Great America Theme Park 
Great America is Northern California’s ultimate family theme park and entertainment destination, with exciting rides, live stage show, concerts, Nickelodeon TV characters, and beautiful sights. Located in Santa Clara, Great America features 10 pulse-pounding coasters and the wild water rides of Boomerang Bay. Visit www.pgathrills.com.

Winchester Mystery House
Beautiful, yet bizarre, the Winchester Mystery House is an an architectural marvel. The Victorian mansion is filled with unexplained oddities, such as the staircase to the ceiling and a door that opens onto a wall, three working elevators, 47 fireplaces, rambling roofs, exquisite hand inlaid parquet floors, gold and silver chandeliers, and Tiffany art glass windows. Visit www.winchestermysteryhouse.com.

Mission Santa Clara
Located on the grounds of Santa Clara University, this is the eighth of 21 missions built around California by Father Junipero Serra and his Spanish Franciscan padres. Built in 1777, Mission Santa Clara is a California historical landmark. Located at 500 El Camino Real. Call (408) 554.4023 or visit www.scu.edu/visitors. [Top]

Bay 101 Casino
Enjoy fun gaming action on two casino floors with 40 card tables offering a variety of card games including Hold ‘em, Lowball, Omaha, 7 Card Stud, and Super Pan 9. Call (408) 451-8888; www.bay101.com.

Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk
California's oldest seaside amusement park, the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk blends old-time nostalgia with modern thrills. Located on a mile-beach between Monterey and San Francisco, the Boardwalk is a free hot spot for beach vibes, 34 classic rides, attractions, an old-style arcade, summer concerts, and events. Call (831) 423-5590 or visit www.beachboardwalk.com.

Santa Cruz Wharf
Stretching a half mile into Monterey Bay and adjacent to the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, the Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf is lined with fish markets, seafood restaurants and gift shops. Hop aboard a boat for a sightseeing excursion around, or watch the comical sea lions. The wharf hosts a number of events throughout the year, including Jazz on the Wharf and Woodies on the Wharf. [Top]

Center For The Performing Arts
Located in San Jose, the Center for the Performing Arts - designed by Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation – stages a variety of performing arts events, shows and concerts supported by full staging facilities, reception areas, concessions, rehearsal rooms, and an elegant after-theater area. The 2,665-seat theater also features an infrared audio system for the hearing-impaired.

Elizabeth F. Gamble House and Gardens
Located in Palo Alto, this Colonial Georgian house built in 1902 is set on a 2.3-acre estate. The community horticultural foundation features beautiful formal and working gardens. The estate houses an historic home, carriage house, teahouse and several demonstration gardens. Self-guided tours are offered daily, and the gardens are available for weddings. Call (650) 329-1356.

Civic Center Park
Located on El Camino Real in front of the Police Administration Building, Civic Center Park is a three-acre park that’s beautifully landscaped with colorful flower beds, a large reflecting pool and fountains. This park is the site of the Statue of Saint Clare, the City's namesake- a bronze statue cast by an ancient "lost wax process" in Italy and shipped to Santa Clara in 1965.

Raging Waters
Raging Waters in San Jose is the world’s greatest water adventure park with maximum thrills, water rides, attractions, and shops. Visit www.rwsplash.com. [Top]

Bonfante Gardens
For a natural day of fun, explore Bonfante Gardens - a combination of four unique gardens and amusement rides with the mid-20th century history and agricultural roots of Santa Clara Valley. Set among 600 acres of countryside in Gilroy, California, Bonfante Gardens features 19 rides and 21 attractions including theme gardens, concessions, an event plaza, and the world famous Circus Trees. Call (408) 840-7100.

Stanford Lively Arts
In its 36th year at Stanford University, Stanford Lively Arts invites audiences to explore classical and world music, dance, and spoken word performances by world-famous artists and astounding newcomers. Through passionate live performance and the creation of new art, they make performing arts an exciting part of the Bay Area.

Shoreline Amphitheater
Experience the Bay Area’s largest, most amazing outdoor concert facility, featuring state-of-the-art technical, visual, and sound systems. The world's most talented entertainers are showcased in an award-winning concert space which delivers an amazing sonic experience. Visit www.shoreline-amd.com [Top]

NASA Ames Research Center
Located on the border of Mountain View and Sunnyvale at the southern end of San Francisco Bay, Ames occupies 430 acres of land, and hosts a number of federal, civilian, and military agencies on the adjoining 1,500-acre former naval air station, Moffett Federal Airfield. Ames offers outreach activities to stimulate student interest in science, mathematics, and technology. Visit www.arc.nasa.org.

Moffett Field
Originally the Naval Air Station’s base for the Navy dirigible U.S.S. Macon, Moffett Field is home to NASA Ames Research Center. Moffett Field’s two runways, three aircraft hangars, and 3.5 million square feet of facilities is a shared federal facility known as Moffett Federal Airfield. Exciting annual air shows thrill spectators with aeronautics by the country’s best aviators. NASA celebrates more than 100 years of flight at Moffett Field. Visit www.airshownetwork.com.

Space Camp
Train like a real astronaut. At Space Camp, you fly on a realistic, simulated shuttle mission, experiencing weightlessness and a space walk. Space Camp is a fun and educational way to spends five days learning about the physical, mental and emotional demands that astronauts face.

Six Flags Marine World
A combination wildlife park, oceanarium and theme-park, this awesome adventure park features exciting thrill rides, such as Zonga, kid’s attractions and rides, such as Looney Tunes Seaport, shows, and a unique animal zoo with dolphins, sea lions, sharks, reptiles, giraffes and safari animals. Visit http://www.sixflags.com. [Top]

San Jose Sharks
The exciting San Jose Sharks play 41 season games. Having taken San Jose by storm, the game of hockey and the hometown team combine for the ultimate "powerplay." Join Sharkie, the Sharks mascot, and the rest of the Sharks exciting palyers for a hot day on ice! For tickets, call (408) 999-5757 or order online at www.sj-sharks.com.

HP Pavilion San Jose Arena
In addition to the 41 San Jose Sharks regular season home games, the HP Pavilion at San Jose - the San Jose Arena - hosts 120 to 180 events every year, including Olympic athletes, Grammy award-winning musicians, first-rate shows, exhibitions and competitions, and a variety of family and children's favorites. Located in the heart of world-renowned Silicon Valley, San Jose Arena occupies 17 acres in downtown San Jose, California.

Gilroy Garlic Festival
Gilroy has been hosting the world's best food festival for more than 25 years to celebrate the end of the garlic harvest and raise money for local charities. Since 1979, the Garlic Festival has offered great food and summer family entertainment that’s made it one of the premier food festivals in the world. Enjoy a fun and fragrant experience the last weekend in July! [Top]