My son and I had registered for the Rock ‘n Roll 10K race in San Jose, California, so we decided to get a quick weekend getaway there.
I booked the San Jose Fairmont Hotel. The price was reasonable. All of the hotels downtown were around the same price, $180 a night. I picked the Fairmont because of the proximity to the start line, finish line and the VIP experience at the race.
On Friday… Rock ‘n Roll Expo and Cousin’s House
My son and I arrived in San Jose on Friday. I took a flight from NYC’s JFK and he met me there. He goes to school in San Francisco.
We went to the Rock ‘n Roll expo, picked up our race numbers and walked around. It would have been fun to explore more of downtown San Jose while we were there. There is a great tech museum and art museum very close to the Fairmont, but we didn’t have time.
I called my cousins, Anita and Cheryl, who live in San Jose and we met them Friday evening for dinner. Their home was beautiful and they made us a Moroccan dinner.
On Saturday… Campus Tour and Earthquakes Game
The next day, we lounged around the hotel. When we were up for it, we took a walk over to the San Jose City College and explored. The campus is really nice. It had interesting sculptures and buildings.
After that, we had an early reservation at Morton’s Steakhouse. I thought it would be good to have protein and carbs prior to the race.
That night, we went to the Earthquake game. The Earthquakes are a soccer team and they were playing in their newly built arena against the NY Red Bulls. Wow, what an arena. It was so modern and fun to explore. The game was fun too!
On Sunday… Rock ‘n Roll 10K Race and 49ers Game
On Sunday, race day, my son and I got up early, enjoyed the VIP breakfast and went to the start of the race. What’s nice about the San Jose Rock ‘n Roll race is that it goes through downtown and into the surrounding neighborhoods, so you really get to explore San Jose.
My son thought that going to the 49ers game would be a blast since it was one of the few stadiums he visited since he’s been in college there. We thought it would be relaxing after the race, so we bought tickets.
Tickets were in Heaven
The tickets were in “heaven.” There was a lot of walking through Levi Stadium and then up the stairs to our seats. It was steep and I was afraid I was going to fall, so I didn’t look down.
There was so much red at the game. The 49ers in red and gold played the Arizona Cardinals in red and white.
The game was a blast. It was hot though. Interestingly, one side of the stadium faces the sun and, that was our luck. We sat facing the sun, which really tired us out.
Although the 49ers lost, the game was still a lot of fun!
The Worst Part…
The worst part was getting out of the stadium after the event. We actually left early and we probably should have taken the rail a few stops away and then caught an Uber, but I insisted on getting an Uber.
The Uber/Lyft stand was a mile and half away and after running 6.2 miles in the morning, it was so draining to continue to walk another couple of miles, plus walking around the stadium.
When we got to the Uber stand, we called. They cancelled twice. Then we called Lyft. They also cancelled. No one was able to get to where we were because the roads were closed. I was getting upset.
Apparently this happens all the time at these games.
There were a slew of Uber/Lyft drivers in the parking lot. They were waiting for expensive fares. They didn’t want to pick us up because our fare was only $18.
My son and I walked over to them. “I’ll give you cash to take us back to San Jose,” I said.
“Yeah, how much?” one of the drivers shouted at me.
“$40 bucks,” my son shouted back. He saw that if we took an Uber, it would be $40 for a solo ride.
Thankfully, one of the drivers agreed and drove us back to the hotel.
We ate dinner at a seafood restaurant called, Scott’s, but it was pretty bad and very expensive. I would not recommend it.
Besides the aggravation at the 49ers game and the terrible meal at Scott’s, we had a wonderful weekend of bonding, exploring and enjoying sports for the weekend!
