Winchester mystery house

Wife decides she wants to go to the Winchester mystery house and Monterry Bay Aquarium for her B-Day. Any tips or must sees at the WMH ? Time we should plan on  being there? Reviews?

Feeling a little smartassy today..... YOU GOTTA try sneaking a fishing rod in for a killer photo!!



I’M JUST KIDDING DON’T GET INTO TROUBLE WITH YOUR WIFE!
Unless you want to be grounded from fish for a month. 

its catch and release only at the Monterey bay Aquarium

WMH is actually kinda cool. They have guided tours, so you may want to call ahead to see when they start. They also have really nice gardens you can walk around, and of course a gift shop. The aquarium is awesome, I would yelp some food reviews though, we weren't impressed with all the touristy crap on the pier...

Feel free to my Aquarium guest passes if u need.  I'm 3 miles from WMH

Assuming wife has insatiable interest and cannot be deterred bc otherwise I wd say deter her You may walk the grounds n gardens, and visit extensive gun collection on site, all for free.  The $30, 65 min Mansion Tour gets u inside and upstairs.  Skip Explore More tour upgrade.  Departs every 20 mins in groups < 20. 

WMH has an anachronistic apeel, but IMO the "Mystery" label is just marketing mendacity.  The house is just a bigass mansion decorated to the taste of a massively wealthy and eccentric widow.  To sell tix, they employ a ghoulish characterization despite plausible and mundane alternative explanations.  They hav no indy corroboration 4 most of their backstory, and every halloween, they "discover" a new room to a home that had its last construction in 1922.  yeah rt!

If she likes the mystery house, consdier Filoli in Woodside on your route home.  Have passes 4u here 2.  Their current spring garden is uh-mazing.  Good lunch spot, try the egg salad croissant.  The Filoli house is a Georgian mansion completd roughly same time frame as WMH, but more staid and less touristy.

Also, on way home, hit up Cal Academy of Sciences.  Have passes 4u here also.  They just installed an awesome life-size dino exhibit.  Their earthquake room is good reminder of the inevitable.  solid lunch options, go 4 the grilled cheese w tomato soup, or pork quinoa bowl.

holla 

WMH is great as a date and does fun evening and holiday events. Despite some of the gimmicky story, it is actually quite informative and very memorable (and there is a bar there for additional merriment). The gardens are fantastic. Your wife will surely enjoy the day.

If she digs that kind of thing, consider going to Villa Montalvo for a picnic or one of their lawn events.

My wife works at the aquarium (offices not exhibits) and loves walking around it on her lunch breaks. It's expensive so I would take ^^^ up on their passes offer. If you give me enough advance notice on when you're arriving, I can get you some passes too. I live in PG which is 3 min from the aquarium.

its catch and release only at the Monterey bay Aquarium

....and no dogs too 

WMH is definitely worth the trip, but more from an architectural/ historical/ home decoration perspective than anything spooky.

its catch and release only at the Monterey bay Aquarium

....and no dogs too 

I carry a white fishing pole with a Red Tip! No question asked

its catch and release only at the Monterey bay Aquarium

....and no dogs too 

I carry a white fishing pole with a Red Tip! No question asked

 

Thanks for the info and offers of the MBA passes, luv to take you up on them. We are going to WMH on 5-9 spending the nite in Santa Cruz then heading to Monterey staying at the Spindrift, visiting the aquarium on the 10 or 11.

 
 The Filoli house was the site used to film Dynasty back in the day.  The classic cat fight between Crystal and Alexis took place in the gound's lilly pond.  Wife wanted to see the place a few years back.