Page 20 - 2015 Travel Guide to California

CA.CITIES
FOX THEATER in Bakersfield, above; Geoff
Pugh dusts his 1937 Oldsmobile convertible
for the judges at the Cruisin’ for a Wish Car
& Motorcycle Show, right; the Carson
Mansion, built in 1884-1885 in Old Town
Eureka, is considered the finest example of
Queen Anne style Victorian houses in
America, opposite; Saint Andrew Catholic
Church in Pasadena, opposite bottom.
» FIND YOUR
CITY FUN
Napa
visitnapavalley.com, 707-251-5895
Oakland
visitoakland.org, 510-839-9000
San Luis Obispo
visitslo.com, 805-781-2777
Bakersfield
visitbakersfield.com, 866-425-7353
Nevada City
nevadacountygold.com, 530-265-2692
Eureka
redwoods.info, 800-346-3482
Palm Desert
palm-desert.org, 800-873-2428
Pasadena
visitpasadena.com, 800-307-7977
BAKERSFIELD: Buck Owens & Basques
Calling all honky-tonk angels: Bakersfield
may just be a must-stop. Once home to
country-music legends Merle Haggard and
the late Buck Owens, this San Joaquin
Valley community’s workaday, unpreten-
tious facade masks a city of surprises.
Located inland and northwest of Los
Angeles, Bakersfield is reached via Cali-
fornia routes 99 and 58. The city of 323,000
is home to one of the largest and most
vibrant Basque communities in the United
States. Family-style Basque restaurants
like Wool Growers and the Pyrenees Café
add diversity to the downhome cooking of
Bakersfield’s truck stops and roadside
diners. Fans of country music can drop by
Buck Owens’ Crystal Palace, with its
mementos of Owens and his band, the
Buckaroos, and catch a show by contem-
porary country musicians. It’s a fine place
to listen to a swooning steel guitar by the
light of the juke box.
NEVADA CITY:
Postcard from the Gold Rush
In 2010, this postcard-pretty inland com-
munity in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada
counted 3,068 residents—1,000 fewer than
it had in 1880 in the afterglow of the 1849
California Gold Rush. These days, travelers
journey to Nevada City’s woodsy setting on
18 2015 T R AV E L G U I D E TO C A L I F O R N I A