The seasonal show of fall color in California is not limited to falling leaves.  Every autumn, beautiful orange and black Monarch butterflies return to the Monterey Bay area to mate.  One of the best places to see the display is at Natural Bridges State Beach in Santa Cruz.  Jodi Apelt of the California State Parks reports that on every Saturday and Sunday at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. through Feb. 14 (or until the migratory Monarchs depart), Monarch Butterfly Tours will occur.  Natural Bridges is located at the end of West Cliff Drive.   To know that the Monarchs are there when you plan to visit, call (831) 423-4609 in advance.

Monarch Butterfly (1/16/06)

Other colorful California State parks fall events in the Santa Cruz area include a program on Mushrooms of the Santa Cruz Mountains, Nov. 7 from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. at Ranche del Oso Nature and History Center near Waddell Creek Bridge (16 mi. north of Santa Cruz off CA-1).  A mushroom taxonomist will describe where to find them, how to be sure they’re “the right ones,” and tips on gourmet preparation of wild mushrooms.

On the Sunday of the Thanksgiving Day Weekend (Nov. 29), a “Creeping Forest Ramble” will leave at noon from Park Headquarters at Big Basin Redwoods State Park.  Docent Doreen Devorah will lead a three-hour, 2.5 mi hike up and down the “creeping” terrain, along creeks, through fire-scarred redwoods and over log bridges.   Bring water, a snack and good hiking shoes.

Photo Credit: © 2006, John Poimiroo

What goes best with wine? Ask Californians and they’re likely to say, “golf.�

Just about anywhere you travel here, you’ll find two things in common… golf and wine, as California’s sun-kissed climate has made “The Golden Stateâ€? the ideal place to experience grapes and “birdies.â€? For every golf course in the state, there’s a commercial winery – about 800 of each – and all are worth tasting.Â

North of San Francisco lie the famous wine growing regions of Sonoma and Napa Counties. Rodney Strong, Jordan, Ferrari-Carano, Mondavi, Cakebread and Heitz are among the names of viticultural baronies found along Sonoma and Napa county roads. Their wineries, aging cellars and tasting rooms are impressive grand chateaus, aerie lookouts and surrealistic structures that that overlook a landscape scribed with rows of vineyards and lined with fairways.

Start your California golf and wine sojourn by visiting the California Welcome Center in Rohnert Park. The connection between California wine and golf is immediately evident adjacent to the Center at the 36-hole Mountain Shadows Golf Course and nearby Matanzas Creek winery, with its impressive gardens. One of the oldest wineries in California, Gundlach-Bundschu, is a 3-wood drive from Sonoma Golf Club, once declared “near perfectâ€? by golf legend Bobby Jones. And for a true California twist, sip California sparkling wine at the Korbel Champagne Cellars, then tee off through towering redwood trees at Northwood, an executive course designed by Alistair Mackenzie of Augusta National fame.Â

Four major “wine courses,� are found in the Napa Valley. Chardonnay Golf Club, across from the newly completed Kirkland Ranch winery, has the highest rated 36 holes in the region. Vineyards actually encroach upon Chardonnay’s greens. Or is it the other way around? Further up the Valley in the Atlas Peak wine-growing district is Napa’s preeminent golf resort, Silverado, with 36 holes that host the Senior PGA Transamerica Tournament, each October. Chimney Rock, off the Silverado Trail, is the only Napa Valley golf course actually on the property of a winery. If golf, wine and fine dining are appealing, drive over to the new Yountville Golf Club, then dine in one of Yountville’s exceptional restaurants.

Most San Francisco visitors think the wine country exists only to the north, but there’s actually much larger appellations east and south of San Francisco. Beyond the east hills is the vast Central Valley where most of California’s grapes are cultivated. The Lodi-Woodbridge region is its premiere appellation. Cool evening breezes off the Sacramento River Delta and hot days create a microclimate here that’s ideal for growing grapes and apparently for golf, too, as San Francisco Chronicle readers once rated the Dry Creek Ranch Golf Course in nearby Galt as the best public golf course in Northern California.Â

California’s Gold Country along the foothills of the Sierra Nevada gained fame for the gold rush of 1849, but today the region is gaining new reputation for its red wines and ports. In Murphy’s close to where Mark Twain wrote the Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County, Ironstone Vineyards is winning awards for its library of best-selling wines, though its impressive seven-story winery and entertainment complex modeled after a 19th-century gold stamp mill is equally impressive with 10,000 square feet of caves, spectacular gardens that bloom with tens of thousands of brightly colored daffodils in springtime, a gold rush museum, and the world’s largest goldleaf nugget, a 44-pound crystalline beauty that’s housed in a special vault.

Minutes away in Angel’s Camp is Greenhorn Creek, a Robert Trent Jones Jr. “lay of the land� course that meanders through foothills and is decorated with historical artifacts from the gold rush era. Five historic gold mines are on the property, though most golfers strike it rich on the course’s signature sixth hole, a 210-yard par 3 to a peninsula green surrounded by water on three sides. But don’t let your gold country golf tour stop here, additional courses and wineries are located in Mariposa, Sonora, Amador and El Dorado Counties. Favorites are the challenging Pine Mountain Lake Golf Club near Groveland on Hwy 120 and the Wawona Golf Course in Yosemite National Park.

Southeast of Oakland in the Livermore Valley is the stunning, Greg Norman-designed, 18-hole Wente Golf Club that winds through working vineyards and beautiful foothill canyons. And, San José, at the southern end of San Francisco Bay though better-known today as the capital of Silicon Valley, features 18 fine wineries, including J. Lohr, Mirassou and Byington.Â

Several resort and public courses, including Jack Nicklaus’ 36-hole Coyote Creek Golf Club in Morgan Hill make one wonder what keeps those Silicon Valley tycoons in their offices and not out on a fairway. It’s even more perplexing when one realizes that Francis Duane and Arnold Palmer’s Link Course and Arthur Hills’ Ocean Course on the edge of the Pacific at Half Moon Bay are just minutes away, both among the most highly rated public courses in the U.S.

However, the granddaddy of all California public courses is, of course, the Pebble Beach Golf Links on the Monterey Peninsula. At $4755 per round, plus a cart at $25 per person, Pebble Beach may be public, but playing this great course, home to the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, comes at a price. Less expensive alternatives to experiencing a Monterey Peninsula ocean course vary from the Links at Spanish Bay (at $250 + $25 cart) to the very affordable Pacific Grove Municipal Golf Links which is only $35 midweek and $40 on weekends. This gem of a municipal course has sweeping views of the Pacific from several of its holes. Two challenging courses, Bayonnet and Black Horse, recently opened to the public on the former Fort Ord military post, priced from $57 to $128.Â

Of course, with 18 great golf courses on the Monterey Peninsula and in the Carmel Valley (not all are open to the public), you may not have time to taste the area’s great wines and that would be worse than a double bogey, as with 30 wineries covering 40,000 acres, Monterey County has as much wine growing country as Napa, Burgundy and Bordeaux combined! That’s a lot of wine tasting possibilities, so you might want to begin in the Carmel Valley where six boutique wineries are within a short drive of the Rancho Canada, Quail Lodge and Carmel Valley Ranch golf courses.

California’s Central Coast has two other great wine-growing regions. San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara Counties comprise California’s “Cote d’Azur� which produces some of the most buttery and classic of California Chardonnays from the Paso Robles, Edna Valley, Santa Maria and Santa Ynez appellations. Classic golf is found at Black Hills and Avila Beach in SLO County, while Santa Barbara boasts Robert Trent Jones, Jr.’s Rancho San Marcos Golf Course and the secluded River Course at The Alisal in Solvang.

Southern California also has its wine country. Temecula in the Inland Empire, to the southeast of Los Angeles, is Southern California’s most prominent wine-growing district, with the Ted Robinson and Dick Rossen-designed Temecula Creek Inn Golf Resort and Ron Fream’s Redhawk Golf Club among the area’s most prominent courses. Thirteen wineries flourish here in a perfect balance of geography, microclimate and well-drained soil.  Just like Southern California’s famous golf courses, its wines are surprisingly complex, influenced by respected winemakers. There’s even a Callaway in Temecula’s bag of wineries.Â

Speaking of Callaway, the famous golf club manufacturer is located nearby in northern San Diego County not far from the prestigious Four Seasons Aviara, La Costa and Rancho Bernardo golf resorts and not far from several great wineries including Orfila Vineyards, known for its Merlots. With 25% of the world’s golf manufacturers based here, San Diego County has the largest concentration of golf manufacturers in the world. Could the 90 diverse courses to be played in San Diego County be the reason they’ve located here? Perhaps its San Diego’s legendary weather with average daily temperatures at 70.5 F/ 21.4 C, or its seemingly endless sunny days. Â

No, it must be California wines that have attracted them, as nothing seems to go better with golf in California, than wine.

Author’s note: United States Highway 101 is one of the nation’s oldest and most historic roads. In the late 1700s, California settlers started a royal highway that would eventually link 21 mission churches and travel 905 miles (1457 km) from Baja to Oregon. In the Summer 2005 edition of California, we explored the route from San Diego to Los Angeles. This, the second in a three-part series, describes the central, 383 mile- (616 km) section of the El Camino Real between Los Angeles and San Francisco. Within a mile of it are some of California’s most storied locations.Â

As U.S. 101 travels north from the sprawling city of Los Angeles, one senses the excitement that Fr. Junipero Serra and his missionaries must have experienced in 1769 as they blazed this route to settle California.Â

Unlike Interstate 5, the state’s principal north/south commercial route which was carved from the landscape in great swaths, U.S. 101 hugs the terrain much as the native foot paths it followed must have. Motorists on 101 don’t pass by towns, they pass through them at a pace that invites exploration. Many of the towns along the way haven’t changed much over the years. So, for travelers seeking California as it was, taking the road less traveled means driving central U.S. 101.

As the Ventura Highway (one of several names given U.S. 101) approaches Ventura, the best preserved example of California’s primordial landscape is seen 14 miles offshore on the Channel Islands. These eight, large islands, reached by boat from Ventura and Oxnard, are the “American Galapagos,� populated by 2000 species of plants and animals, many of which are found nowhere else on Earth. The Channel Islands provide untrammeled refreshment and recreation that is timeless.

As timeless as the Channel Islands is the tiny community of Carpinteria. Old fences weather gracefully in the sea air, while garden flowers and herbs sprout near well-tended, well-loved homes. The Carpinteria Salt Marsh is a micro-glimpse of how the coast appeared when industrious Chumash Indians made tomols (sea canoes).

Though only minutes up U.S. 101 from low-key Carpinteria, Santa Barbara is a world apart. Much like France’s Cote d’Azure in landscape, climate and culture, this “American Rivieraâ€? provides a paradisiacal setting of the purple-hued Santa Ynez Mountains rising behind sun-drenched, south-facing beaches. This is so precious a place, that Santa Barbarans began protecting it more than a hundred years ago. Rigid regulations dictate that homes and public buildings adhere to the “Santa Barbara Styleâ€? of architecture, typified by white stucco or adobe walls, red tile roofs, and courtyards influenced by Spanish, Mediterranean and Morrocan design.Â

Santa Barbara’s downtown reflects this style with its pedestrian-friendly shops, many gardens and historic sites. Principal among the latter is Mission Santa Barbara, begun by Spanish friars in 1786 and rebuilt by Chumash Indians in 1815. Today, the well-worn tile floors confess the thousands of worshipers and travelers who have visited it. It is the only California mission to have been in continuous use since its founding. Many of the restored rooms and chapels include artifacts from the Spanish colonial era. Though visitors to Santa Barbara are as fascinated with the town’s near-history born of Hollywood.

Celebrities have long been attracted to Santa Barbara. It began in the 1920s, when Charlie Chaplin constructed the Spanish revival Montecito Inn to accommodate his Hollywood friends. Today, actor Kirk Douglas, singer Kenny Loggins, entertainer Michael Jackson, actor Tab Hunter and comic actor John Cleese are among many Hollywood celebrities who call Santa Barbara County their home. For guaranteed celebrity viewing, attend the Santa Barbara International Film Festival in February to catch a glimpse of such luminaries as Jeff Bridges, Kim Basinger, Johnny Depp, Kate Winslet, Dustin Hoffman, Mimi Rodgers or Martin Scorsese.

Occasionally, movie makers turn their cameras on Santa Barbara County, as they did with the recent release of the movie, Sideways. Before then, Santa Barbara’s vintners made great wines in relative obscurity, but that changed after the motion picture revealed a secret known by California wine enthusiasts… Santa Barbara County’s big, buttery chardonnays and complex pinot noirs. Now that the word is out, tour guides lead travelers to the Firestone, Fess Parker, Sanford, Kalyra and Foxen wineries seen in Sideways. We’ll let you in on another secret… there are 82 other great wineries yet to be filmed, here. It was in Buellton where the movie’s principle characters, Miles and Jack, stayed and ate at the Clubhouse Sports Bar, though even before the film, the town was better known as the hometown of Andersen’s Restaurant, famous for its split pea soup.Â

Food is important to Californians and no where is that more evident than up 101 in Santa Maria, home of California barbecue. Formal barbecuing began here in the mid 1800s when rancheros would gather each spring to brand calves. The host would prepare a barbecue to thank his vaqueros (America’s first cowboys).  Santa Maria Barbecue grew out of this tradition. Either a top block sirloin or the triangular-shaped bottom sirloin, known as “tri tip,” is rolled in a mixture of salt, pepper and garlic salt just before roasting. It is then barbecued over red oak coals, giving the meat a hearty, smoky flavor. Several restaurants along Main and Broadway Streets in Santa Maria serve barbecued dishes, particularly on Friday and Saturday afternoons. Just follow your nose.

If Santa Maria is old California, then Pismo Beach is classic. 23 miles of flat beach (much of which can be driven on by off-road vehicles) and eight miles of sand dunes within the Oceano Beach State Vehicular Recreation Area make the Pismo Beach area the extreme-fun capital of the Central Coast. Any mode of transportation needed to be part of the fun is rented in Pismo Beach: from ATVs, to dune buggies, to Hummers, to riding horses, to mountain bikes, to ocean kayaks, to motorcycles, to kite surfboards, to biplane rides, to paragliders, to scuba gear, to…

It wasn’t long ago that folks visited Pismo Beach for what didn’t make much noise… digging for Pismo’s famous clams, fishing from shore, building a sand castle, hiking along ocean cliffs, sun bathing, touring art galleries, appreciating a Pacific sunset or – with its average annual temperature of 72 degrees [22º C] – just enjoying Pismo’s temperate climate.

As reliable as are Pismo Beach’s conditions, you can count on there being a Farmer’s Market each Thursday night in downtown San Luis Obispo. From six to nine p.m. (except Thanksgiving Day), area farmers, ranchers and artists bring their best to America’s best farmer’s market, a long-running celebration that’s seasoned with the aromas of barbecued ribs and freshly picked flowers. And, if you can tear yourself away from the fascinating displays of locally grown luffa sponge gourds, stop by “TASTE,� a wine bar and tasting room operated by the San Luis Obispo Vintners to test its “Enomatic� system which dispenses samplings of up to 41 different wines at a time!

After all that wine, you’ll need a place to stay and “SLOtown� is the home of the world’s first “motel.�  The original Mo-tel Inn is being renovated by the nearby Apple Farm Inn, an indulgent Victorian gem on Monterey Street. San Luis Obispo has more than its share of one-of-a-kind places to stay, the most outlandish of which is the Madonna Inn. There, each room is themed in ostentatious fashion, from the American Beauty room with its rose theme to the Yosemite Rock room whose walls are granite monoliths.  Each of the 108 guest rooms, bakery, restaurants and shops at the Madonna Inn is outrageous, but none creates a bigger fuss than the men’s restroom which gets a steady stream of escorted giggling women who enter to view the urinal, a rock waterfall that’s activated when you, ahem, break a beam of light.

Another must stop, at the halfway point between L.A. and San Francisco, is Paso Robles, which was originally called Agua Caliente for its mineral baths to which 20th century railroad passengers traveled to soak in their “mystical and curative powers.� Amtrak’s Pacific Surfliner trains still stop in Paso, though their passengers are more likely to detrain to sample the area’s wines, than its hot baths.

Paso Robles has been making wines since 1797. It’s now California’s third-largest wine producing region. Yet, despite its size, the Paso Robles wine tasting experience remains personal. You might actually be served one of the region’s famous Zinfandels by one of its vintners or owners at any of Paso Robles’ more than 100 tasting rooms.Â

It’s that kind of welcoming, early California hospitality that makes the good life in Paso Robles as enduring as nearby San Miguel’s 1846-era Rios-Caledonia adobe and circa 1878 Estrella adobe church, off U.S. 101 at Mission St. Though made of the most fragile material (mud and straw bricks) and set upon a young land that is still growing, they are lovingly maintained, reflecting a brief period when Spanish colonial Dons and their ladies oversaw vast California ranchos.

Just off U.S. 101 north of Paso, the land looks much as it did 200 years ago. There you pass through Camp Roberts, an Army training facility whose museum tells the stories of the many infantry, tank and artillery units that trained there in World War II and the Korean War including actors Robert Mitchum, Van Heflin and Steve Reeves. You’ll see numerous tanks and displays of uniforms, historic photos and weapons.

Beyond Camp Roberts the highway travels northwest through the abundant Salinas Valley described by California novelist John Steinbeck in The Long Valley, East of Eden and others. On reaching Salinas, visit the Steinbeck Center with interactive exhibits and dioramas that retell Steinbeck’s accomplishments and bring his stories to life. Steinbeck would have demurred the elaborate attention given him here, as evidenced by what he said after winning the Nobel Prize, “This prize business is only different from the Lettuce Queen of Salinas in degree.�

Steinbeck’s similarly pungent descriptions of mid-20th century agricultural life resonate as you drive north along U.S. 101 past Mission San Juan Bautista and into the Santa Clara Valley where garlic perfumes the air. The strong scent declares your arrival in Gilroy, the self-proclaimed Garlic Capital of the World whose annual Garlic Festival draws hundreds of thousands to enjoy garlic-flavored delicacies, from calamari to ice cream. The nearby Bonfante Gardens family theme park even has a garlic themed children’s ride among many attractions set among fantastic topiaries, a greenhouse so massive that a train passes through it, spectacular floral displays, waterfalls, and the Circus Trees, bizarre sycamores that were grafted into shapes so bewildering that even the geniuses of Silicon Valley haven’t figured out how to duplicate them.

Silicon Valley begins here and flanks U.S. 101 north (50 mi/80 km) to Stanford University in Palo Alto. The business of the end of the valley has evolved over the years as landscaped industrial parks containing high tech engineering, design and manufacturing have replaced plum and apricot orchards. The highest number of high tech companies in the world is now concentrated here, generating equal concentrations of science and technology museums and sites. Among them, the Intel Museum (off U.S. 101 at Montague Expressway in Santa Clara) is the only one operated by a Silicon Valley high tech company. Computerized audio handsets, in seven languages, provide self-guided tours of brightly colored, interactive exhibits which describe how Intel silicon chips are made, how they function and how Intel technology has evolved.

Fortunes may be made in Silicon Valley, but they are spent on the San Francisco Peninsula, where tony communities have housed the region’s intellectual, commercial and cultural intelligencia, since the late 1800s. Polo grounds, riding stables and estate homes are hidden among the Peninsula’s wooded hills. Gentrified villages spur from 101 as the road nears its 400-mile journey to San Francisco. Travelers often speed past, not realizing that within a mile of the “Bayshore Freewayâ€? are many charming authentic villages, like Burlingame Avenue with its one-of-a-kind shops and excellent restaurants. But then, the stunning beauty of cosmopolitan San Francisco beckons. Glimpses of this glistening “City by the Bayâ€? are seen from U.S. 101 as it winds the last few miles through San Mateo County to San Francisco.Â

Many Californians drive the mother road in a day, though to truly appreciate its attractions, a week’s exploring would not be enough time. There are three parts of the route to explore: the south coast, central coast and north coast. This article only covered one of them, but each has different landscapes and diversions to be found within a mile of U.S. 101.

Linking 101 by 1
Visit these Web sites to find more information about traveling U.S. 101.

Andersen’s Restaurant – www.peasoupandersens.net
Apple Farm Inn – www.applefarm.com
Bonfante Gardens – www.bonfantegardens.com
Camp Roberts Museum – www.militarymuseum.org/CampRobertsMuseum.html
California Missions – www.californiamissions.com
Carpinteria – www.carpcofc.com
Channel Islands National Park – www.nps.gov/chis
Gilroy VB – www.gilroyvisitor.org Â
Gilroy Garlic Festival – www.gilroygarlicfestival.com
Intel Museum – www.intel.com/museum
Island Packers (boats to Channel Islands) – www.islandpackers.com
Madonna Inn – www.madonnainn.com
Mo-Tel Inn – www.historyinslocounty.com/Motel%20Inn.htm
Oxnard – www.oxnardtourism.com
John Steinbeck – www.steinbeck.org
Oceano Dunes – www.ohv.parks.ca.gov/default.asp?page_id=1207
Paso Robles – www.go2paso.com
Pismo Beach – www.classiccalifornia.com
San Francisco CVB – www.sfvisitor.org
San Luis Obispo County CVB – www.sanluisobispocounty.comÂ
San Luis Obispo County Wineries – www.slowine.com
San Mateo County CVB – www.sanmateocountycvb.com
Santa Barbara CVB – www.santabarbaraca.com
Santa Barbara County Vintners Association – www.sbcountywines.com
Santa Clara CVB – www.santaclara.org
Santa Maria Barbecue – www.santamaria.com/section_visitor/barbecue.html
Sideways Wine Tour Map – www.santabarbara.com/winecountry/images/sideways-tour-map.pdf
Tab Hunter – www.tabhunter.com
U.S. Highway 101 Web Site – gbcnet.com/ushighways/US101/index.html
Ventura CVB – www.ventura-usa.com
Ventura Highway Lyrics – www.kingbiscuit.com/america/song/song013.htm