Sushi also has specialty rolls with innovative combinations of western and Japanese ingredients. Vegetarian entrees, noodles, donburi and teishoku are also on the menu. The restaurant usually fills up fast. Take-out is available.

• California Noodle House, 1460 Halford Averue ( "one block south of El Camino, one block west of Lawerence Expressway, in a strip mall across from the Kohl's store" ), 408 244-9721. [7]. M-Su 10AM-9PM. Good and affordable noodle soups, served in large bowls with different types of meats. Other dishes as well, including iced coffees and teas.

• La Paloma 2280 El Camino Real (at El Camino and Los Padres in a bright yellow building) (408) 247-0990. M-Th 11AM-9:30PM, F-Sa 11AM-10PM, Su 4PM-9PM. Generous portions of Mexican food at a moderate price. A smaller, family-owned restaurant with lively decor. Live entertainment on Friday and Saturday nights may draw crowds. Takeout is available, as is a weekday lunch buffet. Parking may be tight at popular times, but nearby residential neighborhoods have plenty of on-street parking.