Page 20 - 2014 Travel Guide to California

CA.CITIES
BY DAVID ARMSTRONG
Surprising California Cities
Urban delights flourish throughout the state, and not just in California’s favorite cities
SAN LUIS OBISPO
Cerro San Luis rises 1,292 feet
above the inland city of San Luis
Obispo. The landmark mountain
is part of a chain of volcanic
peaks called the Nine Sisters, or
the Morros, that separate the city
from Morro Bay and provide a
dramatic backdrop for both. The
peaks formed from the plugs of
long-extinct volcanoes, and
scientists say they have been
inactive for 20 million years!
California’s golden cities—Los Angeles,
San Francisco, San Diego—are celebrated
around the world, and rightly so. But the
Golden State has an engaging range of
things to see and do in less-well-known
locales, as well. In cities ranging in size
from barely 3,000 inhabitants to more
than 300,000, a surprising, eclectic menu
of food and drink, art and architecture, his-
tory and sports is available to visitors.
NAPA: More Than Wine
Napa is three places: city, valley and
county. Time was, Napa city was a place
visitors stopped only for gasoline. No
longer. The city is brimming with fine-
dining, new hotels, happening bars, a
handsome promenade downtown along
the Napa River and foodie favorite Oxbow
Public Market, with its locally sourced,
seasonal bounty. The Napa Valley Wine
Train rumbles north and south on three-
hour excursions, offering full meals on
wheels and, of course, California wines.
Michelin-starred La Toque in the Westin
Verasa Hotel highlights refined in-city
dining. First Street showcases a still-devel-
oping cluster of art galleries and
eye-catching public art pieces. Napa’s ren-
ovated Uptown Theatre presents pop, folk
and blues music and pours premium
wines, while the spruced-up 1880 Napa
Valley Opera House is a jewelbox venue for
music, stand-up comedy and theater.
Moreover, center-city Napa is speckled
with lovely bed and breakfast places in art-
fully restored Victorian fantasias of
turrets, stained-glass and burnished wood.
LEIF ARNE STORSET (CC-BY-SA). OPPOSITE: DIMA ROGOZHIN/SHUTTERSTOCK; HENRIK LEHNERER /DEPOSITPHOTOS; LEONARD ZHUKOVSKY/SHUTTERSTOCK
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