Nestled between the Pacific Ocean and Santa Ynez Mountains, charming Santa Barbara exemplifies the Mediterranean lifestyle to the degree that it's often referred to as the “American Riviera.” Santa Barbara is the ultimate seaside town ...
A few Saturdays ago, I spent some quality time in Los Angeles for a Dodgers game in Echo Park. I’d hadn’t been to one of their games in quite some time, but with my friend ...
"Keep close to Nature’s heart... and break clear away, once in a while, and climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods. Wash your spirit clean." ~ John Muir Ah, now I understand ...
The Mitchell Caverns are not as large as those at Carlsbad, New Mexico, or as well known — but are local, every bit as dramatic, and come complete with a history made for movies. I ...
While hundreds of San Diegan anglers wait for the April 29 trout opener in the mountain lakes of the Eastern Sierra, Big Bear Lake, in the nearby San Bernardino Mountains, is producing some large, high ...
A chance meeting in the desert provided answers on the requirements for becoming an official at a major professional tennis tournament, like the one at Indian Wells. Just a 2.5-hour drive from San Diego, the ...
If you're like me, you dread driving through any part of Los Angeles when heading north by road. Having driven different routes at varying times on several days of the week, I’ve found it will ...
I typically love the sea, sun and sand. Interestingly though, not all the sands I’m drawn to lie in coastal regions. In fact, most of the sand on Earth is stacked in massive piles in ...
Author Zane Grey said, "In Altadena I have found those qualities that make life worth living." Walking down Mariposa Street, “Millionaire’s Row,” where Grey’s home still stands – past the oversized craftsman-style bungalows and through ...
We didn’t have anything like this in Chicago. We didn’t have a jutting piece of terrain you could drive out on, pull your car off the road wherever you felt like it, and set up ...
You want to go wine tasting. You’re craving somewhere one notch up from Temecula, but closer than Napa. Enter Santa Barbara wine country: a quick four-hour drive along scenic Southern California coastline to the Santa ...
My boots grate loudly over the gravel as I shuffle onto my crinkly tarp. After manhandling spare clothing into a fussy Sea to Summit stuff sack, I rustle into my Kelty down sleeping bag. With ...
Crunching fish bones. Foul-smelling water. Skin-scorching sun. It may not sound like an enticing adventure, but in fact one of the most interesting and unexpected getaways to be found in Southern California is a day ...
Just two hours north of San Diego, nature and art commingle: Idyllwild is a quick mountain getaway for those of us in low-lying Southern California cities, but also a haven for artisans who want to ...
There are few things as graceless as someone begging for help with pure and unbridled fear in their eyes. Which about sums up my position at Indian Cove Campground during the waning hours of a ...