Margaret's post on Michigan has inspired me to write a post about California for those who have never been .I've lived most of my life in a suburb of the capital of the state,
Sacramento, but I've been lucky as a kid and an adult to travel all over California. Here are some of the places I've visited ...
-
San Francisco. My grandparents took us kids often to
Golden Gate Park and the Steinhart Aquarium and natural history museum in the
California Academy of Sciences there. We also visited the
San Francisco Zoo, which has
a great Dentzel Carousel (see above).
When I was a teen my parents took us there to see the Beatles twice,
at Candlestick Park and at the Cow Palace :) We went to many other concerts over the years, as well as visiting museums and shopping in places like
Japantown, the
Embarcadero, and
Ghirardelli Square. Perhaps a little known SF factoid - people can't get buried there. Burials were outlawed in 1900 and most of the dead were relocated to the nearby town of
Colma. Now parts of SF are
built above the old cemeteries, like the Jesuit University of San Francisco.
-
San Diego. I lived for a few months here with my sister and spent my time divided between
Balboa Park (home of the
San Diego Zoo), and the beach at the
Hotel del Coronado (all beaches in CA are free and open to the public), and
the Cove in
La Jolla ...
-
Napa. When I was in college I visited
the wineries many times with my family. We also rode the
Skunk train and visited the nearby
cheese factory. One place in Napa I'll never forget visiting was the
Napa State Hospital (for the mentally ill), which was a field trip for a college psych class. Very depressing place. Perhaps a little known fact about Napa - while there are defunct gold and silver mines all over California,
Napa has some old mercury mines - eeek!
- I've also visited
Yosemite National Park,
Kings Canyon National Park and
Sequoia National Park,
Santa Cruz (home of the famous
boardwalk),
Carmel,
Mendocino (where they filmed
Murder She Wrote),
Sausalito,
Monterey (home of the
Monterey Bay Aquarium ...
And also the
John Muir Woods, the
Sierra Nevada mountains for cross-country skiing,
Solvang (a little piece of Denmark :),
Lake Tahoe, and of course,
LA, with its
La Brea Tar Pits,
UCLA,
Knott's Berry Farm, and
Disneyland.
I think sometimes people believe California is really just a giant parking lot in LA but that's not true :)
Margaret's post on Michigan has inspired me to write a post about California for those who have never been .I've lived most of my life in a suburb of the capital of the state, Sacramento, but I've been lucky as a kid and an adult to travel all over California. Here are some of the places I've visited ...
- San Francisco. My grandparents took us kids often to Golden Gate Park and the Steinhart Aquarium and natural history museum in the California Academy of Sciences there. We also visited the San Francisco Zoo, which has a great Dentzel Carousel (see above).
When I was a teen my parents took us there to see the Beatles twice, at Candlestick Park and at the Cow Palace :) We went to many other concerts over the years, as well as visiting museums and shopping in places like Japantown, the Embarcadero, and Ghirardelli Square. Perhaps a little known SF factoid - people can't get buried there. Burials were outlawed in 1900 and most of the dead were relocated to the nearby town of Colma. Now parts of SF are built above the old cemeteries, like the Jesuit University of San Francisco.
- San Diego. I lived for a few months here with my sister and spent my time divided between Balboa Park (home of the San Diego Zoo), and the beach at the Hotel del Coronado (all beaches in CA are free and open to the public), and the Cove in La Jolla ...
- Napa. When I was in college I visited the wineries many times with my family. We also rode the Skunk train and visited the nearby cheese factory. One place in Napa I'll never forget visiting was the Napa State Hospital (for the mentally ill), which was a field trip for a college psych class. Very depressing place. Perhaps a little known fact about Napa - while there are defunct gold and silver mines all over California, Napa has some old mercury mines - eeek!
- I've also visited Yosemite National Park, Kings Canyon National Park and Sequoia National Park, Santa Cruz (home of the famous boardwalk), Carmel, Mendocino (where they filmed Murder She Wrote), Sausalito, Monterey (home of the Monterey Bay Aquarium ...
And also the John Muir Woods, the Sierra Nevada mountains for cross-country skiing, Solvang (a little piece of Denmark :), Lake Tahoe, and of course, LA, with its La Brea Tar Pits, UCLA, Knott's Berry Farm, and Disneyland.
I think sometimes people believe California is really just a giant parking lot in LA but that's not true :)
Can't claim a lot of time spent in California; but we were there in 2013. We visited relatives in Fresno; I thought it was a nice town. It was mid-October, and very nice weather. I understand it is hotter than blazes in the summer in the San Joaquin Valley. Our relatives were good hosts and took us a lot of places; Yosemite National Park, Monterey Bay and the town of Monterey with the aquarium, the mission San Juan Batista. This was the year of the government shutdown, and Yosemite had just re-opened, but only for a short while. We got in just before it was closed down for the winter. Wouldn't mind going back to California if someone else was driving (we weren't this time). The traffic is insane.
ReplyDeleteYeah, today here it's 106 degrees. I actually went to Yosemite on my honeymoon. We got to ride horses and the ex went fishing. We were there for almost two weeks and then went to Disneyland for a couple of days.
DeleteI have never been, but my daughter in law is from Camarillo, which always reminds me of that Zappa song. She hates the humidity in Michigan. I told her, well at least we have black fly season, but I don't think she got it.
ReplyDeleteFrom all you've said of her, she doesn't sound like a very good ambassador from CA :)
DeleteShe's young, dealing with culture shock, and getting used to not having the mother-in-law of her dreams. I am old, intolerant, and in thrall to the Catholic Church. You know Satan should be my name / cause to her we're about the same. https://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=Bg6yJFYdROk
DeleteI remember you mentioning her before. So glad I'll never have a daughter-in-law ;)
DeleteHopefully she'll mature and mellow with time. Wonder what brought her to Michigan since she doesn't seem to like it so well.
DeleteBeen there four times, never long enough except the July week spent freezing to death mornings in San Diego with the weather reporters apologizing for the "June weather." The fog never lifted before 10 a.m., and sweaters were the uniform of the day at the swimming pool. July? But (dating myself now) I do recall eating what probably was the last $5.95 lobster tail sold in a U.S. restaurant. It was good.
ReplyDeleteYes, San Diego always seems to have cloudy cool mornings, which seem kind of nice compared to here in the valley, where it gets hot right away. I have never eaten a lobster, said the vegetarian :)
DeleteMany business trips until twenty years ago. San Diego was ok. LA ok.
ReplyDeleteFavorite was San Francisco. One time had a liquid supper, three margaritas at a restaurant, four irish coffees at Fisherman's Wharf, and a Sambucca at the Saint Francis Hotel while formally dressed Japanese tourists ballroom danced. Told myself I would do that someday and now I do. When I can.
The St. Francis hotel is very nice. I used the bathroom there once .... all gold leaf and high ceilings. My favorite hotel there is the Fairmont on (s)Nob Hill. It has a restaurant called the Tonga Room where artificial thunder and rain happen :) ... https://youtu.be/VniSESFF9Cs
DeleteStanley, Do what --mix drinks or dance formally?
ReplyDeleteOn the same trip when I froze I discovered keoke coffee. The Kaluha lures you in, the brandy puts you to sleep and the coffee snaps you awake again. Under the spell of the Kaluha, I had many many and spent the night drifting off and sitting bolt upright like I was on a spring. Told myself I'd never do that again. And haven't.
Tom, haven't repeated such a mixture of drinks performance since then but I can dance now. Neither drinking or dancing has ever given me a headache. now I dance more than drink. But sometimes I indulge myself in a Long Island Iced Tea, the ultimate drink recipe possibly passed down from ancient alien encounters.
ReplyDeleteI haven't had a drink in a long time but I remember liking champagne and gin/tonics. Tried Wild Turkey once - yuck! :)
ReplyDeleteIn 1954 I passed through San Francisco to visit an old college buddy before going with the USAF to Iceland. I "demobbed" in 1970 and instantly headed back there, where I have been ever since. I truly found paradise and have NEVER wanted to live elsewhere. 47 yearsd and a hubby of 45 years later ....... still no desire to live elsewhere, even back in the upper Midwest where I was born, where I still have lots of family and very fond memories. Nope ... aint' leaving til I'm planted in the ground.
ReplyDeleteIt is one of the best places I've ever been. Mu great aunt lived in an apartment by the marina for many years and we visited her a lot when we were kids. I've thought of moving but it's said to be so expensive.
DeleteJimmy, I wish we would have had time to visit San Francisco when we were out there!
DeleteTo be perfectly clear: we live in Piedmont, surrounded by Oakland, and due east of SF across the Bay Bridge. I have never lived in SF and no one who doesn't already live there can EVER afford to buy there: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/17/us/california-housing-crisis.html?ref=todayspaper
DeleteThe cost of housing is the big downside of California. The house we bought in 1978 is way beyond our ability to buy from scratch these days!!!
I'm more about where NOT to live.
ReplyDeleteNot Texas, obvious reasons.
Not Florida, big bugs.
South in general, obvious reasons.
Southwest, too dry and getting worse.
Any place being fracked.
Nebraska is a pretty good place to live, because if you don't like the weather, just hang around a couple of days. Everybody likes the climate sometimes but nobody likes it all the time!
DeleteIf I could live anywhere I might pick someplace like Pacific Grove. It's one of the places Monarch butterflies gather. It's near Monerey, near the ocean with mild temps and sort of small and quaint. with Victorian houses.
DeleteKatherine, everyone in Michigan says that, too. Must be a Midwest thing. We do have some weather. I want to move somewhere there isn't too much sun and where the temperature stays between 40 and 65.
DeleteJean, sounds like you want to live in Ireland.
DeleteUm, no. Yorkshire would be OK. My great grandmother was from Thirsk. Hard to understand them, though. https://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=ScELaXMCVis
DeleteCrystal, that carousel tiger is awesome! My granddaughters would love it.
ReplyDeleteIt is a neat carousel. I can remember riding on one of the lions when I was a kid. The animals were hand made in 1921 by William H. Dentzel. Here's the lion, and here's one of a cat with a fish in his mouth :)
ReplyDeleteThe only time I have ever been to California was San Diego, around 1975. It was a professional meeting of the Society of Psychophysiological Research, which was a very neat research organization of several hundred members. I had gotten to know most of the leadership because I had a summer school with them in Boston in 1972. It was to introduce social scientists to using psychophysiological measurements in their research.
ReplyDeleteMy terrible experience in San Diego was the pollen; had a terrific allergy reaction, really felt miserable the whole time I was there.
My aunt moved to Sacramento in her late 80's to be with her husband's daughter to his first wife. She had raised her beginning in adolescence.
ReplyDeleteHer husband was a navy Captain; they had lived in both San Diego and San Francisco when he was still on active duty. They had met when they both worked in the Pentagon. When he retired they moved to Oregon. By that time the daughter was married and stayed in the Sacramento area. Later on my aunt and her husband moved to Florida and had a beautiful home near Cape Kennedy. I would visit them since I often went to professional meetings in Tampa during February or March. I would fly into Tampa, rent a car, drive over to their place after the meeting days, stay there about a week then fly back from Melbourne, Fla.
I'm always surprised people move to Sacramento voluntarily. It's very hot and its only claim to fame is being close to other places. Pollen is a scourge here in CA! This is probably the favorite place for allergists to move to :)
DeleteNever been to Florida or anywhere else in the south. But I did live for three years in Portland, Oregon. A lot of Californians move there because it's cooler, cheaper, and greener.
Real estate must have been a LOT cheaper in California back in the day. Two sets of my great grandparents had winter homes in CA in the 1920s; in Long Beach and Redlands. They were farmers or ranchers and not that well-to- do.
DeleteIt really has become more expensive. This house was bought by my parents for $13,000. in the early 60s Now the other old homes in the neighborhood are being torn down and houses selling for half a million dollars are being built and sold here.
DeleteIf a house for sale in our area lists for under $1mm it is assumed to be a fixer-upper!
DeleteYeah, I can imagine it must be really expensive there. What neighborhood do you live it? I took a few classes at the city college and the area around there (Pacific Heights, I think?) looked nice.
DeleteCrystal,
ReplyDeleteThere are monarch butterflies in Lake County at a certain time of the year. When they migrate from Canada they touch down at Headlands Beach. It is also very popular for the bird lovers too. At certain times of the year there a many people there with their binoculars.
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ReplyDeleteSorry - I meant to write "Jack" not Jean :) I had thought the west coast was the only place the Monarchs did that. Interesting.
ReplyDeleteMonarch Butterfly Migration contains maps of the migrations.
DeleteThe monarch is the only butterfly known to make a two-way migration as birds do.
Monarchs in Eastern North America have a second home in the Sierra Madre Mountains of Mexico. Monarchs in Western North America overwinter in California
Monarchs living west of the Rocky Mountain range in North America overwinter in California along the Pacific coast near Santa Cruz and San Diego
Eastern North American monarchs fly south using several flyways then merge into a single flyway in Central Texas. It is truly amazing that these monarchs know the way to the overwintering sites even though this migrating generation has never before been to Mexico!
Monarchs only travel during the day and need to find a roost at night. Monarchs gather close together during the cool autumn evenings. Roost sites are important to the monarch migration. Many of these locations are used year after year
Monarchs traveling south congregate on peninsulas. The shape of the peninsula funnels the migrating butterflies. At its tip, the monarchs find the shortest distance across open water. They congregate along the shore to wait for a gentle breeze to help them across
Unlike the generation before them, who made a one-generation journey south, successive generations make the journey north. Generation 1 monarchs are the offspring of the monarchs who overwintered in Mexico. Each successive generation travels farther north. It will take 3-4 generations to reach the northern United States and Canada
Strange. Here, Pacific Grove is known as "Butterfly Town USA".
DeleteMy ffidnds, asking for prayers for my Aunt Loretta as she will be leaving this life shortly after 98 years. Never married but loved generously and was loved and treasured by all in the family.
ReplyDeletePrayers sent for her, Stanley. Going to Mass this evening, will remember her there. May Jesus, Mary, and Joseph be with her.
DeleteMuch appreciated, Katherine.
Deletethat's "friends", of course.
ReplyDeleteCrystal, thanks for your California update. My father's family arrived in LA around 1880, and my mother's had moved to LA by 1905. My maternal grandmother was born in Nebraska, but I have not been there. I always enjoyed my mother's stories of LA when it was a small town, and of UCLA when it was a small local college. My parents both graduated from UCLA. They grew up in downtown LA, but moved to the "country" around 1945 to build a house once the family reached 3 kids. They added 2 more later, including me, so my earliest years were in the San Fernando Valley - which was then "country" (North Hollywood, Burbank, Van Nuys etc). But I mostly grew up in the mountains about 2 hrs away from downtown LA, not far from Redlands. Katherine, Redlands would have been all farms and orange groves when your relatives lived there. Long Beach was mostly a navy town, plus a major shipping port, especially when the oil was being extracted. You can still see the oil rigs, working away in between high rises and office parks. Redlands was still mostly citrus groves when I was growing up in the 60s, but they are mostly gone now. Our family lived in a lake resort community popular with people from LA and San Diego, because it was four seasons (water sports on the lake in summer, fall color, snow and skiing in the winters) and only 2 hours away! Lots of vacation homes, including a fair number of Hollywood stars. It was beautiful there when I was growing up, and it's still beautiful, I am happy to say. I was there a year or so ago.
ReplyDeleteCrystal, your travel guide is great - but I might add a couple. I have traveled a lot, many trips to Europe, the US from Maine to Florida many times, and four cross country drives to help my kids ferry their cars from DC to California when they were in college there (four different routes). But, I will admit, I have not been to Michigan. On my list! With all the long distance drives I have done in my life, I still don't know of any that is more spectacular than the drive from Carmel to San Simeon, via Big Sur. The Sonoma coast above Marin is also spectacular. Although I have come to love the east coast, having lived here since I graduated from college (came to DC to go to grad school, intending to go back to CA after, but met my husband here), it doesn't have the incredible range and variety and drama of CA. And to this day, I MISS, MISS, MISS the amazing CA climate!
Unfortunately, visitors to CA seldom see beyond the parking lot traffic because they spend all their time in the major coastal cities. Most don't even make it to Santa Barbara, a beautiful city. But, it's a very big state and hard to cover the best parts if they are there to see Hollywood and Disneyland and Fisherman's Wharf. Our cross-country, and up and down coasts roadtrips in the US have made me appreciate the beautiful country we have, "from sea to shining sea". Too few people are willing to take cross-country road trips, but it is absolutely the very best way to see our country, in all of its variety. One could do it in chunks though, flying to a city in an unexplored region, renting a car, and doing a big loop for a couple of weeks.
Taking I-5 north of Redding to the Oregon border is very scenic. And you get an exposure to the isolationist "State of Jefferson". I-5 south? Not so good, but CA99 is a good alternative with a better look at the agricultural basis on the Central Valley. Then it's catch as catch can from LA to the Mexican border. West to East is much more of a crap shoot.
DeleteThanks, Anne :)
ReplyDeleteMy grandparents were born here in California and when I was little this area was very rural. The man next door had cows in his yard and there were sheep down the street. Now it's horribly impacted here - older homeowners have sold their property, which gets split up into many lots for big expensive houses with tiny tree-less yards.