Do You Know the Way To San Jose?

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Last Wednesday afternoon, I left for San Jose with a few coworkers for a PR conference, and it was one of the best experiences.

Wednesday evening, we checked into our hotel, freshened up, then went out for dinner as a team. I have a couple of friends who live in the area, so I asked for food recommendations. We decided on Santana Row, which is similar to The Grove in Los Angeles, with a cornucopia of shops, restaurants and more. We went to Pizza Antica, which I would describe as rustic chic. It's a like New York City meets Nashville with a fancy bar area made of wood, tile covering the floors and wooden tables and cloth napkins. I went with the calzone, because they are the best and it was large and tasty. Everyone raved about their food, and the conversation was great. You couldn't ask for more. Our waiter offered us free dessert since it was our first time visiting, but my friend had recommended an ice cream place to try around the corner. So we passed. Crazy, I know!



We walked down the street just a bit to catch a glimpse of the famous Winchester Mystery House, since it was already closed. It looked different than I'd imagined and gave us chills just looking at it. But, I hope to make it back someday very soon to check it out and take a tour. It's such a fascinating story, and obviously Hollywood thought so, too!


That evening, we went back to our hotel to rest up and get ready for our conference. Bright and early the next morning, we made our way to San Jose State University for our PR conference, where we spent the next two days hearing from incredible speakers all throughout the state, discussing ideas, hearing presentations and meeting people from various universities.

We had dinner at McCormick and Schmick's on Thursday evening. I was going to have the shrimp scampi, but decided on the fish and chips. Tasty! But, to be honest, we were all glad when dinner was over. It was a beautiful part of town, though. Lights, buildings, people walking around and the air was cool. It's the kind of dreamy, summer night that just fills you with wonder. We turned in to our rooms around 9. I packed and got my things ready, then called it a night.





Friday was filled with breakout sessions. I went to several on video storytelling, social media and ways for sparking up your storytelling. It also gave me more of a chance to network and meet others from various universities.

Once the sessions ended, we started our trek home. Traffic was a bit of a nightmare and took us forever to get home. But, we made the most of it with the radio and sharing stories. And also the Waze app, which gave us a "quicker" route.


Once we made it past the traffic, we were good to go! We made it down the road just a little ways, and decided to stop for gas, when we saw THE coolest place, Casa De Fruta off to the side of the road. It not only had a farmer's market type store with nuts, fruit, candy and more, but also an ice cream/coffee shop, restaurant, deli/wine store, along with a carousel and train. I was geeking out. We purchased a few goodies for the ride home and then some. We wandered the grounds a bit, then agreed on having dinner there. We ordered sandwiches and enjoyed the weather outside under covered tables. We were so full, but thought we'd give the coffee/candy/ice cream store a shot. I bought a candy bar for later, but was too full for anything else.





Once we were back on the road, it was brought to our attention just how little progress we'd actually made and how much farther we had to go. But, we snacked and kept the conversation going. It was fun to be out of the office and be able to bond over things that aren't just work related. 

We made it home later than anticipated, but it was so worth it. I was wiped out and didn't want to do anything, except shower and lie in bed. Which is basically what I did, and I'd never been so happy. It was not only enriching for my career and the role I'm currently in, but opened my eyes to other experiences. 

That's all for now,
Shelby





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