Page 57 - 2015 Travel Guide to California

federal penitentiary. Gardens, tide pools,
bird colonies and bay views add to the
prison history. The San Francisco Maritime
National Historical Park gives a glimpse
into the days when sailing ships were one
of the only ways to get to this region. Com-
mute from there through San Francisco on
the city’s beloved cable cars (the world’s
largest manually operated cable car system)
to the San Francisco Cable Car Museum.
Combine California beaches with a car-
nival atmosphere at two spots along the
coast: Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk and the
Santa Monica Pier. Whereas the boardwalk
has two National Historic Landmarks (the
Giant Dipper roller coaster and the Looff
Carousel), the pier has a trapeze school and
the amusement park juts out above the
ocean. To get the best of coastal family fun,
you should really try both.
Space fans flock to the Griffith Observa-
tory in Los Angeles, one of Southern
California’s most popular attractions. It
even has a little bit of Hollywood history
with iconic scenes from movies like Rebel
SEGWAY TOUR at Long Beach
waterfront, left; bunny suits in
the Intel Museum, above.
» FIND
YOUR FUN
Without a Cause. Public programs range
from planetarium shows to free public tel-
escopes. Plan a visit around the monthly
public star party on the lawn and side-
walks outside the observatory.
For a different view, look out from the
observatory’s parking lot at the panorama
of Los Angeles and the Hollywood sign.
You can’t visit the sign, but you can see it
from a variety of other vantage points in
the area, such as Mulholland Drive and the
intersection of Hollywood and Highland.
Other viewing areas are accessible by
hiking trail: the Mount Hollywood trail,
Canyon Boulevard trail, Lake Hollywood
trail and Cahuenga Peak.
Theme Parks
With a treasure of attractions across the
Golden State, families aren’t limited to tra-
ditional venues like theme parks for fun.
But there’s a reason why they’re popular
with children of all ages, and California
has plenty of choices. See CA.Theme Parks
for more information.
National Parks
nps.gov
California State Parks
parks.ca.gov
Monterey Bay Aquarium
montereybayaquarium.org
California Academy of Sciences
calacademy.org
Natural History Museum
of Los Angeles
nhm.org
The Tech Museum of Innovation
thetech.org
Museum of California
museumca.org
San Francisco Cable Car Museum
cablecarmuseum.org
Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk
beachboardwalk.com
Santa Monica Pier
santamonicapier.org
Griffith Observatory
griffithobs.org
Hollywood Sign
hollywoodsign.org
2015 T R AV E L G U I D E TO C A L I F O R N I A 55