MrMuffin

I spent about 14 years in the Bay Area. I since moved to the East Coast (a bit closer to home in the UK) back in early 2002. The Bay Area is a lovely place. Give it time.

For a little bit of home, there is a small British Foods shop in the Redwood City/San Mateo area... if it's still there. Look it up. It's right on El Camino Real. They had real British sausages in the freezer and lots of non-perishables that are hard to find.

Also in Menlo Park (or Palo Alto... can't remember exactly) and also on El Camino Real there is the BBC or British Banker's Club. It's a bar and lunch place. They also used to have a small shop where they sold food items. And lastly there's a British pub in San Mateo. I only went there once but it's owned by Brits and is a slice of home... kind of. If you want the total British experience then you'll have to go up to a small pub called 'The Pelican Inn' which is up North of SF on the way to Muir Woods. Muir Woods is a wonderful place to visit too so make a day of it. The Pelican Inn is a real tiny village pub shipped there brick by brick. Very very cool!

I was terribly homesick while I was in the Bay Area but it gets better. Try to look around and see what's around you. There are so many lovely places to go. If you're in San Jose itself (or close) go to the Winchester Mystery House for sure. That's really fun. Also a drive to Santa Cruz is well worth it. Highway 1 is gorgeous and once there you can go South or North and just drive. It's so lovely. And San Francisco is a small City that you can walk across in a day so don't be daunted. It's well worth a few days of trudging around and taking it all in.

Feel free to PM me for other ideas if it helps. I truly wish you all the best. And just think that the time will fly by. The more you do the faster it will go.

Take care. Hugs.

MrMuffin

The British food shop is actually in San Carlos, sorry:
http://sancarlos.patch.com/listings/british-food-centre
The BBC looks like it might have closed.
http://events.mercurynews.com/menlo_...h-bankers-club
The Pelican Inn looks like it has survived:
http://pelicaninn.com/

jackattack

Well, actually, that is the reputation for HMB. Foggy and chilly in the summer. It's a well deserved reputation. Lots of Brits here, so they must like it.

Some days (like today) are gorgeous and some days are like when you came to visit. I wear my fleece jacket more in the summer than in the winter.

Trouble is that when it's nice on the coast, particularly on a weekend, the traffic on 92 can be brutal. It's a good place to come during the week when the temperature over the hill (where you are) is too much.

Off to the beach now with babies and dog. It's gorgeous.

MrMuffin

Love Half Moon Bay!

yamof

I'm in San Jose area too, arrived earlier this year. It IS hard in the early days, everything is such an effort, and of course there is nobody close by that you can have a normal conversation with. But Skype helps. And things WILL get better, even if it isn't consistently better.

For sausages, the best we have found are at Lunardis. They do pork links, which my kids like, and British bangers, which taste right but the texture is too soft (and they are HUGE so take ages to cook through!). So no magic solution I'm afraid...

I'd be very happy to meet up and have a coffee one morning. Getting out and about really helped me find my bearings, in lots of ways.

cluedweasel

The Breakfast Place (http://www.yelp.com/biz/the-breakfast-place-san-jose) near Winchester and Williams had a British waitress who kept a stash of UK supplies for us homesick people. She even rustled up some black pudding and proper baked beans for me. I don't know if she's still there though. This was almost 8 years ago.

N1cky

Congrats on the baby.

I'm in Mountain View, so just up the road from you. We really like the Bay Area, we like the little towns with the high streets full of restaurants and shops, it feels more homely somehow.

Fresh and Easy (owned by Tesco) have an ok selection of British products, and is far cheaper than World Markets. They also do some good pork breakfast sausages, and back bacon.

Let me know if I can help with any specific questions.

Jay.california

Congrats on the pregnancy. We moved here when our first son was 2 months. And I was really homesick for a few months.

I joined a local moms group which had loads of meet ups for expectant moms too. Baby boot camp is great, it's exceeding with your babies or while you are pregnant. It gets you out meeting other moms.

But people tend to be really friendly in the bay area and have met people out while having Starbucks.

New-and-unsure

Ah does it make me crazy that if I have a bad 5 minutes I like to look on here and read these replies?!

Mr Muffin thanks re Pelican Inn tip - I had a look on their website - looks lovely, we'll definitely be going there. I see from your signature that you used to live in Epsom - I grew up in Banstead so know Epsom well - it's a small world!

The homesickness hasn't improved much yet - my 'morning' sickness (why on earth do they call it that when in fact it is just sickness all day long) has got much much worse this week so obviously that's not helping my frame of mind. Hopefully in a couple of weeks I'll feel less sick, and in fact my Mum is arriving in 2 weeks and is with us for 2 weeks so I'm really looking forward to that. She has a lot of places she wants to see so that will definitely get me out and about.

We have our driving tests on Tuesday - wish me luck (think I need it)!

tilz

Good luck ! you will be fine just read the driving handbook and watch some of the YouTube videos that the DMV have done to help.

Having your mum around will be great too, we had family out a few weeks back and it was great to show them around and realise what a beautiful part of the world this is

MrMuffin

Good luck with your driving tests... you'll be fine. The road test is stupidly easy. And like the other poster said... just read through the booklet and you'll do fine with the written portion too.

I lived in Banstead for a while... in a flat overlooking the cricket club. Banstead is a lovely town. Take care and all the best to you. If you need any suggestions for other places or need something, feel free to PM me... hopefully I'll have an answer for you. Cheers!