LA GETAWAYS
Napa Valley
North of San Francisco, the drive from LA makes an excellent six or seven hour road trip for wine lovers. The word Napa is variously translated as ‘grizzly bear’, ‘house’, ‘motherland’, and ‘fish’ – though locals cite an urban legend translating napa as “you will always return.” Regardless, the wine region already takes care of that. Today, more than 300 wineries populate the area. Ladies and gentlemen, prepare your sea legs.
Catalina
Need to recharge? Take a ferry, plane or helicopter to Santa Catalina Island off the coast of California. Ferries cost $65 and depart from Orange County, Long Beach, San Pedro or Marina del Rey, bringing you to your destination in approximately an hour. Reefs, beaches, shipwrecks; hiking, mountain biking, kayaking, scuba diving, snorkeling, surfing and camping, there exists a surplus of activity to stimulate the senses.
San Luis Obispo
One of California’s oldest communities, San Luis Obispo is often referred to locally as “SLO”, or “SLOtown.” Filled with galleries, coffee houses, shops, historic buildings, and restaurants, there’s no shortage of entertainment. The annual Mozart festival is held here every July, and on the first Thursday of each month, ‘The Bike Happening‘ happens: Theme costumes optional. Whether passing through, or looking for a reprieve from reality/normality, be sure to stay at the famously eccentric Madonna Inn.
Palm Springs
A desert city within the Coachella valley, Palm Springs became a fashionable health resort in the 1900s when the health conscious arrived bearing conditions requiring dry heat. Movies stars during the 1920s savored the seclusion and hot, dry, sunny weather. International events such as the Palm Springs International Film Festival, Coachella Music Festival, as well as stellar modernist architecture, draw interest, as well as a history of “Hollywood values” which permeated the resort lifestyle: “celebrity, health, new wealth, and sex.”
Joshua Tree
Declared a U.S National Park in 1994, Joshua Tree National Park is named after the Joshua trees that forest the area, and straddles two deserts: the higher Mojave Desert, and lower Colorado Desert. Giant marble shaped rock formations scatter the park, which were formed more than 100 million years old from both the cooling of magma and groundwater erosion. Camping, hiking, rock-climbing, bird watching and four-wheel driving are popular activities. Some say there is magic here. Be sure to find out for yourself. Soak it up.
Las Vegas
Las Vegas promotes itself as the Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous for the gambling, shopping, fine dining and “associated entertainment” circulating the city’s casino resorts. It earned the title of Sin City, due to its tolerance of various forms of adult entertainment, which in turn has attracted movie stars, trouble makers, party people and film crews alike. Hangovers aside, Vegas is truly a trip.
Santa Barbara
90 miles out of L.A. along the Pacific Coast, Santa Barbara is known as the ‘American Riviera’, due to it bearing significant climatic and geographical similarities to that of the French and Italian Rivieras. A Mediterranean climate and large scenic mountain range bring salve to those in search of rejuvenation. The Arlington theatre and Santa Barbara Bowl host concerts and performances both indoors and out.
Disneyland
Located in Anaheim, California, Disneyland Park is the only theme park to be designed and built under the direct supervision of Walt Disney himself. Since opening its doors in 1955, Disneyland has had 600 million fans, “guests” and Dis-nuts explore its eight “lands” or themed areas, including Adventureland, Fantasyland, and Tomorrowland. Even if you’re not a child anymore, who could resist flying with Peter Pan, or tumbling into Alice’s Wonderland? Tickets start at $100 per adult, per day.
Big Sur
The name means ‘The Big South’ and the terrain is spectacular. Approximately 245 miles (394 km) northwest of Los Angeles, Big Sur has no specific boundaries, but is a sparsely populated region where the Santa Lucia Mountains rise abruptly from the Pacific Ocean. Henry Miller, Jack Kerouac, and Hunter S. Thompson all spent large quantities of time here. The latter worked a stint at the Esalen Institute – a retreat where sulphur rich baths can be had, naked, on the cliffs overlooking a moonlight ocean.
By Sophie Ward
