Page 18 - 2015 Travel Guide to California

CA.CITIES
BY DAVID ARMSTRONG
Surprising Cities
Urban delights flourish in pioneer towns, wine country redoubts and desert oases
NAPA
Known primarily for its wine, Napa
is a city, too, straddling the Napa
River at the foot of the world
famous Napa Valley. Its downtown
streets, above, are home to appealing
restaurants and shops. The city was
founded in 1847; the first business
establishment was a saloon; by the
1850s, gambling halls and saloons
were numerous; the first commercial
winery was established in 1859.
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.
VISITNAPAPVALLEY.COM. OPPOSITE: ERIC WAGNER/CREATIVE COMMONS/FLICKR; YOU TOUCH PIX OF EUTOCH/SHUTTERSTOCK; SUSAN SCHMITZ/SHUTTERSTOCK
16 2015 T R AV E L G U I D E TO C A L I F O R N I A