1,000 Places to See in the U.S.A. & Canada Before You Die (88 page)

At the University of California at Berkeley, founded in 1868, highlights include Sproul Plaza, where Mario Savio ignited the Free Speech Movement and antiwar protests in the ’60s; the Campanile, a 307-foot Italianate tower with panoramic views; and the Lawrence Hall of Science, a hands-on museum with interactive exhibits for kids of any age and an ideal vantage point for watching the sun set behind the Golden Gate Bridge.

W
HERE
: 10 miles northeast of San Francisco.
C
HEZ
P
ANISSE
: Tel 510-548-5525
(restaurant), 510-548-5049 (café);
www.chezpanisse.com
.
Cost:
prix fixe dinner at restaurant $65 Tues–Thurs, $85 Fri–Sat; dinner at café $40.
C
AFFÉ
M
EDITERRANEUM
: Tel 510-549-1128..
U
NIVERSITY OF
C
ALIFORNIA AT

B
ERKELEY
: Tel 510-642-5215;
www.berkeley.edu
.
L
AWRENCE
H
ALL OF
S
CIENCE
: Tel 510-642-5132;
www.lawrencehallofscience.org
.

9021—Oh!

California

Swimming pools! Movie stars! The mystique of Beverly Hills loomed large in the world’s collective imagination long before Julia Roberts’s character in
Pretty Woman
had a troublesome shopping experience along famously chic
Rodeo Drive. Though the city is less than 6 square miles, its graceful Spanish buildings, wide palm-tree-lined streets, mammoth mansions, and wildly expensive stores leave a bigger-than-life impression.

Surrounded by Los Angeles on three sides and West Hollywood to the east, Beverly Hills is its own independent city with residents (including folks like Jack Nicholson and Warren Beatty) who can easily afford to breeze in and out of the high-priced boutiques, rack up a small fortune on their black American Express cards, and disappear into gated residences. Its commercial heart is the three-block-long “Golden Triangle” (bounded by Santa Monica Boulevard, Wilshire Boulevard, and Canon Drive). Here you’ll find Rodeo (that’s pronounced Ro-DAY-oh) Drive and such big-ticket jewelers as Tiffany & Co. and Harry Winston, plus every imaginable designer, from Armani to Zegna. If you aren’t feeling flush enough to even window-shop, the city offers a charming 40-minute trolley tour. The wealth and glamour of the area’s golden age can still be found in the opulent Greystone Manor, built by the Doheny oil family in 1928. The mansion and the lush 18.5-acre park and gardens that surround it are a popular location for commercials, television, and films. The Museum of Television and Radio (sister of a museum by the same name in New York City) is a shrine to how most Beverly Hills residents made their fortunes. Visitors can request a favorite show from a collection of more than 120,000 programs covering 85 years, and view it in a private cubicle.

Rodeo Drive is known as one of the most exclusive shopping districts in the world.

While you’re in the neighborhood, nosh at Nate & Al’s, the favorite deli and hangout of old-timers like Groucho and Doris Day. Don’t be afraid to pry stories out of the staff; every waitperson and almost every patron has a tale, and most of them will share it gladly.

W
HERE
: 10 miles west of Los Angeles.
Visitor info:
Tel 800-345-2210 or 310-248-1015;
www.lovebeverlyhills.org
.
T
ROLLEY
T
OURS
: Tel 310-285-2438;
www.beverlyhills.org
.
G
REYSTONE
P
ARK
: Tel 310-550-4654.
M
USEUM OF
T
ELEVISION AND
R
ADIO
:
Tel 310-786-1000;
www.mtr.org
.
When:
closed Mon–Tues.
N
ATE
& A
L’S
: Tel 310-274-0101.
Cost:
lunch $20.
B
EST TIME
: May for blooming jacaranda trees.

Along El Camino Real

California

On July 16, 1769, Father Junipero Serra, accompanied by a scraggly, depleted band of Spanish soldiers and missionaries, erected a brushwood shelter and founded the Mission San Diego de Alcala. It was the first of
21 Franciscan missions established along the coastal route dubbed El Camino Real (Spanish for “The Royal Road”), extending from what we now know as San Diego north to Sonoma. Combining spiritual and military ends, these outposts, designed to convert and conquer the natives, are a cornerstone of California history, culture, and architecture. They are considered among the most beautiful buildings in the state and some of the most historically significant in the country. Father Serra, who personally established nine of the missions, died in 1784 at Mission San Carlos Borromeo in Carmel and is buried beneath the sanctuary floor (see p. 810).

If you’re considering paying a visit to some of the missions, you’ll have to make some tough choices, since virtually all of them hold individual appeal. The mission in Santa Barbara (see p. 854), with its distinctive twin bell towers, was founded in 1786. Though earthquakes destroyed the original towers and the present church dates only from 1820, it’s still a must-see. Carmel’s San Carlos Borromeo dates back to 1771 and was home to the first library in California; it was visited in 1987 by Pope John Paul II, who came to beatify Father Serra. It’s hard to pass up the stunning mission in San Juan Capistrano, which is equally famous for the migrating swallows that return annually to build their mud nests around March 19 (St. Joseph’s feast day). Mission San Buenaventura, which is located in Ventura, between Los Angeles and Santa Barbara, still looks largely the way it did when it was constructed, between 1792 and 1809.

The Mission at Santa Barbara was the 10th of the California missions established by the Spanish Franciscans.

W
HERE
: from San Diego to Sonoma;
www.missionsofcalifornia.org
.
S
ANTA
B
ARBARA
M
ISSION
: Tel 805-682-4713;
www.sbmission.org
.
S
AN
C
ARLOS
B
ORROMEO
: Carmel. Tel 831-624-1271;
www.carmelmission.org
.
M
ISSION
S
AN
J
UAN
C
APISTRANO
: San Juan Capistrano. Tel 949-234-1300;
www.missionsjc.org
.
S
AN
B
UENAVENTURA
M
ISSION
: Ventura. Tel 805-643-4318;
www.sanbuenaventuramission.org
.
B
EST TIMES
: at Mission San Juan Capistrano, mid-Mar for migrating swallows; Sat evenings June–Sept for Music Under the Stars summer concerts; early Dec for the Christmas celebration.

Rafting the American, Yuba, and Kern Rivers

California

Spilling down the western slope of the Sierra Nevada at breakneck pace, the American, Yuba, and Kern rivers offer some of the most exhilarating whitewater rafting anywhere in the world. The sheer slope of the
mountains translates into wild rides through Class III, IV, and V rapids, with lots of rocks to dodge and narrow channels to pass through. Guided trips (recommended for all but the most highly experienced rafters) of five or six people promise you and your boatmates an emotional journey through the tumultuous rapids that can take you from fear to profound joy in just a few hours.

Three hours east of San Francisco, the American is the easiest of the three rivers despite its big, crashing, roller-coaster waves. The boulder-strewn South Fork (also known as Gold Rush River) is the most famous and most popular of the river’s three forks, a Class III intermediate river that can truly exhilarate with its sheer drops at Troublemaker and Satan’s Cesspool. More skilled or adventurous rafters can run the North and Middle forks of the American, which traverse the steeper mountains at higher elevations with many Class IV rapids. Farther north is the more demanding Yuba River, a Class IV+ run where you’re either in a rapid or on the brink of one the entire day. The Lower section is doable for the adventurous first-timer, though beware the aptly named Maytag, a steep set of rapids that can flip you around (or be bypassed on foot). The upper Yuba, a Class V gauntlet of churning white water and steep drops, is for white-water veterans only.

At the southern end of the Sierra Nevada range is the Kern River, one of the nation’s “Wild and Scenic Rivers” (an official designation for the country’s most beautiful undammed rivers). This jewel runs 60 miles through the heart of Sequoia National Forest, offering everything from mild waves to wild rides. Most popular is the two-day trip on the Lower Kern, which tumbles inside a narrow granite canyon through a series of adrenaline-pumping Class IV rapids. During late spring and early summer, the Upper Kern offers a heart-stopping series of four rapids that takes only a couple of hours. Another two- or three-day trip down the Forks of the Kern, one of America’s most challenging and starkly beautiful rivers, hurtles through some of the steepest and most frightening rapids one could ever hope to survive. Last but certainly not least, the Tuolumne and Merced rivers near Yosemite (see p. 862) combine the thrills of California’s white water and the scenic beauty of the state’s river canyons.

W
HERE
: The put-in for the South Fork American is 40 miles east of Sacramento; the Yuba is 210 miles northeast of San Francisco; and the Kern is 153 miles northeast of Los Angeles.
H
OW
: Whitewater Voyages (tel 800-400-7238 or 510-222-5994;
www.whitewatervoyages.com
) for the American, Kern, Merced, Tuolumne, and Yuba. Kern River Outfitters (tel 800-323-4234 or 760-376-3370;
www.kernrafting.com
) for the Kern only.
Cost:
1-day trips on the American from $109, 1-day on the Yuba from $139; 2-day Lower Kern trips from $309.
When:
Apr–Oct.
B
EST TIMES
: May–June, when water is high and crowds are low. Avoid busy weekends on the South Fork American.

From Boomtowns to Jumping Frogs

California

The discovery of gold at Sutter’s Mill on the American River in 1848 set in motion the greatest migration of people in the Western hemisphere and shaped the history of the soon-to-be state of California. By 1849, news had
reached the East Coast that there was gold in the foothills of California’s Sierra Nevada, and the Gold Rush was on. Almost overnight, dozens of Wild West towns—complete with saloons, bordellos, and general stores—sprang up throughout Gold Country, sending the state’s population soaring from 15,000 to more than 265,000 within three years.

The best starting point is the place where that first nugget was found, at Marshall Gold Discovery Historic Park. Located on the South Fork of the American River near Coloma, the park features a realistic replica of Sutter’s sawmill and the chance to rent equipment for some do-it-yourself panning. Nearby is the town of Placerville, called “Hangtown” in the early 1850s for its definitive form of justice. Over in Calaveras County is the once rough-and-tumble town of Angels Camp, made famous by Mark Twain’s short story “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County.” Bronze frogs are embedded in the sidewalk, a frog-jump contest is held the third weekend in May, and Mark Twain Days are celebrated over the July Fourth weekend.