Page 15 - 2022-2023 Travel Guide to California

offers a lifetime’s worth of such experi-
ences, from Mount Shasta to the Channel
Islands and Anza-Borrego State Park, Death
Valley to Big Sur. It’s a natural wonder.
Activities and Exhilarations
If you want to actively explore these won-
ders, there’s hiking, biking, sailing, skiing,
surfing—just about every activity known to
woman or man. And the range of indoor
activities is equally exciting, from contem-
porary art grazing to vintage wine sipping,
world-class museum and gallery exhibi-
tions to renowned author readings to
cutting-edge performances of dance, music
and theater. Some of the greatest amuse-
ment and theme parks in the world
entertain kids of all ages here, including
Disneyland, Universal Studios, SeaWorld
and Six Flags, and their intellectual coun-
terparts such as the Monterey Bay
Aquarium, California Academy of Sciences
and Exploratorium. There’s an activity for
every interest in this abundant state.
Culture and Cuisine
With a wide variety of immigrants from
all over the world, California embraces
and embodies multiculturalism. You can
immerse yourself in national traditions of
all kinds, such as Japanese through the
tea ceremonies and festival dances in
San Francisco’s annual Cherry Blossom
Festival, Mexican through Cinco de Mayo
celebrations, the Chinese New Year, the
Sikh Festival in Yuba City, Solvang’s Danish
Days, the Calaveras Celtic Faire and Concert
in Angel’s Camp and many others. You’ll
also find globe-girdling pockets of Asian,
African, European and South American
communities throughout the state, where
even shopping in the local market gives the
taste of a rich multicultural stew.
And speaking of stew, the California
kitchen is a glorious global melting pot. In
addition to California Cuisine, which fea-
tures a celebration of local, seasonal
produce in inventive combinations, eating
out in California offers tasty lessons in
global traditions, with restaurants serving
the cuisines of dozens of countries, from
old favorites such as France, Italy and
China, to relatively new favorites such as
India, Mexico, Thailand and Vietnam, to
rising stars like Peru.
With so much to love, how can you not
fall under the spell of California? Whether
you arrive planning to spend a week or a
month, you’ll find an inexhaustible trea-
sure trove of riches awaiting. So be
prepared. You may just decide you need a
lifetime to enjoy them all.