Low Tech Breaks from Palo Alto

Your meeting got out early and you have time before heading back to SFO.  You could go back to your hotel room and watch another episode of “Game of Thrones”, or you could scratch the surface of Silicon Valley’s slick exterior and get to see some of her heart.  Here are four low-tech gems near Palo Alto.

If you have…

Three Hours … Barb’s Fish Trap

Head north on 280, then west on 92 over the hill to the Pacific Ocean’s Half Moon Bay and eat fried calamari or a Dungeness crab sandwich with an Anchor Steam beer at the area’s most unpretentious seafood restaurant.  There are crowds for a reason – your food has traveled about fifty feet.  But if there aren’t any seats, you can order fare from the takeout window and stand at the railing overlooking the Pacific instead.  You might see a harbor seal or catch a glimpse of Mavericks surf break. 281 Capistrano Rd, Half Moon Bay.

Two Hours … The Baylands

This park in Palo Alto offer fifteen miles of multiuse trails within the largest tract of undisturbed marshland in the San Francisco Bay.  Inspired conservationists worked tirelessly to save this land from encroaching development since the 50’s.  Their efforts have paid off for Silicon Valley daytrippers. The interpretive center and raised plank walkway are being refurbished and will reopen in early 2017.  But there’s still plenty of walking trails that skirt the bay to inspire you.  Put 2500 Embarcadero Rd., Palo Alto into your GPS

One Hour … Alpine Inn Beer Garden

At this bar in Portola Valley, where you could just as easily be eating your bratwurst next to Apple VP Eddie Cue as you could a plumber. The vast beer garden shaded by towering eucalyptus along the Los Trancos Creek feels hundreds of years away from the tech boom, although rumor has it that the first email message was sent from a picnic table from here in 1976.  You can’t go wrong with a burger, any burger, at this 156 year-old establishment. The name was changed from Rossotti’s to the Alpine Inn in 1956 but the locals still call it “Zott’s”.  3915 Alpine Rd, Portola Valley.

Thirty Minutes … Rodin Sculpture Garden

The Rodin Sculpture Garden outside the Cantor Arts Center on Stanford campus displays twenty bronzes, including The Gates of Hell on which Rodin worked for two decades.  This is the largest collection of Rodin outside of Paris.  Less than a mile from the El Camino, this is a place for quiet introspecting and speaking in hushed tones. There are more than 170 other works of Rodin inside the museum but the tranquil outdoor space is well worth the free visit.  328 Lomita Dr, Stanford