Dinner was at a great Mexican place in Mountain View. It was in a strip mall but when you pull in you drive into this heavily landscaped area with big trees and towering walls of bougainvillea that drape down over your parking space. It had different outside seating areas scattered around the property with neat lighting and all the windows in the main restaurant were open. Very Californian – and good food to boot!

These flower banks at the restaurant were huge. Pictures don’t do them justice.

After dinner we made our way to downtown Palo Alto to the Stanford Theater. It is a grand old movie house faithfully restored by the Hewlett Family Foundation. They only show movies from the Golden Age of Hollywood. Each night a double feature with our night being a Charlie Chan and a Sherlock Holmes with a 1940’s Superman serial thrown in. They change the movies out several times a week.  Before and between shows an organist rises from floor and plays pieces from that night’s attractions.  It is custom for the audience to clap whenever the good guys win.

The place is very popular with the  local community with both young and old.  We were there late on a Thursday night and they had a very good crowd.

Tickets are $7 for the double feature. The popcorn is popped fresh and is $1. A large coke was $1.50. It was a blast from the past from the past and a great value in an otherwise terribly pricey area.  It’s a cheap date for the college crowd.

We were dragging and couldn’t stay for Sherlock Holmes.  We got back to the hotel having been up 18 plus hours.

Stanford Theater downtown Palo Alto