California Vacation Idea
Vacation Ideas

Carmel-By-The-Sea, California is a picturesque and beautiful place to vacation. This small seaside town has banned streetlights, franchise and billboards in an effort to keep the town as it was in years gone by. There’s a lovely pet-friendly beach and the area just begs you to engage in a walking tour. There are a number of top quality art galleries to explore.

Mission Trail Park is 35 acres of tree-lined trails, footbridges and native plants. In July you can enjoy the Carmel Bach Festival which is a month-long celebration of concerts for the serious music lovers.

Some people consider the waters off of Dana Point to be the whale watching capital of the world. As a visitor you can get your share by catching a ride on one of the whale watching tours or take the ferry over to the well-known tourist attraction, Catalina Island.

Our room overlooked the marina with a beautiful skyline. There were several different mini golf courses, not to mention, the outside pools. One of the pools specifically caught my eye...it was a replica of a real working beach! The waters were crystal clear with actual functioning waves and the sand was like white diamonds. This was one of the most relaxing vacations I've ever been on and perfect kind of place to lose myself for a while.

There are various companies, such as Island Packers and Truth Aquatics that provide island boat tours, marine wildlife tours and whale watching tours. The Channel Islands provide a location for lots of activities. Bird watching and general wildlife viewing is superb here. For more active people you have a whole range of things to do here like kayaking, scuba diving, snorkeling, and island hiking.

There are five main islands – Anacapa, Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa, San Miguel and Santa Barbara. For you campers, all five islands allow camping, but be aware that this is primitive camping.

But over the years grapevines have grown and changed the countryside into a wonderful landscape of wineries. The town of Paso Robles itself is a trip back in time with historic buildings and an art haven for painters and artisans. As for wineries, you can drive the back roads from winery to winery and have a wonderfully relaxed time exploring the rural countryside. You may want time your visit with the yearly events in the area.

In March there’s the Zinfandel Festival, in May the Wine festival and in October there’s the Harvest Wine Affair. Some of the major wineries in the Paso Robles area are the EOS Estate Winery at Arciero Vineyards, the Justin Vineyards & Winery, Meridan Vinyards, Tobin James Cellars, and York Mountain Winery.

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