1,000 Places to See in the U.S.A. & Canada Before You Die (95 page)

With occasional whistles as it chugs through tunnels, over bridges, and past open meadows, the Skunk Train has followed the coastal Redwood Route since 1885.

W
HERE
: 155 miles north of San Francisco.
Visitor info:
Tel 707-961-6300;
www.mendocinocoast.com
.
M
ACCALLUM
H
OUSE
: Tel 707-937-0289;
www.maccallumhouse.com
.
Cost:
from $150; dinner $40.
C
AF
É B
EAUJOLAIS
: Tel 707-937-5614;
www.cafebeaujolais.com
.
Cost:
dinner $35.
J
OSHUA
G
RINDLE
I
NN
: Tel 707-937-4143,
www.joshgrin.com
.
Cost:
from $179.
A
LBION
R
IVER
I
NN
: Albion. Tel 800-479-7944 or 707-937-1919;
www.albionriverinn.com
.
Cost:
from $156; dinner $45.
W
HALE
-W
ATCHING
: Telstar Charters, tel 707-964-8770;
www.gooceanfishing.com
.
J
UGHANDLE
, V
AN
D
AMME
, A
ND
R
USSIAN
G
ULCH
S
TATE
P
ARKS
:
www.parks.ca.gov
.
S
KUNK
T
RAIN
: Fort Bragg. Tel 800-866-1690 or 209-848-2100;
www.skunktrain.com
.
Cost:
$45.
B
EST TIMES
: Dec–Mar for whale-watching and whale festivals in Mendocino and Fort Bragg (
www.mendocinocoast.com/whale
); May–Sept for warmer weather and less rain.

A World-Class Aquarium and “Steinbeck Country”

California

Mother Nature worked overtime on the rugged Monterey Peninsula, a surf-and-wind-sculpted wonder of cliff-lined beaches, sandy dunes, rocky shores, and deep ocean bays. Pacific Grove (aka Butterfly Town,
U.S.A., famous as the resting stop for migrating monarch butterflies) and Carmel-by-the-Sea (see p. 810) are big attractions, but the old fishing town of Monterey, forever immortalized by
Nobel Prize–winning novelist John Steinbeck, remains the peninsula’s biggest draw. Every September, it hosts the Monterey Jazz Festival, a huge three-night affair that attracts more than 500 greats from around the world and is the oldest ongoing jazz festival in the nation. In June, the Monterey Bay Blues Festival also lures top talents from all over the world.

Once famous for whaling and sardine canning, Monterey was also California’s first capital and retains more than 40 buildings built before 1850. Today, Monterey’s most popular attraction is the world-class Monterey Bay Aquarium on Cannery Row, the alley of sardine canneries that thrived in downtown Monterey in the 1930s and ’40s and the setting for John Steinbeck’s 1945 novel
Cannery Row.
The hard-luck world he describes is vanished (most of the canneries closed by mid-century due to overfishing), replaced with shops and restaurants that make for an enjoyable stroll.

Closely modeling a natural environment, the Monterey Bay Aquarium is home to 550 species of marine animals, including sharks, penguins, and a dazzling rainbow of fish. Four curious sea otters (rescued and unable to survive in the open ocean) cavort in a land-and-sea exhibit, while nearby, a comical crew of blackfooted penguins dive into chilly waters. Then there are the mesmerizing jellies, fantastic works of living aquatic art, displayed to reveal their brilliant colors. Check into the Old Monterey Inn, a beautifully renovated half-timbered Tudor built in 1929, with just ten perfectly appointed rooms.

Nearby Salinas and its surrounding landscape (sometimes referred to as “Steinbeck Country”) was the birthplace and early home of John Steinbeck best known for his 1939 classic
The Grapes of Wrath,
which chronicled the hardships of migrant workers in California during the Depression. Here you’ll find the National Steinbeck Center’s exhibits linking his life with his literature, and frequent showings of films based upon his novels. Two blocks west is the Steinbeck House, an 1897 Queen Anne Victorian where Steinbeck was born.

The Monterey Bay Aquarium houses a 33-foot high tank, the first in the world to simulate tidal currents on a large scale.

W
HERE
: 110 miles south of San Francisco.
Visitor info:
Tel 888-221-1010 or 831-649-1770;
www.montereyinfo.org
.
M
ONTEREY
J
AZZ
F
ESTIVAL
: Tel 925-275-9255;
www.montereyjazzfestival.org
.
Cost:
from $30.
When:
3rd weekend in Sept.
M
ONTEREY
B
AY
B
LUES
F
ESTIVAL
: Tel 831-394-2652;
www.montereyblues.com
.
Cost:
3-day passes from $110.
When:
3 days in late June.
M
ONTEREY
B
AY
A
QUARIUM
: Tel 831-648-4888;
www.mbayaq.org
.
O
LD
M
ONTEREY
I
NN
: Tel 800-350-2344 or 831-375-8284;
www.oldmontereyinn.com
.
Cost:
from $270.
N
ATIONAL
S
TEINBECK
C
ENTER
: Salinas. Tel 831-796-3833;
www.steinbeck.org
.

The Ne Plus Ultra of Golf Courses

California

Considered by many to be the most thrilling, beguiling, and breathtaking golf course on the face of the earth, Pebble Beach’s ocean-hugging links are sacred ground for golfers. Jack Nicklaus said of this spectacular
(and wildly expensive) spot, “If I could play only one course for the rest of my life, this would be it.”

Now part of a trio of championship courses that includes Spyglass Hill and the Links at Spanish Bay, Pebble Beach opened in 1919. In the late 1940s, crooner Bing Crosby brought his pro-am tourney here, the “clambake” that evolved into the A
T
&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, played on Pebble, Spyglass, and the nearby Poppy Hills courses during the second weekend of February. Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Vijay Singh, and other top golfers join such celebrities as Clint Eastwood (now a part-owner of Pebble Beach) for the vaunted pro-amateur tourney.

The refined elegance of the Lodge at Pebble Beach offers the ultimate in holy-grail golfing convenience. Its 161 rooms have working fireplaces, and many skirt the right flank of Pebble’s 18th fairway, within earshot of the Pacific’s crashing waves. Also hugging the coastline is the more modern Inn at Spanish Bay, with 269 palatial rooms that feature antique furniture and splendid marble showers.

Nongolfers can enjoy the area’s beauty on the legendary 17-Mile Drive, a private toll road connecting Monterey (see p. 830) to its peninsular neighbor Carmel (see p. 810). A microcosm of the coastline’s romantic beauty, dotted with ocean-sprayed outcroppings where harbor seals and sea lions laze, the winding drive also takes in man-made marvels like multimillion-dollar mansions.

For classic-car lovers, the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in August is the world’s finest car show—originally a sideshow to the Pebble Beach Road Race, which was moved after a fatal accident in 1957 involving a Ferrari and a pine tree (“Too much car and not enough race course,” it was observed). Feast your eyes on the most rare, valuable, and beautiful cars in the world—Rolls-Royce Phantoms from the ’30s, racing Jaguars from the ’50s, and Lamborghinis from the ’60s.

W
HERE
: 6 miles southwest of Monterey. Tel 800-654-9300 or 831-624-3811;
www.pebblebeach.com
.
C
OST
: greens fees for Pebble Beach $450; for Spyglass Hill $300; for the Links at Spanish Bay $240. Rooms at the Lodge at Pebble Beach from $610; Inn at Spanish Bay from $535.
C
ONCOURS
D
’E
LEGANCE
: Tel 831-622-1700;
www.pebblebeachconcours.net
.
Cost:
$175.
When:
3rd weekend of Aug.
B
EST TIMES
: Feb for the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am; Sept–Oct for weather.

Volcanic Energy and Spiritual Power

California

“When I first caught sight of Mount Shasta over the braided folds of the Sacramento Valley,” wrote naturalist John Muir in 1874, “my blood turned to wine, and I have not been weary since.”
A colossus of four volcanic cones, the highest rising 14,162 feet above the flats of upper Northern California, Mount Shasta is the crown jewel of the Cascades, a snowcapped peak that is one of the state’s most beautiful landmarks, visible from as far as 100 miles away.

Considered a place of great spiritual power by Native Americans and New Agers, Mount Shasta (in a 38,200-acre designated wilderness
located within the larger 2.1-million-acre Shasta-Trinity National Forest) draws mountain climbers looking to summit. Its eight glaciers and a base-to-summit elevation gain of 11,000 feet (one of the highest in the world) qualifies it as a mountaineering peak that requires crampons and an ice ax, but beginners in good shape can usually make it up in 12 hours, with an overnight stay on the way. The fast way down is glissading—sliding on your behind, using an ice ax to control your speed. It may sound easy, but injuries are common.

Nearby scenic Shasta Lake, California’s second-largest lake after Lake Tahoe (see p. 726), is home to one of the state’s largest populations of bald eagles (and a substantial collection of vacationing houseboaters). From there, Highway 299 takes you through lush pine forests to the otherworldly landscape of Lassen Volcanic National Park, with its steaming cauldrons of turquoise pools, belching mud pots, and scalding hot springs. Towering 2,000 feet over the beguiling landscape is Lassen Peak, which last erupted in 1915 and fumed until 1921. The most charming place to stay is the Drakesbad Guest Ranch, right inside the park. Despite a rustic, homespun ambience—most of its pine-paneled guest rooms are lit by kerosene lanterns—rooms are booked a year in advance, often by those who have been returning for generations. At Castle Crags State Park, granite spires shoot 6,000 feet above sea level and the Sacramento River and Pacific Crest Trail wend their way through the landscape, providing unparalleled fishing, swimming, and hiking.

W
HERE
: 280 miles northeast of San Francisco.
Mt. Shasta Ranger Station:
Tel 530-926-4511;
www.fs.fed.us/r5/shastatrinity
.
L
ASSEN
V
OLCANIC
N
ATIONAL
P
ARK
: Tel 530-595-4444;
www.nps.gov/lavo
.
C
ASTLE
C
RAGS
S
TATE
P
ARK
: Tel 530-235-2684;
www.parks.ca.gov
.
H
OW
: Shasta Mountain Guides offers guided ascents and gear. Tel 530-926-3117;
www.shastaguides.com
.
Cost:
2-day hikes from $425.
When:
May–Aug.
D
RAKESBAD
G
UEST
R
ANCH
: Chester. Tel 530-529-1512;
www.drakesbad.com
.
Cost:
from $155 per person, includes meals.
When:
June–early Oct.
B
EST TIMES
: summer for hiking Shasta and exploring Lassen; early Oct for fall colors.

America’s Most Famous Wine Region

California

Packed in shoulder-to-shoulder along a narrow 35-mile valley bounded by two mountain ranges, American winemaking’s greatest and most famous names are all found in the verdant Napa Valley. Three hundred-plus
wineries lie along Highway 29 and the more scenic Silverado Trail in what is considered the epicenter of American wine, food, and fine living. The sunny days, cool nights, long growing season, and well-drained soil caught the eye of winemakers as early as 1858, but disasters like phylloxera (root-destroying insects) and later Prohibition left growers more interested in almonds and fruit trees. Its modern revival as a world-class wine region began in the 1960s, when pioneers like Robert Mondavi devoted themselves to producing superb cabernet sauvignons that could stand up to the greats of France. And a culinary tradition to equal the wines has since sprung up in the small towns along Highway 29, including the restaurant lauded by many as America’s finest, the French Laundry (see p. 863).