Do You Know the Way to San Jose?

This week's exercise/activity brought me to San Jose, California on our Journey to Shamrock map. (My route, of course, is on the left and Peggy Sue's is on the right. Double click on the map to zoom in.)

So let's see... what can I say about San Jose? Not a whole lot. I don't go there very often. When I was little, we used to drive through San Jose on the way to my grandparent's house (we lived in Central California, back then) fairly often and there was a huge freeway project that was put on hold due to a state budget crisis (not unlike the one we're having now... strange). Anyway, there was a big crazy overpass thing that was built but not connected to the freeway for years and years. To this day, it freaks me out to drive over it... the 9-year-old in me remembers that creepy overpass to nowhere.

Creepy, right? As I searched for this photo, I learned that it was referred to the California Stonehenge.

Years later it looks like this:

Not sure if that's an improvement now that I look at it. But San Jose isn't all about freeway exchanges. It has played an important role in California since 1777 when it became California's first civilian settlement and then went on to be the state's capital during the gold rush in the mid 1800's. Prior to the Spaniards settling there, it was home to the Ohlone Native Americans. It served as an agricultural hub for the west coast (Del Monte was it's largest employer for years), then an industrial center beginning in the 50s and now is the heart of Silicon Valley.

So there you have it: San Jose in a nutshell. But how could we talk about San Jose without a little Dionne Warwick? Enjoy!