Page 21 - 2022-2023 Travel Guide to California

PASADENA: Rose Bowl & Bungalows
Located 10 miles northeast of downtown
Los Angeles at the foot of the imposing San
Gabriel Mountains, this pretty city of
141,000 is best-known for the Granddaddy
of ’em All, the annual Rose Bowl football
game, as well as the ever-popular Rose
Parade and a delightful parody, the whim-
sical Doo Dah Parade. Some 800 restored
early 20th-century Arts & Crafts wooden
bungalows, clustered in the Bungalow
Heaven historic district, give Pasadena its
defining architectural look. Shopping and
dining are abundant along pedestrian-
friendly South Lake Avenue and in revived
22-block Old Pasadena. The Huntington
combines a distinguished library, priceless
fine-art collection and extensive and beau-
tiful botanical gardens. Don’t miss the
landmarked 1925 Pasadena Playhouse,
California’s official state theater.
NAPA: More Than Wine
Napa is three places: city, valley and
county. Time was when Napa city was a
place visitors stopped only for gasoline.
Now the city brims with fine dining, new
hotels, happening bars, a handsome prom-
enade downtown along the Napa River,
and foodie favorite Oxbow Public Market
PALM TREES ALLEY, Palm Springs, left; Gilroy
Garlic Festival, below; Richard H. Chambers
Courthouse in Pasadena, bottom.
with its locally sourced seasonal bounty.
The Napa Valley Wine Train rumbles north
and south on two and three hour excur-
sions, 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 cluster of art galleries
and eye-catching public art pieces. Napa’s
renovated Uptown Theatre presents pop,
folk and blues music, while the spruced-up
1880 Napa Valley Opera House is a jewel-
box venue for music and performances.
Moreover, center-city Napa is speckled
with lovely bed and breakfast places in art-