Bubbles in Alum Rock Park
Native Plant Garden at Lake Cunningham
Lake Cunningham Park in San Jose has many great reasons to visit. One is to find and walk around the Native Plant Garden. (https://cnps-scv.org/index.php/restoration/lake-cunningham) While you are there you may also enjoy the largest skate park in California, BMX bike park, water park with water slides and lazy river, playgrounds, paths, and so on.
Almaden Lake
Backesto Park
This was my local park growing up. It was”the park” to me and it is fascinating to time travel through memory to be here now. This handball court wall was here then though this mural was not. I have not yet found out about this artist though the mural is signed KML. I appreciate the words written under it by the artist:
“FINDING Santuario ~ IT’S JUST a WALK en el parque”
Finding Sanctuary ~ it’s just a walk in the park.
This monument was there long before I was. Those tiles were created by S&S, the historical Solon and Schemmel Tile Company of San Jose of the 20’s and 30’s that is now Stonelight Tile in San Jose. This monument at Backesto Park is the oldest public work using their tiles. Later famous works of theirs include the Hearst Castle.
An interesting read about the tile company is here: https://stonelighttile.com/handmade/
Guadalupe River Trail Mural
You certainly will not ignore it; it is bright. It does a good job of welcoming you to the trail as intended. You might look to notice more and see a fun mural. If you want to get greater amusement out of it, I highly recommend that you speak aloud and say what you see.
Is that a palm tree skateboarding with a fanny pack on? Yes, yes it is.
Hey look, a cattail eating a hotdog is bringing up the back of an extra long tandem bicycle. Why is the bird in front of him/her wearing a beret? I don’t know. Did I mention the cattail eating a hotdog?
The mural is called “Do You Know The Way To San Jose’s Guadalupe River Trail?” by Kristina Micotti. (https://kristinamicotti.com/ , https://www.powwowsanjose.com/2020-artists-murals-1 )
Metal Sculpture
Often seen in passing through downtown will be this site and sculpture:
It’s usually passed and so not as often appreciated considering the number of people who go by it. When you look, though, it is really interesting to stare at and appreciate.
It’s on a little triangular wedge of grass across from the Hotel De Anza. I finally, and thankfully, took the time to walk around it.
And I found that for me, the genius of the work is how much it changes in feel and perceived motion from different perspectives. I never realized that I liked it so until I got close and gave it my attention. So much of life is like this.
Up close, here are a couple of the differences and representations I admire:
What I think and see and feel between these two views of the same work is nothing the same except for the awe that the same work can feel so different to me from different places.
I like the images but also the perceived motion. How did I describe the motion to myself when I asked my mind to put it into words? The upper image (second one of three on this post) moves like a flowing skirt on a dancer or sea creature along the ocean sand and the lower image (third of three above) moves for me like the opening hands in the kids’ rhyme with the wriggling fingers in the middle that we did when you “open up the church and here’s all the people.” Remember that?
Well, there is much more to see than I had ever done before in years of passing by and noticing its presence but always on the way to get somewhere. Meanwhile, the art and imagery waited patiently for me to discover how I felt about it.
Sculpture by Stephanie Scuris. (You can see a neat photo of the sculpture in its original home indoors in San Jose’s Eastridge Mall in another neat angle at: www.bigmallrat.blogspot.com/2009/07/vintage-postcards-eastridge-mall.html)
Christmas Lights
What an interesting year. Because of the pandemic, the annual Christmas in the Park event in San Jose could not occur as usual. Instead, for the first time ever, they decided to make it a drive through event and so moved it over to History Park in San Jose so that cars could wind their way through the event. They added more lights to make it more appealing to what you could see from your car and then put up a temporary radio station to tune into so that you could enjoy the light show as lights throughout the entire event were set and timed to the music.
What did my children think about this temporary modified version of an annual tradition? No rides for them to go on. No ice skating out in the open of downtown. No hot chocolate vendors.
They LOVED it! All of us were amazed. It was soooooo well done!! The music, the lights, the novelty… all of the effort really paid off. It was a wonderful experience. The kids loved it so much they spent the drive home suggesting that this be included as part of the annual Christmas in the Park event. They were that impressed. Well done!
The pictures simply do not capture anything of the magic of being there. Still, here are a couple to help communicate the difference.
Parque de los Pobladores
Red Tree Statue
Almaden Winery – A First California Winery
The first winery in California is in San Jose. So much agricultural history is here and around here and still I was extremely surprised to learn that we had a historic winery in our city as well. The first winery…
Now, to be fair, there are several “first wineries” in California. For example, there are the first wine producing wineries created by Spanish missionaries, the first commercial wineries, the oldest and still producing winery, the oldest still producing that has continuously been producing winery, and so on. Lots of first wineries in this state and a lot of words on the internet declaring such firsts. So, where does this particular oldest winery in California fit in; the one with a plaque that you can go and visit as a city park called Almaden Winery Park here in San Jose, California?
This historic San Jose winery established in 1852 was, I gather, the first commercial winery in California to go into operation having planted French sourced grape vines that were praised for their qualities in making wine. This style of quality focused wine making in California would eventually become the norm and expand to make it a hub of some of the finest recognized wineries in the world. The missionaries who established vineyards before this in California had used a type of Spanish sourced grape vine that was known for being hearty but was not as impressive in wine making.
So there you have it. One of the several first wineries in California is right here in San Jose and you can enjoy a picnic, play on a swing, and admire some pretty old trees and structures while walking around the old property. Most of the old vineyard is now a neighborhood around the city park that centers around the wine cellar of the old Almaden Winery.
