South to Palo Alto

Years ago I put in an application for grad school at Stanford, and you can imagine my surprise when I actually got in. "What? Lil' ol' me?!" Obviously they hadn't heard about my youthful shenanigans in Snyder.

Anyway, I knew a number of professors who had done their graduate study at Stanford, and the unanimous recommendation was to choose another school because of the town of Palo Alto itself. As most of you know, I opted become a Damn Yankee and head to the east coast; but now I'm mystified as to the aversion to Palo Alto -- I had the opportunity to visit recently, and the town was just lovely in every respect.

I took the CalTrain down from San Francisco, and we made the 35-mile trip in just under 45 minutes. The train was of the double-decker variety, reminding me of those buses in London, but much less touristy. It was cold and drizzly when I left San Francisco, but Palo Alto was sunny, warm and redolent of palm trees. I felt like I had arrived in the tropics! (minus the humidity, of course).

Stanford is directly across from the train station, and they operate a free shuttle that takes you all around the campus. Additionally, there are a number of hotels within a three-minute walk of the station -- I saw both a Marriott and a Westin -- so if you've got a student thinking of going to Stanford, the transportation and lodging issues are ideal.

The town itself is quaint and laid-back in typical California style, but with the gentrified trappings that you'd expect given the influence of Stanford's endowment and the billions of dollars in IT-based companies that call Palo Alto home. I went out to meet some new friends, and on our way to lunch we passed the headquarters of Facebook; it's unassuming storefront gave no clue as to the kazillion-dollar business operating inside.

The town was bustling with people, but the collective energy felt subdued, as though everyone was focused on the serious ventures of business or academics. I saw a nice mix of Silicon Valley geeky billionaire types, long-haired students with piercings and tattoos, a few serious, grim-faced academic sorts who were hyped-up on caffeine from the local coffee house, and the odd professor or two. In other words, I felt right at home (except for the billionaire part, of course). I got a nice overall vibe from the town; and looking back, I regret that I didn't pay Stanford a visit before I chose to head east for school.

One thing I didn't get to check out adequately was the restaurant scene. My friends chose a Thai place for lunch, and they served up an excellent meal. From all appearances, Palo Alto is a foodie haven, which isn't surprising given the composition of its population. I did some investigating, and tracked down a list of pit stops and watering holes I want to check out on my next visit.