Last week, I was fortunate to go to Hawaii with some other single gals and spend some time on the island of Oahu. As part of our trip, we were able to spend a few days enjoying the Outrigger Canoe Club right outside of downtown Waikiki. The Outrigger has an indoor gym, a private beach, a restaurant and volleyball courts among their amenities—kind of like a country club on the beach.
OK, so I know you might think Oahu to San Jose is too much of a stretch, but even though we don’t have the “year-round-we-live-in-Paradise-thing” happening for us, we do have incredible weather and a beach that is only 30 minutes away. So how can we take that idea and go with it here?
In Santa Cruz, there are no beach clubs like this, or at least not one that I know of. Why can’t individuals find a spot of beach near the water and create an Outrigger Canoe Club there? Having the amenities as well as the social and fun activities—like paddling, surfing, boogie boarding and waterside food and drink service—would be a fun spin on going to the beach.
In San Jose, you might say that the inland Courtside is a little like this, but Courtside is about the club. I am thinking that some kind of waterfront in San Jose (another idea I would still like to see someone capitalize on) can be the center for a social club such as this, with a restaurant, pool and watersports activities. Wouldn’t our exercise and sun-crazed culture be all over something like that? It just seems like a moneymaker that no one has yet tried. Or is it just not in our San Jose culture to do this?
I love going to different places and trying to see what aspects of other towns and lifestyles could enhance our city. Though I wish we had many more similarities to Hawaii than just sun, I think that some ideas that work there could really work here and make San Jose more hip and more fun. So before you naysayers slam the idea, think about the possibilities.
If nothing comes of it, I may have to enjoy my “pupus” and umbrella drinks once a year only in Hawaii.
Alviso is the obvious location for your club, SG, as well as any other waterfront attractions. Alas, just as with the rest of SJ, it seems doomed to become just another element of the urban sprawl the SJ planners have been in love with for over 60 years.
Let’s see:
Oahu temperature ranges from 75 to 85.
Santa Cruz averages from 49 to 62.
Alviso average ranges from 50 to 70.
Current water temperature at a buoy in the bay is 51.8 degrees
Shouldn’t a San Jose-centric blog focus a little more on maximizing San Jose’s attributes—instead of wistfully sighing “If only San Jose were more like San Francisco/Portland/Hawaii/anywhere else but San Jose”.
Cupertino is the only fabulous city in the south bay.
SG asked:“In Santa Cruz, there are no beach clubs like this, or at least not one that I know of. Why can’t individuals find a spot of beach near the water and create an Outrigger Canoe Club there? ” It’s called the California Coastal Commission, SG.
The turdlands of Alviso are protected because some birds live there. Nothing will ever become of them. North San Jose is the ugliest of the sprawl anyway. It’s sterile office parks and McMansions. It’d be basically cut off from the parts of this city that actually have some character.
#2 – Shouldn’t a San Jose-centric blog focus a little more on maximizing San Jose’s attributes—instead of wistfully sighing “If only San Jose were more like San Francisco/Portland/Hawaii/anywhere else but San Jose”.
Hasn’t that wistful sigh been the mantra of Downtown Redevelopment since the early 1980’s?
#2: If Chicago can have beach culture on the shores of a lake, I think it could go over reasonably well here. The waterfront is an attribute and it is anything but maximized.
SG:
The Alviso Surf Shop went out of business years ago.
STOP THE PRESSES! I think the Mercury News died today. Take a look at today’s issue. The opinion/editorial pages is just one page! I clearly remember the new owners of the paper insisting that they would not “slash and burn” the paper. Well, in my opinion, they have already done so, to the detriment of all. Great papers are vanguards of democracy. The Mercury News is no longer a great newspaper…heck, it’s hardly a newspaper at all.
Pete Campbell
4. Exactly. In California you are not allowed to restrict public access to a beach. There are places near the beach in Santa Cruz where you can get food and drinks, specifically the wharf. There are no indoor gyms or volleyball courts there, but you can fish or feed the sea lions. What is so great about have an indoor gym when you’re at the beach?
I don’t think that allowing snooty private clubs to hog all the best beach locations would actually be a very good idea.
#8 Pete: That’s not the half of it. Check this out:
http://kliv.com/TWO-HIGH-PROFILE-EMPLOYEES-LEAVING-THE-MERCURY-NEW/1723352
Pete, you nailed it. When I picked up the Merc off my driveway on Monday the first thought I had was that it weighed less than the Los Gatos Weekly Times. Then the streamlined editorial page yesterday. The Merc is now full of teasers that require you to access their website, one of the worst sites navigationally that I’ve ever visited. At this point I’m just waiting for an offer from the Chronicle and my lifelong relationship with the Merc will be over.
Aw that’s just great – what are all the pet owners supposed to do now?
Go to the Merc’s website and print out pages with which to line the bird cages with? What if the pet owners don’t have a computer and printer?
This disenfranchisement of pet owners must not be allowed to stand. Rest assured that I will be taking this issue up with the San Jose Human Rights Commission at their next session.
#11
Start the Chronicle at once. I still get both, but the SJM is getting closer and closer to going away.
I’d be all over that!