  TIME Pacific Standard Time NEIGHBORING STATES Oregon Nevada Arizona REGION Pacific States Whale Watching in California Each winter California welcomes the return of its official marine mammal, the gray whale, and many California State parks and beaches offer programs and locations for viewing the migrating whales. Many California destinations celebrate with special festivals. • Cabrillo National Monument Whale-Watch Weekend (January) at the end of Point Loma in San Diego. • Birch Aquarium's Whale Adventures (December - March) on the La Jolla shoreline. • West Marin's Whales, Wildlife and Wildflowers Festival (January - April) on Point Reyes National Seashore. • Ventura Harbor Village Annual Whale Celebration (February - March) at Ventura, with Channel Islands National Park or "America's Galapagos" just 14 miles offshore. • Cabrillo Marine Aquarium's Whale Celebration (February) at Cabrillo Beach in San Pedro. • Santa Cruz Migration Festival, Natural Bridges State Park (February) along the Central Coast of California. • Oxnard's Celebration of the Whales/ Whale Watching Excursions (January - March) includes whale-watching excursions to the Channel Islands National Park. • And annual festivals at Dana Point (one of Southern California’s largest seafaring celebrations); Mendocino; Fort Bragg; and Santa Barbara. |
 AMERICA'S FOOD AND WINE CAPITAL Four Perfect Days in Napa Valley, California .... that’s what the itinerary brochure promises. CALIFORNIA HOTELS And that’s what Napa Valley delivers. NAPA VALLEY HOTELS Its claim as America’s Food & Wine Capital is soundly based – some 280-plus wineries in a narrow, bucolic 35-mile long valley and any number of gourmet restaurants. Some of the wineries have become expressions of their owners’ lifestyle, and they share their passion with visitors. At the Niebaum Coppola Winery, owned by the renowned film director Francis Ford Coppola there are documents and artifacts from the winery’s early beginning and glory days, and memorabilia from many of Coppola's films: Vito Corleone's desk and a chair from "The Godfather", a Tucker car from the movie of the same name, as well as props and costumes from "Bram Stocker's Dracula". Mr. Coppola's five Oscars and numerous movie stills are also on view. A cow floating on the lake in the middle of its vineyards welcomes you to the sprawling di Rosa Preserve, the vision of Rene and the late Veronica di Rosa. Rene di Rosa has scrupulously ignored fashions, trends, critics, curators or other experts to amass over 2,000 works from 750 San Francisco Bay Area artists, a collection largely purchased from emerging artists. They are displayed in a 100-year-old winery-turned residence and four separate galleries set in 200 acres of rolling meadows and lush gardens. Many of the exhibits are wonderfully idiosyncratic. There are also some great works of art at Clos Pegase winery. In its aging caves is the Cave Theatre, a dramatic, vaulted underground chamber set amidst the 20,000 square-foot cave complex hewn out of an ancient volcanic knoll in the center of the estate. Nestled in its niches and alcoves, rare artifacts and sculptures add to the allure of this spectacular setting. The food component of the Valley’s title is exemplified by the acclaimed Napa Valley Wine Train. You can enjoy a champagne brunch, gourmet lunch or exquisite full-course dinner in beautifully restored antique rail cars while enjoying a relaxing journey through the heart of Napa Valley's picturesque vineyards. On Napa’s historic downtown riverfront, is COPIA: The American Center for Wine, Food & the Arts. Here, in Julia’s Kitchen, a gourmet dining room named for the patron saint of the pantry, Julia Child, you can watch culinary masters in action. As further evidence of the region’s epicurean renown, one of the Culinary Institute of America’s two campuses is located in Napa Valley. Drop in for cooking demonstrations and fresh baked goods in its Cafe, and try the Wine Spectator Greystone Restaurant. You may never be far from a winery in Napa Valley, nor are you from its towns and villages. Historic downtown Napa on the Napa River is home to quaint Victorian-era buildings intertwined with a beautiful outdoor shopping mall, creating a pedestrian-friendly town center. Downtown are studios and art galleries; the Jarvis Conservatory, now open for live performances; and the landmark Opera House. Heading north you’ll find the charming village of Yountville, known for its variety of upscale retail stores, antique shops, art galleries and artist working studios. The Napa Valley Museum brings the history, the culture, the wine, art and heritage of the Valley together. Its interactive wine exhibit, CALIFORNIA WINE: THE SCIENCE OF AN ART, takes visitors through a year in the winemaking process. At stately downtown St. Helena you will find the Silverado Museum with more than 8,000 items relating to Robert Louis Stevenson, author of Treasure Island and Kidnapped. At the top of Napa Valley stroll along the historic western-style main street of Calistoga, home to some wonderful spas and to Old Faithful Geyser which gushes some 60 feet into the air every 30 minutes. The Calistoga Depot, built in 1868, includes six restored railcars housing historical exhibits and retail shops. The Sharpsteen Museum has artifacts, dioramas and photographs about nineteen century life in Calistoga. You can step back even further in time, say 3-million years, at the Petrified Forest, five miles west of Calistoga where the texture and fiber of giant redwoods are preserved. A good time to go is in February or March, about 90 days after the first rains of autumn, when golden mustard carpets the Napa Valley. The Mustard Festival celebrates the mustard season with elegant, colorful events, from intimate winemaker dinners to grand gourmet gatherings. Did they say a four day itinerary? You haven’t even swung a club yet at any of Napa Valley’s many golf courses, nor checked out its many events or taken an early morning balloon flight over the lush vineyards. As they say, so much to do and see, so little time. A few more days might just do the trick. CALIFORNIA HOTELS Photo courtesy Robert Holmes/ California Tourism. |
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