Things I love about Palo Alto

Inspired by the blog of an impossibly-hip former tour client, and to ease my pain as I approach my (temporary) departure from Cambridge, I thought I'd make a list of things/places I love about my home town.

• The Stanford Theater.  I always think this should be on the tourist route in addition to the university campus -- except I don't want it cheapened.  I love that a theater that rarely shows any films made after the 1960s is a vital part of the community in the heart of Silicon Valley.

• The Peninsula Creamery.  Probably the same as any number of 1950s diners around the country (though it was founded in 1923!).  Still, it's an institution -- my dad even used to take his engineering textbooks and study here during college.  Mmm, extra-thick milkshakes. 

[Note for locals: apparently, the actual name is the Palo Alto Creamery, and it's no longer run by the Peninsula Creamery dairy company.  But no one knows that or cares.]

• You  never know who might secretly be a m(/b)illionaire or other impressive person.  When Steve Jobs gave my class's Stanford graduation speech, he wore an honorary gown...with shorts and sandals underneath.  This epitomizes what I'm saying.  If your everyday fashion tends toward the casual, it does not imply anything about your abilities or talents.  Actually, I'd say it's the same at Cambridge -- it's just that here we have a fair number of events for which you specifically go black tie.  [It's a great speech, by the way.  Read it here or watch it here.]

• The view from the Dish.  In the words of my alma mater's school hymn, Palo Alto lies "where the rolling foothills rise up toward mountains higher, where at eve the Coast Range lies in the sunset fire."  Take a little hike and the reward is incredible.

• San Francisco Symphony Chorus.  Okay, it's not in Palo Alto, but you're never going to be disappointed with these guys, especially (in my case) if they've gotten hold of some Russian music.  If flights of angels sing me to my rest, I'd like to request Rachmaninoff's All-Night Vigil, please.  Failing that, I'd accept the SFSC performing the same duty.  And did you know that something like 70% of them are volunteers?  They are Grammy-winning pros and yet most don't get paid at all for giving up their time to be so good.  [Pop quiz: what's the literary reference in this bullet point?]

• University Church.  Tight-knit yet welcoming, supportive in everything, and incredibly active in making the world a better place in a hands-on way.