Silicon Valley

Considering that Lorenzo started his own web company and does social media marketing, we took an inspirational pilgrimage to the tech biz Mecca, including Palo Alto, Menlo Park, Mountain View, Sunnyvale, Cupertino, and Stanford University.

We first stopped at search giant Google's headquarters in Mountain View, CA. Here we visited the vast campus which includes its own ampitheater, movie theater, and various restaurants. Google's campus is located in a large business park area, away from the rest of Silicon Valley, that also houses companies like Intuit. Isolation often births creative focus. There is an overwhelming presence of creativity, innovation and individuality here. Lorenzo couldn't help but to feel inspired and empowered in his current business ventures. While at the visitor's center in front of the main campus building, we suprisingly got the opportunity to see Google's co-founder, Sergey Brin outside on the way to a meeting. Though this guy is worth $15 billion, he appeared very unassuming, wearing jeans and a hoodie as he hopped on a bicycle to ride to the next building, with an iphone in one hand and a laptop tucked under his arm. This is creative capital in the flesh.


Google

Next we traveled only 10 minutes to the home of Apple Computers, Cupertino, CA. This area is much more built up than Mountain View. On this campus you will find employees checking their iphones while walking to the company shuttle buses. We went to the flagship company Apple store, where mostly all products are the same as you would find at any other Apple store across the country. But, this store did have a lot more apparel including our favorite, a t-shirt that stated "I've Visited The Mothership".


Apple


Apple visitor's center and company store

From Apple we drove to Sunnyvale to visit Yahoo. Yahoo is housed in a more residential area in twin silver buildings with the purple Yahoo logo, and unlike Apple, does not welcome visitors. Not much to see here. No one was outside as they were at both Google and Apple. Looks like their freely creative, experiential and playful business model has not yet rubbed off on Yahoo. Work-life balance doesn't seem to be as much of a priority, and maybe is what is affecting their marketshare and recruiting of the brightest minds on the planet.


Yahoo


Yahoo headquarters

We later went to Facebook, located in Palto Alto in what looks like an old library building in a residential area near Stanford University. Here you will see many flags of various countries and universities around the world, hanging over bright young creative minds hunkered down at their computers coming up with the next great social media creation. One of these flags included The University of North Carolina. Even Facebook is a Tarheel fan.


Facebook


Facebook headquarters inside old library

We passed through Stanford University and before heading out towards Sacramento, we stopped off in Menlo Park, CA, the home of the Venture Capitalists and Angel Investors that provide the financial fuel for these tech companies to go from university start-ups, to web giants. Here you will find many beige colored buildings with little to no signage nestled along Sand Hill Road, and housing such power players as Sequoia Capital, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, and many others.


3000 Sand Hill Rd. The place to be if you're searching for Venture Capital.

Lorenzo left this area full of inspiration, knowledge, connections, and ready to work. Next stop, Sacramento.

San Francisco

We excitedly drove north to San Francisco, passing through the changing landscape of California. We went from a big city with beautiful beaches to lush green fields, orange groves, farms, pecan trees, high mountains, and deep valleys. Along the way we stopped at Pea Soup Andersen's off of I-5 to try the split pea soup. When we finally arrived in San Francisco, we were shocked and disgusted to find that our hotel wanted to charge us $39.00 per day for parking. We knew parking was expensive in San Francisco, but this rate was five dollars more than the rate the hotel quoted online. We decided to instead park at the airport and take the BART train back into the city to the hotel to save money and make a point.


Driving through the mountains and valleys in Northern California.


Split pea soup at Pea Soup Andersen's.


The Bay Bridge coming into San Francisco

On our first morning in San Francisco, we walked the hilly streets to Union Square, passing by Lombard Street to take photos along the way. We were surprised at the size and fast pace of downtown San Francisco. It was an unexpectedly big city, with a lot of pedestrians and tall buildings. After shopping, we wandered around and eventually stumbled upon Chinatown where we visted a tea shop and a Chinese medicine store. In the evening, we explored the Fisherman's Wharf and Pier 39, two of the major tourist areas in San Francisco. These areas are right along the water and are filled with seafood restaurants, musicians playing and selling music, shops, and views of the San Francisco Bay and Alcatraz Prison. We had dinner at Franciscan, where we ate local mussels and shrimp and watched the sunset over the bay.


Kim smiling as she walks the hilly streets. She won't be smiling for long.


Winding Lombard Street


Entrance to Chinatown


The Fisherman's Wharf


Dungeness crabs, a staple at the Fisherman's Wharf. Yum!


Dinner at Franciscan on the bay.

On our last full day, we decided to visit the number one tourist attraction in San Francisco - Alcatraz Prison. The only way to reach Alcatraz is by ferry and we enjoyed the smooth 15 minute ferry ride. When we got to Alcatraz, we took the audio tour of the prison, which guided us through the cell blocks, cafeteria, the yard, and the Warden's home. There was even a former inmate in the gift shop who was signing copies of his new book about being inprisioned at Alcatraz for armed burgulary. Our favorite part about Alcatraz, however, was the view of San Francisco from the prison. Later that evening while waiting for a restaraunt to open for dinner, we stumbled upon a beach and a pier that overlooked the bay. Based on the recommendation of our hotel concierge, we ate at Firenze By Night, a fantastic and authentic Italian restaurant. We ended the night by sharing a brownie sundae from Ghiradelli.


Alcatraz Prison from the ferry


Inside Alcatraz Prison


San Francisco street car


Golden Gate Bridge


The pier overlooking the bay.


Ghiradelli Square


Delicious brownie sundae at Ghiradelli.

Before leaving San Francisco, we stopped at the Golden Gate Bridge and walked across it. Despite the heavy fog and the fact that you can feel the bridge sway when trucks pass, it was an incredible experience. Kim even met some new friends as they exchanged picture taking efforts.


Walking across the Golden Gate Bridge.


The Golden Gate Bridge in the fog.


Kim showing her Tarheel spirit at the Golden Gate Bridge.

Torrance, CA & Los Angeles area Beaches

We enjoyed ourselves in LA so much that we decided to stay a few extra days to take advantage of the 80 degree weather. Our first stop was Anza Avenue in Torrance to visit the home where Lorenzo and his family lived when he was a child. This visit brought back a lot of memories for Lorenzo, especially our visit to the playground and library, and only increased his love for LA. After spending time reminiscing, we headed to Redondo Beach which is only minutes away from Lorenzo's old home. We first explored the pier and harbor, slowly walking past numerous seafood restaurants, souvenir shops, and a marina full of small boats, until we decided to stop to eat at Joe's Crab Shack. We also explored the beach, watching the waves crash against the rocks and sticking our feet into the cold Pacific Ocean. Redondo Beach was the first of many LA beaches we visited. Although the beaches are extrememly close together, each has its own personality.


Lorenzo in front of his family's old apartment building.


Redondo Beach sign


Rocks along the coast of Redondo Beach.


Part of the pier at Redondo Beach.


Kim at the marina at Redondo Beach.


Our crab feast at Joe's Crab Shack.


View from the pier at Redondo Beach.

As the sun started to go down and the tempurture along with it (well it went down to about 60 degrees), we arrived at the famous Santa Monica pier just in time to watch the sunset. We walked along the beach and under the pier exploring the features of our relatively new Nikon D60 camera. We also walked along the pier and watched the locals riding the ferris wheel, fishing off the pier, and eating a variety of carnival-like food.


The sunset at Santa Monica Beach.


Lorenzo under the Santa Monica Pier.


The shoreline under the Santa Monica Pier.


Kim and Lorenzo on the Santa Monica Pier.


Santa Monica Pier and ferris wheel at night.

Our second LA beach day was Valentine's Day and we started the day with a romantic drive up the scenic Pacific Coast Highway. We planned to just drive up the coast, but the weather was so fantastic and the views so beautiful that we had to stop and get out the car. We first stopped on a palm tree lined street that overlooked Santa Monica Beach. We sat on a bench overlooking the beach and enjoying the warm sun on our faces. It was at this point that we noticed that Californians love to be outside running, biking, and walking with their dogs. We continued up the Pacific Coast toward Malibu with the windows down so we could smell and feel the ocean breeze. The traffic was surprisingly heavy on the Pacific Coast Highway, but it gave us a chance to see surfers in the water, mud slide areas, and the beach from a variety of angles.


One of the many beautiful palm trees in LA.


The view from the street overlooking Santa Monica Beach.


Lorenzo enjoying the sun.


Surfers in the water in Malibu.


View of the beach along the Pacific Coast Highway.

After walking along the beach in Malibu, we drove back toward LA to The Spot, a vegetarian restaraunt in Hermosa Beach. We both had veggie burgers and did not miss having meat at all. Venice Beach was the last beach on our list and we arrived just as the sun was setting. Because it was Valentine's Day, the beach was extremely crowded with a lot of other couples (and families) out to enjoy the sunset and the weather. After the sun set, we walked along the boardwalk and passed a number of medical marijuana shops, tatoo parlors, hookah bars, street performers, and groups of musicians playing drums and buckets in the sand. Venice Beach at night was definitely an alternative beach. We ended the night with dinner and a trip to the movie theater to see Valentine's Day (very fitting especially considering that the movie takes place in LA).


The outside of The Spot.


The Guacamole Burger at The Spot


The sun setting behind the rocks at Venice Beach.


Venice Beach boardwalk


One of the medicial marijuana shops at the boardwalk.


A group of people surrounding the drummers on the beach.