Nature finally caught up with us as we left San Francisco. The fog was thick as we hit the 101 and headed south towards Monterey. It was kind of lovely getting to see San Francisco in it's natural state. Don't get me wrong, I was more than happy to have the sunshine while touring the city, but the fog, I think, kind of represents the Bay City.
As we drove further south, the cloud started to burn off. By the time we arrived in San Jose, it was warm and sunny. Our one and only destination in San Jose was the Winchester Mystery House. Sadly, photos were not allowed inside the house, so I'll do my best to describe it.
If you're not familiar, Oliver Winchester created the Winchester Repeating Rifle in 1866. After his father died, William Winchester took over the company, improving on his fathers invention. In 1862, William married Sarah Pardee, a 15 year old from New Haven, CT. They had one child that lived only five weeks due to a birth defect that made it impossible to absorb nutrition. Shortly after that, William died, leaving Sarah alone for the rest of her life. Sarah was a deeply superstitious woman who believed that her daughter and husband had been killed by the lives that were taken by the Winchester Rifle. She believed that those spirits continued to haunt her even after she moved from New Haven to San Jose, CA. She sought out a psychic who told her to buy a plot of land in San Jose and to keep building onto the house she would construct to satisfy the spirits.
After her husband's death, Sarah inherited more than $20.5 million. Every day on the property there was some sort of construction going on, 24/7 our guide said, adding up to $2,000 a day, or $30,000 in today's money. There are more than 160 rooms in the house and to stay with the superstitions, the theme of the number thirteen runs throughout the house. To throw off the spirits that she so feared, she built doors to nowhere- doors that dropped from the second floor into the garden or doors that opened to no floor that dropped you into a kitchen sink. She built inch-thick cabinets. She built staircases to nowhere. Even after all the precautions to avoid the paranormal, to this day, there are said to be supernatural phenomenon. In short, this house made no sense to anyone but her. It was awesome!
After San Jose, we continued on down to our final stop of Monterey. By the time we arrived, there was little to no sun and blue sky so we headed directly to the aquarium, which was the main thing I was looking forward to see while there. Aquariums are a very special experience for me, so tranquil and engaging. This was no exception. The aquarium itself is huge with so many wings and special exhibits. Also, so many jelly fish!
A day of travel and cool touristy sights ended with dinner and drinks. An early night led us to one more day in the Monterey Bay area. Stay tuned for the next blog about beautiful Monterey coming soon!
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