So this pedestrian bridge is pretty iconic as it passes across Interstate 280 in Cupertino. I don't…read morereally call it by it's real name and I just call it the Mary Avenue Bridge lol. It's nice to walk on in the daytime to watch the cars pass by and it's absolutely stunning during sunset and at night. Be careful though, there are a lot of bicyclists and sometimes if you're taking photos or just standing in the middle of the bridge, just be on the lookout. I kind of wish the bridge was a bit wider with a side for pedestrians and another side for bicyclists. But it's okay, it's like a mini Bay Bridge for pedestrians and bicyclists. This is a true Hidden Gem because I don't really see a lot of people visiting it even though people drive by it all the time on the freeway. When you get the chance, park on Mary Avenue on the south end and then take a nice walk across the bridge. You'll absolutely love it.

This is a pretty great place to see the sunset in Cupertino! Nice spot to take a few photos if…read moreyou're in the area.

I am not too keen on the dumbarton bridge, it feels finicky, and the cost has gone up significantly…read moresince the decade from being $5 to around $8+ dollars now. I have driven on this bridge quite a lot especially a decade ago when I lived in the east bay and drove to the peninsula for work I don't like that it doesn't have the big poles or big railing; and the cars shake when driving over the bridge due to the wind. It was never my favorite bridge even a decade ago due to the shakiness, it's not good. I have arial photos from early 2020, thankfully the bridge is only 15 mins or so. But I think they could make it feel a bit more secure (I am sure structurally it's okay , the wind is wild though)

The Dumbarton Bridge as we know it today was opened in 1982. The original span was opened in 1927,…read moreand was the first vehicle bridge to cross SF Bay. Today's Dumbarton Bridge is 3 lanes in each direction, and has a pedestrian/bike lane. The span is only 1.6 miles long, and the bridge has no emergency shoulders. Seems longer than 1.6 miles right? I think they don't count the long approaches. I have never used the Dumbarton Bridge during the morning commute, I mostly use it in the evening going eastbound. I never really got stuck in traffic on this bridge. Being a modern span, I think traffic engineers did a good job designing the Menlo Park/Palo Alto approach. You can't please everyone, someone's going to sit in traffic during the commute. Notes: On the westbound approach, you will go pass the KGO-810 AM transmitter. In Menlo Park, at Willow Rd, on the right is Facebook HQs (formerly Sun Microsystems). Sometimes on the Newark side, there's a foul smell from the swampy marshlands. In 2023, the toll for a regular car is $7.00. There's no toll takers. Toll is collected by Fastrak Transponders or they take a photo of your license plate. The bridge links Newark (Eastbay) to East Palo Alto (Peninsula) via CA-84.

The San Mateo/Hayward Bridge is a very important hub linking the peninsula to the southern part of…read morethe East Bay. Although, I'm not sure of the length of the bridge, it is quite a distance from one end to another, but it gives you beautiful views, when it's a clear and sunny day. One end will lead you to the Peninsula that will take you to San Carlos, Redwood city, and to the South Bay. That's the hub for the tech world. The other side will lead you to the East Bay, which will take you to, Hayward and eventually to Berkeley and Oakland. There will be a toll plaza on the eastern end of the bridge with standard going right for the area. Yes, the prices go up, but considering the convenience from going to one end of the bay area to the other, makes it worthy, especially if you drive during non-peak hours. The roads on the bridge are taken care of and although traffic can be an issue I don't see too many accidents leading to problems. Convenient and efficient that's what I love, especially when it comes to transportation.

The San Mateo-Hayward Bridge isn't anything amazing, although it does get you where you need to go…read morewith a price tag that doesn't seem worth it. It's longer than the other bridges, but nothing special. As of January 1st, 2026, it costs $8.50 to cross the bridge and there are several bridges in the bay area, so it feels that you get price gauged every time you cross any of them and not worth it. The amount of bridges in the bay area and the amount of price gauging is ridiculous. A series of 50-cent annual increases are in effect from 2026 to 2030 so you will continuously have to pay more year after year. The tolls are going up way beyond the rate of inflation and will continue to until 2030 and then they will have another tactic to increase it further. It's expected to be $10.50 to cross the bridge in 2030.

Located in heart of Silicon Valley, Moffett Field is a catchall for a variety of business and…read moregovernment facilities. Its more notable residents are NASA Ames, Moffett Federal Airfield, The Moffett Field Historical Society, and a burgeoning Google presence. The field was founded in 1931 when residents of Santa Clara Country raised just under a half a million dollars to purchase the farmland to then sell it to the U.S. Government for the princely sum of $1 dollar in order to build what was then known as NAS Sunnyvale in 1933. The US navy wanted to use the base for Airship operations. Upon the death of Rear Admiral William A. Moffett, who was a huge proponent of Airship operations, the base was changed to NAS Moffett Field on 1 September 1933. To support airship operations the massive Hanger One was built. The Hanger which at the time was one of the largest freestanding building in the world covered a whopping 8 acres. After the tragic los of the Airship USS Macon, the navy turned control over the base to the US Army. Following WWII the navy regained control of the base and during the Cold War was one of the primary West Coast bases for anti submarine aircraft such as the P-2V and the P-3 Orion. In 1939 NACA the precursor to NASA opened up research facilities on the base including the ARC Unitary Plan Wind Tunnel, and the National Full-Scale Aerodynamics Complex. Following the military drawdown during the post Cold War period the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) identified the base as unneeded and thus was decommissioned and turned over to NASA) The base now is run by NASA and they have actively rented out space to a variety of companies like Google etc. Lockheed martin Space Systems is collocated on the base as well as the 129th Air national Guard Squadron. There is also housing and other projects. In a nod to its Navy roots a Navy Commissary remains on the site and is open. Visitors are allowed on base with government issued ID if they have business there. In addition there is a museum on site that you can visit as well. Its hours are limited so check the website for more information. Also as a note traffic laws are STRICTLY enforced by the NASA police and that goes for bikes and vehicles so behave yourselves.

This review is based on the experience of my boyfriend being sworn in at Moffett Field to join The…read moreNational Air Guard/Air Force branch. Not to be sappy and cheesy but I am humbled to say that I am a very proud Air Force girlfriend :) It's crazy because you may just be passing by Moffett Field casually when you are driving the freeway. However, actually being on the Field itself is just a whole new experience. You will honestly never look at it the same during your casual drive, (in an AMAZING great way) once you experience being out on the Field. So many of the Airmen/women were very nice, respectful, and very informative with the process of joining the branch. They all definitely treat each other like family whether you are a new or old member. It's funny in a great way how many of them try to convince you to join Air Force as well haha! It truly was an honor being able to be out on the field and meet many Airmen/women who are serving our country. It makes me so happy knowing my boyfriend is following his dreams and now a part of such a strong/passionate branch. Shoutout and many thanks to them all for serving our country.

The Stanford Mausoleum isn't just another landmark--it's a glimpse into the heartfelt origin story…read moreof an entire campus and the Leland family that founded Stanford. The marble structure and shifted sphinxes are subtle but meaningful. With the cactus garden and Angel of Grief nearby, it's a beautiful, quiet place to reflect. A small campus site that leaves a lasting impression.

A buddy & his 10-yr-old son are visiting from LA & he wanted to tour the university with the boy,…read moreyou know, motivate him to get good grades & hopefully attend Stanford in 8 yrs. I brought them to the mausoleum As part of the tour. The boy showed some interest but his dad thought it wholly creepy. I suggested we come back at night fall for the after dark special

So mixed feelings about this town. So outside of the obvious, located in the south end of the…read morepeninsula adjacent to PALO ALTO a little to our north AND LOS ALTOS a little to our sw, it is starting to edge out of what is good. It is starting to be over the top. 20 minutes to get from one side of town to the other, let alone these annoying driverless cars merging into traffic and weaving in and out..that is scary, hello! CITY OF MT VIEW YOU ARE BUILDING WAY TO MUCH. I am capitilizing this in case you cannot read or see. We do not have the infastructure..way too many people, not enough land. You need to follow the suit of towns like Los Altos and Menlo Park and S Bay like Los Gatos. You are making this over the top. You really need to listen up. Are you building so much to pay the exorbitant city salaries of your employees? There is not enough infastructure here to support what you are trying to do, wake up call.

Small and not bad of a walkable downtown area. You can get free parking in the lots around or…read morethrough street parking. I'm assuming it's usually not super bad, but we went on Valentine's Day, so that made things a tad more difficult. There's a wide variety of eateries (just know that some of them close for a lunch break) and boba places and sweets places which is nice, as well as a local mom and pop owned market, a book store, gift shops, and the pop up for local independent artists. It's pretty lively on weekends with lots of people walking around, students busking, families hanging out, there's a ping pong table, and it's nice that they close down part of the middle roadway so pedestrians can walk easier and much more willy nilly, as well as opportunities for al fresca dining. Food options that I saw were Japanese, Thai, Korean, Chinese (from many regions), Indian, Mexican, American, Mediterranean, and much more. They got a sizeable Ume Tea here as well and if it weren't so busy, I'd stop by either of the 2 patisseries they had. Also, random, but I liked how they used that one storefront just to highlight what looks like a child's research project on penguins. Super cute!

"Just Don't Try to Visit on the Weekend"…read more This locomotive is well worth seeing. It is part of the official San Jose history park. Here's the problem: The History Park is closed on the weekends. That's right, the very time that people want to visit is the very time that they keep it closed. The locomotive is very close to the perimeter fence, so you can actually get a good look at it outside the park. It helps if you're really tall. There is free parking close by, in a dilapidated parking lot.

I heard this medieval French-style grain silo was a hot spot for lovers to come make-out so I came…read moreto be a creep about it but it's just a weird little historical kiosk that forks Alameda de las Pulgas across from a church. It's weird but I kinda dig that. I had to (I think illegally) park at the church to check this place out since street parking is a tiny bit of a hike away, but it's in the middle of the road and otherwise takes all of 4 seconds to see. There some flowers, decorative trees and bushes on the triangle of land for which the silo sits. It was, as the marker notes, built in 1924, it was the sales office for the Belmont Country Club, which they go out of their way to mention had a pool on the historical marker. Not sure why that's relevant but maybe they wanted to get their money's worth of character on the engraving. It's a thing to look at during a drive-by but other than that it's not really an out of your way thing. Great to navigate toward if you're ever stuck on the treacherous Ralston traffic and trying to find better back roads.

For the first 10 yrs of my life, my family would pass by this seemingly random, funny-looking tiny…read moretower https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/florence-pantano-historical-landmark-belmont?select=llHUodipogHk2ObiYESy-A on a median of the Alameda de las Pulgas + Covington Road intersection every day while on the way to school. I would sometimes wonder aloud if it were once a tower of an ancient castle or was the entrance to someone's secret underground home, but my parents would always respond with a nonchalant, "I don't know." More recently now as an adult, I was passing by one day + decided to pull over to do some exploring to finally uncover the answer to my childhood curiosity. A plaque on the ground https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/florence-pantano-historical-landmark-belmont?select=vNL5rk4OtC_8QPOEPumMhg says the structure was built in 1924 as the sales office for the Belmont Country Club Properties. Further research on the all-knowing interwebs has told me that the Belle Monti Country Club was established with the grand vision that Belmont (called "The Hub of the Peninsula" at the time since it's located exactly halfway between San Francisco + San Jose) could become a mini Hillsborough, as the Club would draw in the rich from San Francisco to buy property in the scenic hills. But as luck would have it, the stock market took nose dive... leading the company into bankruptcy during The Depression + majority of the land was eventually resold for housing or commercial purposes. However, the building that had been the Belle Monti Country Club Clubhouse was purchased in the 1950s to became what still stands as the Congregational Church of Belmont, located right across the street. The little tower is now a historic landmark donated by local real estate agents Pantano Properties. It was given a face lift + re-dedicated in 2007 as a "micro-park" thanks to grants + donations from various groups in the community. While I personally don't know who in the right mind would actually venture over to spend time in a "park" that resembles a gnome home, I have to admit that I do appreciate how much better it looks than how I recalled from my childhood. Interwebs sources: http://archives.smdailyjournal.com/article_preview.php?id=75830 http://www.insidebayarea.com/ci_7045149