Silicon Valley: Where Technology, Business & Culture Collide

San Jose Museum of Art is Santa Clara County's premiere modern art museum, showcasing a permanent collection of 20th and 21st century works focusing on the works of West Coast and Pacific Rim artists.

The museum is housed within a California Historic Landmark building that was originally constructed as the San Jose post office in 1892 by architect Willoughby J. Edbrooke. Additional collections are showcased in the museum's New Wing, which was added to the facility in 1991.

Rotating exhibitions showcase pieces from the museum's 2,000-piece collection, which span a variety of media types and feature artists such as Dale Chihuly, Wayne Thiebaud, Deborah Butterfield, and Manuel Ocampo.

The museum is the region's largest arts education provider, offering curriculum-incorporated tours for school groups and a variety of art-focused workshop and in-school programming.

110 S Market St, San Jose, CA 95113, Phone: 408-271-6840

History San Jose is an indoor-outdoor history park in San Jose that strives to preserve the cultural and social history of the Santa Clara Valley through a variety of living history exhibits and educational programming. The park is located at the southern end of Kelley Park and showcases more than 30 replica homes and businesses from the turn of the 20th century, complete with paved streets and running trolleys for guest transportation. Landmarks displayed at the park include O'Brien's Ice Cream Parlor and Candy Shop, which recreates the West Coast's first ice cream and soda parlor and serves local Treat Ice Cream, with docent-led tours available for small groups and organizations by request. The Peralta Adobe historic site is located 4 miles away in Downtown San José and serves thousands of children every year through History San José's public school programs. History San José and local partners offer cultural programming and festivals year-round.

History San Jose, 1650 Senter Rd, San Jose, CA 95112, Phone: 408-287-2290

Baylands Nature Preserve, commonly referred to as the Palo Alto Baylands Nature Preserve, is the San Francisco Bay's largest remaining tract of undeveloped marshland, spanning more than 1,900 acres throughout the Palo Alto and East Palo Alto regions. The preserve is owned and operated by the City of Palo Alto and is known as one of the American West Coast's best spots for migratory bird watching. It is home to the Lucy Evans Baylands Nature Interpretive Center, which is named in honor of one of the preserve's most noted activists and offers nature exhibits and a quarter-mile public boardwalk. 15 miles of multi-use trails are offered throughout the preserve, allowing visitors to explore the park's tidal and freshwater habitats.

Palo Alto, CA 94303, Phone: 650-617-3156, Baylands Nature Preserve Video

California's Great America is a 100-acre theme park in Santa Clara that offers a wide variety of high, mild, and family thrill rides. The park was originally opened by hotelier Marriott Corporation in 1976 and was subsequently operated by Paramount Parks throughout the 1990s before its purchase by Cedar Point operators Cedar Fair. It is best known as the home of Northern California's tallest and fastest wooden coaster, Gold Striker, which has been honored as one of the world's top 10 wooden coasters by Amusement Today's Golden Ticket Awards. Other coasters include the Flight Deck suspended coaster, the Patriot floorless coaster, and the new RailBlazer single-rail coaster. Thrill rides include the park's Delirium pendulum ride and 225-foot Drop Tower, while family rides include the park's iconic 200-foot Star Tower observation tower. Admission to the park's water park, Boomerang Bay, is also included in standard admission tickets.

4701 Great America Pkwy, Santa Clara, CA 95054, Phone: 408-988-1776

The Children's Discovery Museum of San Jose was opened to the public in June of 1990 in downtown San Jose along Woz Way , which is named in honor of Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, one of the museum's primary donors. It is housed within a 52,000-square foot building constructed by Mexico City-based architect Ricardo Legorreta and serves as a family educational and discovery center for preschool and elementary-aged children.

The museum has been the recipient of a number of national children's museum awards, including an Excellence in Exhibitions honor from the American Association of Museums. Exhibits focus on science, arts, and civics topics such as water, bubbles, fossils, and architecture, with interactive theater and farmer's market exhibits that allow young visitors to role play. An art gallery is also offered, along with a variety of changing exhibitions in the museum's west wing.

The Children's Discovery Museum of San Jose, 180 Woz Way, San Jose, CA 95110, Phone: 408-298-5437

Activities and Attractions for Couples and Singles:

Arizona Garden, commonly known as the Arizona Cactus Garden, is a 30,000-square-foot botanical garden that is located within the campus of famed California college Stanford University. The garden was originally planted between 1880 and 1883 by landscape architect Rudolph Ulrich as a present to Jane and Leland Stanford, planned as a landscape addition to their personal residence. Though the couple's estate was never built, the garden was maintained throughout the early 20th century before falling into disrepair. Beginning in 1997, the garden was restored by university staff and volunteers, now open to the public daily as a free visitor attraction. Significant plantings of cacti and succulents are showcased, including plantings of aloe, agave, and crassula plants.

The Computer History Museum is a Mountain View museum that preserves the history of the information age, presenting a variety of artifacts and recounted histories related to the computer industry and its impact on broader society. The museum began out of a 1970s Whirlwind computer preservation project by Gordon Bell and operated for several decades in Massachusetts before merging with the artifacts of the TCM History Center and moving to Silicon Valley in 2002. Today, it offers a wide variety of exhibits on early computing history and houses what is reported to be the largest collection of computing artifacts in the world, including the Cray-1 supercomputer, the 1969 Neiman Marcus Kitchen Computer, and an Apple I. More than 700 video interviews are also contained within the museum's oral history collection.

1401 N Shoreline Blvd, Mountain View, CA 94043, Phone: 650-810-1010

What to do if you are traveling with kids:

Edgewood Park and Natural Preserve is a 467-acre preserve located in San Mateo County, known for its beautiful displays of spring wildflowers. The park is located on formerly developed lands that were acquired by San Mateo County in 1979 for the purposes of constructing an 18-hole golf course, but as a result of environmental concerns related to the project, two-thirds of the purchased lands were set aside for the development of a natural preserve area. In 1993, the golf course project was scrapped and the entire park lands were set aside for preservation. Today, it receives more than 50,000 annual visitors, offering hiking and wildlife watching opportunities throughout its grassland, chaparral, woodland, and wetland ecosystems.

10 Old Stage Coach Rd, Redwood City, CA 94062, Phone: 650-368-6283

Emma Prusch Farm Park is a 43.5-acre public park located in East San Jose that showcases the former farm property of San Jose resident Emma Prusch, who donated her land to the city in 1962. The park is intended to preserve the region's agricultural history and showcases the city's largest preserved freestanding barn, which is used by the Future Farmers of America and the city's 4-H groups for urban livestock raising. It also preserves a rare fruit orchard, which is operated as a cooperative project by the California Rare Fruit Growers Association, showcasing more than 125 species of rare and exotic fruit trees, including subtropical plantings. The park's Veggielution community farm spans approximately six acres and is staffed by youth and adult volunteers, who strive to create a sustainable urban food solution for the city. Several acres of open grassland are also offered, along with demonstration gardens and picnic areas.

647 King Rd, San Jose, CA 95116, Phone: 408-794-6262

Happy Hollow Park and Zoo is a 16-acre zoological park in San Jose that was originally opened to the public in 1961. Today, it is an Association of Zoos and Aquariums accredited facility and a member facility of the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions. Park animal exhibits are structured to incorporate as much free roaming for animals as possible, with areas to allow animals to go off exhibit for break times. Exhibits include a lemur woods exhibit, a fossa exhibit, the recently-renovated vintage Crooked House, and an Animal Barn playplace and petting zoo. An animal hospital is also showcased on site, along with a Learning L.O.D.G.E. educational center and an outdoor Redwood Lookout children's playground. A variety of children's and family rides are offered at the park, including a family roller coaster and a carousel showcasing endangered species.

748 Story Rd, San Jose, CA 95112, Phone: 408-794-6400