Page 79 - 2017 Travel Guide to California

acres in Alameda and Contra Costa coun-
ties. In the Santa Cruz mountains, amid
several vast open space preserves lies Cali-
fornia’s oldest state park, Big Basin
Redwoods, established in 1902.
Heritage & Culture
Early Mexican and Spanish explorers and
settlers in the Bay Area left their mark,
mostly in place names but also in historic
buildings from that era. San Francisco’s Mis-
sion Dolores, established in 1776, is the
oldest building in San Francisco and the
oldest intact original Mission in California.
The patchwork design of its beamed ceilings
resembles local Native American basket
weaving. Other old missions are found else-
where in the Bay Area: in Sonoma, San
Rafael, Santa Clara, San Jose and Santa Cruz.
Vestiges of San Francisco’s colorful
past, when the 1849 Gold Rush catapulted
it from a hamlet to a large city almost
overnight, can still be seen in thousands
of 19th-century Victorians and quaint old
quarters such as Alamo Square and
Jackson Square.
The Bay Area is home to world-class
museums, including the recently expanded
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the
de Young Museum and California Academy
of Sciences in Golden Gate Park. In Oakland,
there’s the Museum of California and, in
Palo Alto, the Cantor Arts Center at Stanford.
A lively art scene is found throughout the
region and dozens of theater, opera, sym-
phony and dance companies are based here.
Diverse cultural influences thrive in
pockets spread throughout the region,
SPECIAL
»
EVENTS 2017
CHINESE NEW YEAR PARADE Feb. 11, San Francisco chineseparade.com
CHERRY BLOSSOM FESTIVAL April 8-9, 15-16, San Francisco nccbf.org
BAY TO BREAKERS May 21, San Francisco baytobreakers.com
CARNAVAL May 27-28, San Francisco carnavalsanfrancisco.org
ETHNIC DANCE FESTIVAL throughout June, San Francisco worldartswest.org
STERN GROVE FESTIVAL Sundays, mid June-mid August, San Francisco sterngrove.org
GAY PRIDE WEEKEND June 24-25, San Francisco sfpride.org
KITE FESTIVAL July 29-30, Berkeley highlinekites.com
ART FESTIVAL Sept. 2-4, Sausalito sausalitoartfestival.org
HARDLY STRICTLY BLUEGRASS Oct. 6-8, San Francisco hardlystrictlybluegrass.com
ART & PUMPKIN FESTIVAL Oct. 14-15, Half Moon Bay miramarevents.com
UNION SQUARE TREE LIGHTING Nov. 24, San Francisco macys.com
FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS Nov. 24, Yountville yountville.com
including many from Asia: Japantown and
Chinatown in San Francisco, another
Chinatown in Oakland and Vietnamese and
Southeast Asian communities in South Bay
cities. Mexican and other Latin American
influences can be found throughout, partic-
ularly in San Francisco’s Mission district,
while Italian immigrants left their indelible
mark in San Francisco’s North Beach and
Sonoma and Napa wine-growing areas.
Family Fun
Spend a day at the Santa Cruz Beach Board-
walk, a century-old amusement park
famous for The Giant Dipper, a 1920s-era
roller coaster.
Families also enjoy the San Mateo
County coast, particularly Half Moon
Bay’s mid-October festival that features
pumpkin carving and pie-eating contests.
Santa Clara’s Great America theme park
thrills visitors with the most water rides in
Northern California.
San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf and
Pier 39 are lined with shops, restaurants,
street performers and even a colony of sea
lions that wows crowds. The pier also offers
an antique carousel and the Aquarium of the
Bay, with more than 20,000 marine animals.
Over in Golden Gate Park, the California
Academy of Sciences draws families with its
penguin exhibit, a walk-through rain forest
and aquarium with a live coral reef tank.
2017 T R AV E L G U I D E TO C A L I F O R N I A 77