California

Pros: Great natural beauty!
Cons: Well, it's California so there's always the traffic issue!

Although I recently moved out of California to escape the hustle and bustle, I do consider it an awesome state to visit, with great natural beauty and many scenic getaways that won't break your travel budget. In the 15 years I lived there I had the ...

Pros: Lots to see and do for all ages
Cons: Ever expanding urban terrain is sometimes overwhelming

Having grown up in Southern California, it is a place close to my heart, although every time I go back to visit, it becomes more foreign to me, with all of the growth and expansion happening every day. ...

Pros: yummy sights and smells!
Cons: none!

Believe it or not! It's true!

This sleepy little town, in the middle of California is the Hershey Chocolate Factory of the west! We discovered it on our vacation driving through the San Joaquin Valley of Central California!

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Pros: Great weather! Lovely plants!
Cons: High crime rate, felt subhuman at times. Earthquakes! Smog!

California is where I was born. I grew up less than 5 miles from Watts, the area with the riots in the 1960s. Shortly before they happened, we moved to a Hispanic neighborhood, Pico Rivera.

This review is not meant to be review on what to do...

Pros: Wine, wine, wine, and food, food, food, and a smattering of art. Great views, too.
Cons: Scary drive on Pacific Coast Highway. Better to be a passenger.

Three days in San Francisco first. Rain, rain, rain. Disappointing, but the Golden Gate Bridge is still orange. Fisherman's Wharf is still touristy. But the dim sum! The dim is the sum of its parts! Yank Sing is where to have it.

And...

Pros: best atmosphere, great food, affordable brunch
Cons: more tourists in our cozy town :-(

I live in Capitola, Santa Cruz County, at the Pacific Ocean, Southwest of the Silicon Valley. Anybody visiting me from out-of-town had to endure a visit to Shadowbrook's with me.. when I came here 2 years ago to talk to my - at that time potential -...

Pros: Carine's Italian Seafood Grotto , The Hi-Sea Inn
Cons: Denny's in Ft Bragg

The last time I was in Ft. Bragg, CA I was a teenager, my whole life ahead of me. I remember looking out over the ocean wishing to grow up as fast as I could. We spent our vacation last week in Ft. Bragg. This time I stared out over the...

Pros: Even the boring scenery is pretty... so many things to see
Cons: You might get tired... hot... sunburned

California has everything, if you want it, just look for it, and you'll probably find it.
If you like humanity, find a huge city. If you like solitude, find the open expanses between the cities.
Natural beauty abounds: blue-green oceans,...

Pros: Great wine, friendly people
Cons: Not as glamorous as other wine areas

Just 30 minutes south of Sacramento and 90 minutes east of San Francisco is the grape growing region of Lodi. Many people are only familiar with this town and area because of an old Creedence Clearwater song penned in the 1970's. However, vintners know ...

Pros: friendly family atmosphere, nice parks, convenient access to popular tourist spots, good weather year round
Cons: High cost of living, homeowners association restrictions

Pros: Sybaritic pleasures, beautiful grounds, a world removed from modern urban life.
Cons: The cons are like, mellow.

There's a zen koan, or if not, there probably should be, about relinquishing the giving of advice and (not being a zen master I can only risk a guess) teaching obliquely, by example. The wording of the several categories in which I nearly posted this...

Pros: Great Show
Cons: None

“Welcome one and all to a night of feast and show unlike any you have ever seen.” You may remember this line or something similar to it from Jim Carrey’s movie “The Cable Guy” preceding probably one of the funniest scenes I have ever witnessed in a...

Pros: Unbelievable Photo Opportunities
Cons: None

My brother spent two or three years working for Heavenly Valley Ski Resort in Lake Tahoe affording me the opportunity to join him for a few days of incredible skiing one year that I have never forgotten. Heavenly isn’t just a name, it is a feeling one...

Pros: very scenic; varied scenery
Cons: not the quickest way to get from here to there

California’s “Lost Coast” encompasses some of the most impressive scenery and friendliest towns in the state. We followed Highway 101 for about 250 miles, from Geyserville to Crescent City, passing through California’s wine region, along the northern...

Pros: Great Place To Be
Cons: None

The Boardroom Bar in Encinitas isn’t exactly what you would call a hot spot for nighttime activity in this sleepy little beachfront community that I call home. It is however one of my favorite bars to go to when I want to have a cold beer, shoot some...