CITIES
Surprising Cities
DESIGN CENTRAL
Arrive Hotel, above, fits right in with the Uptown Design District in the heart of Palm Springs. This popular neighborhood features designer boutiques, vintage shops, open-air restaurants and lively lounges all set against a backdrop of mountains.
California’s golden cities—los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego—are celebrated around the world, and rightly so. But the Golden State boasts an engaging range of things to see and do in less-well-known locales, as well. In cities ranging in size from 3,000 inhabitants to 181,000, a surprising, eclectic menu of food and drink, art and architecture, history and sports is available to visitors.
PALM SPRINGS: Art, Design, & Hipster Chic
This desert resort community of 48,000 has been a party town since Hollywood luminaries discovered it in the 1940s. In recent years, Palm Springs has added hipster chic—think cutting-edge clothing and design shops, rooftop hotel fire pits, craft cocktails and zinc-topped bars and you get the picture. The Hollywood connection is still strong—the Palm Springs International Film Festival organizes screenings and throws star-studded parties every January. The city’s signature Mid-century Modern architecture, all glass and steel and angular lines, is a major attraction. Every February, Modernism Week features house tours and more. The Palm Springs Art Museum showcases accomplished 20th-century artists such as abstract expressionist painters Helen Frankenthaler and Robert Motherwell. If you tire of poolside lounging, the Aqua Caliente Native American band oversees 60-plus miles of hiking trails in nearby Indian Canyons. For 360 degree views of the Coachella Valley, check out the rotating cars of the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway.
PASADENA: Rose Bowl & Bungalows
Located 10 miles northeast of downtown Los Angeles at the foot of the imposing San Gabriel Mountains, this pretty city of 141,000 is best-known for the Granddaddy of ’em All, the annual Rose Bowl football game, as well as the ever-popular Tournament of Roses Parade and a delightful parody, the whimsical Doo-dah Parade. Some 800 restored early 20th-century Arts & Crafts wooden bungalows, clustered in the Bungalow Heaven Historic District, give Pasadena its defining architectural look. Shopping and dining are abundant along pedestrian-friendly South Lake Avenue and in revived 22-block Old Pasadena. The Huntington combines a distinguished library, priceless fine-art collection and extensive and beautiful botanical gardens. Don’t miss the landmarked 1925 Pasadena Playhouse, California’s official state theater.
YOUNTVILLE: Vineyards & Exquisite Dining
This manicured Napa Valley town of 3,000 doesn’t really have more restaurant Michelin-stars than people; it only feels that way. Starting in the 1980s, Yountville began building a reputation for fine food to match Napa’s fine wines. These days, star chef Thomas Keller’s French Laundry routinely wins Michelin’s top 3-star rating, and half a dozen other acclaimed Yountville eateries are not far behind. Compact and flat, Yountville is ideal for renting bikes and pedaling past the vineyards—when you’re not soaring over them in a hot-air balloon. It’s also easily walkable; strolling downtown past neatly kept Victorian homes and shops is a great way to while away the hours. The V Marketplace, 6235 Washington Street, adroitly combines shopping and dining. One unique choice for lodging is the 4-star Napa Valley Railway Inn, composed of comfortably
refurbished vintage railroad cars along unused railroad tracks. Grab a cup of joe at the adjoining Yountville Coffee Caboose.
BERKELEY: The Arts & More
Long famed for its commitment to brainiac inquiry and social activism, Berkeley, on the eastern shores of San Francisco Bay, doubles as a richly diverse travel destination. The college town of 120,000 boasts unique shops and restaurants along Fourth Street in west Berkeley, and shopping, theater, music and movie-going downtown on and off south Shattuck Avenue. The expansive University of California campus includes first-rate entertainment venues and athletic contests ranging from intercollegiate football and basketball to niche passions such as men’s and women’s rugby, played at jewel box Witter Field. The Gourmet Ghetto, with classic Californiaamerican restaurant Chez Panisse, the original 1966 Peet’s Coffee & Tea shop and many more, is arrayed on and near north Shattuck Avenue. The cross-town Elmwood neighborhood on College Avenue offers a relaxed village ambiance.
ONTARIO: Family Fun and a Socal Flare
Located 35 miles southeast of Los Angeles where Interstates 10 and 15 meet, this San Bernardino County city of 181,000 features the dry, hot climate and palm-lined landscaping that characterize Southern California. Incorporated in 1891 and named for the Canadian province of Ontario, it was once home to citrus orchards and health retreats promoting the benefits of the dry climate. Today’s city economy is driven by super-shippers Fed Ex and United Parcel Service. But Ontario isn’t all about business. It emphasizes family fun, epitomized by the annual Pancake Breakfast and Car Show (10,000 attendees, 400 cars) on the first Saturday in June, and the nearly century-old Christmas on Euclid (Avenue), with its Christmas-in-the-desert decorations, holiday snacks, live music and traditional nativity scenes. The NBA’S G League Agua Caliente Clippers take to the basketball hardwoods in the 11,000-seat Toyota Arena.
MAMMOTH LAKES: Adventure Year Round
Forty miles from Yosemite National Park at 7,880 feet above sea level, the alpine community of Mammoth Lakes is a prime place to enjoy year-round recreation in the eastern Sierra Nevada. In summer, you can go horseback riding in the Ansel Adams
Wilderness; taking to the lake waters to enjoy paddle-boarding in the gorgeous Mammoth Lakes Basin is another popular must-do, as is walking in alpine meadows speckled with wildflowers. In the fastness of winter, skiing comes into its own; indeed, Mammoth Mountain Ski Area, averaging 400 inches of snowfall a year, boasts some of the West’s best skiing and snowboarding. If taking it easy amid outdoor splendors is more to your liking, take in 360-degree views of the eastern Sierra from a gondola on your way to the 11,053foot summit of Mammoth Mountain. For a community of just 8,100 residents, Mammoth Lakes offers plenty of urban pleasures, too. Among them: partying to blues music and sampling some of the 50 craft beers at the annual summer Mammoth Festival of Beers and Bluesapalooza.
GILROY: Garlic, Outlet Shopping & a Historic Paseo
Billing itself as the Garlic Capital of the World, Gilroy celebrates every imaginable edible aspect of the “stinking rose,” from garlic-flavored ice cream and wine to irresistible garlic-speckled fries, never more so than at the annual Gilroy Garlic Festival (July 24-26). Gilroy, a city of 58,000 at the southern end of the Santa Clara Valley, both honors the valley’s agricultural roots and offers visitors a wide range of activities. Gilroy Premium Outlets, 1.6 miles north of downtown on the east side of US Route 101, hosts 145 factory outlet stores selling famous brands at steeply discounted prices. City-owned Gilroy Gardens combines wellkept landscaping with water features and charmingly old-school theme park rides such as paddleboats and a carousel on 530 engaging acres. Downtown Gilroy is the city’s traditional core. A Welcome to Gilroy kiosk at Monterey and Fifth streets offers free maps to the Gilroy Historic Paseo, which winds past the restaurants and shops on lively Monterey Street.
EUREKA: Redwoods & Victorians
Tucked into the northwestern corner of California, 270 miles north of San Francisco on Humboldt Bay, Eureka has the largest deep-water port between San Francisco Bay and Washington’s Puget Sound. The city of 27,000 also serves as the unofficial capital of the state’s Redwood Empire. Once famed for its timber, mines and fisheries, today’s Eureka is a leading West Coast purveyor of succulent farmed oysters. Most significantly for visitors, Eureka nurtures an attractive preserve of Victorian architecture such as the grand 1886 Carson Mansion at 2nd and M streets. Shops, restaurants and B&BS occupy some of the staggering 1,500 Eureka buildings listed on the National Register of Historic Places. One millionacre Six Rivers National Forest is a near neighbor. Tall conifers grow in the forest’s mountainous terrain. The Trinity, Klamath and Smith rivers, among others, offer whitewater rafting, fishing and kayaking. Camping is available, usually by reservation, on terra firma.