Hotel Super Bowl deal: $50K a night in San Jose
They say money can’t buy happiness, but it can buy some really good stuff. Today’s example is the Ultimate Super Bowl 50 Package announced by the Fairmont San Jose hotel. It includes eight tickets to the Super Bowl, a three-night stay in the hotel’s presidential suite and a Sonoma getaway the day before the big game Feb. 7.
The price tag? Just $50,000 a night. My colleague, Travel Editor Linda Zavoral, breaks down all the perks of the package at http://blogs. mercurynews.com/eatdrink-play. We’ve known for a while that most of the big money is going to be spent in San Francisco, but this is a sure sign that things could get very crazy here in the South Bay as the milestone game approaches. The idea of someone plunking down six figures to stay in San Jose during the Super Bowl would have been unthinkable a few years ago.
Now, it’s not only thinkable, but also darn likely. The circus has started, so hold on to your seats.
SOLSTICE CELEBRATION: Sunday Assembly — you might remember them as the secular “church without the religion” group — has partnered with the San Jose Woman’s Club on a Winter Solstice celebration on Saturday. The evening event, at 75 S. 11th Street, includes a no-host bar, a buffet dinner and a candlelit secular ceremony to mark the season of darkness moving into the light.
The band Rebonzo’s Bolero will perform, and there’ll be seasonally appropriate songs like “Here Comes the Sun” and “Wonderwall.” Stories will be shared, and dancing will close the night. The family-friendly event — child care is available for kids out of diapers — runs from 6 to 9 p.m. Tickets are $25 for adults and $5 for kids 3-15. Get tickets and more information at http://sasv. nationbuilder.com/solstice.
BIG MATCH, BIG VENUE: One of the great things about the opening of Levi’s Stadium last year has been the opportunity for high school football teams to play on the same field as the pros a few times a season. Now two San Jose soccer programs will get the same chance but at a different and more appropriate venue, the San Jose Earthquakes’ Avaya Stadium.
Bellarmine College Prep and Archbishop Mitty will square off in a 5 p.m. match Saturday, marking the first high school game — and probably not the last — to be played on the Quakes’ home field. Ironically, this counts as a “home game” for Mitty, which will have to travel farther to the stadium on Coleman Avenue near Mineta San Jose International Airport than the players from nearby Bellarmine. Both the game and parking are free for fans.
Our coaches and players are honored to take part in this special event,” said Bellarmine Athletic Director Joe Romano. “This is a great opportunity for our Bellarmine community — and the wider Bay Area community — to see some great soccer in a terrific venue.”
THE BIG LUNCH: Lots of offices have holiday lunches, but I’d bet not many take three days. But that was the case this week for the Santa Clara County Health and Hospital System. Starting Monday and lasting through Wednesday, the Valley Medical Center Foundation provided holiday lunches catered by Parsley Sage Rosemary & Thyme for all 6,000 employees — on three shifts and at 30 different sites across the county.