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: This is the first in a three-part series on interesting and fun things to do within a mile of United States Highway 101. It originally appeared in California magazine (in Europe, Asia and Oceania). This section begins in San Diego and travels to Los Angeles. Succeeding sections cover the Central Coast and North Coast.

 In 1769, Fr. Junipero Serra needed a wagon road to connect his mission churches, so with the establishment of Mission San Diego de Alcalá, his first in California, he also constructed California’s first highway. The road began humbly, but eventually strode 600 miles (966 km) connecting California’s 21 missions from San Diego north to Sonoma. The Spanish called the road a “camino real,â€? a term then used to describe primitive wagon roads, which also translates to “King’s Highway.â€?  For nearly two centuries this royal road, known officially as U.S. Highway 101, was the principal north-south route in California.Â

With the opening of the super highway Interstate 5 in the late 1960s, most of U.S. 101 was bypassed or assigned to other highways, leaving much of the original route lightly affected by California’s explosive growth. Because of this, Historic U.S. 101 is the route to take for those who’d like to see California much as it was during its first 150 years as a state. Although much of the south coast California portion of Historic U.S. 101 isn’t identified on California maps, just “connect the dotsâ€? between the California missions and look for roads named Camino or Coast Highway and you’ll likely be close to the original El Camino Real.Â

Within a mile of the old route are many historic and cultural treasures that make for entertaining diversions. This trip up “101 by 1â€? begins at Old Town San Diego State Historic Park (San Diego Avenue and Twiggs Street – Lat./Long.: 32.7542 / -117.1961). This was San Diego’s original downtown and as you enter the square, your senses are stimulated by the sounds of Spanish guitars and the spicy-sweet aromas of Mexican delicacies. Near several original adobe structures and the mission church that can be toured, old motels have been converted into a street scene reminiscent of early California with restaurants and shops featuring “South of the Borderâ€? dishes and goods so genuine that a visiting Mexican tourism official once complained to another about having to travel to San Diego in order to find an experience so authentic.

A must stop before you continue your trip up 101 is Sea World at San Diego’s Mission Bay. Within sight of Historic U.S. 101, this marine playground is surrounded by a necklace of resort hotels.  Sea World San Diego is where Shamu, a Killer Whale (Orca) performs in a million gallon (3.78 million liter) pool, much of which gets splashed onto the spectators in the 5,500-seat arena.  The difference at Sea World San Diego is that sea life is shown at its most spectacular, with its creatures appearing almost jewel like.

Another gem in the area is La Jolla, Spanish for “the jewel.â€? Just like its name, La Jolla is studded with charms including many posh boutiques, tantalizing restaurants and zen-retreats like the Hotel Parisi, considered to be one of the top 20 small hotels in America. Beyond La Jolla is the virginal beauty of Torrey Pines State Park Reserve and Black’s Beach above which paragliders soar like seagulls above the ocean spray.Â

Cultural jewels decorate the South Coast Highway, too. One of them is the La Jolla Playhouse, a regional theater with a national reputation (2910 La Jolla Village Dr.). Founded by Gregory Peck, Dorothy McGuire and Mel Ferrer, the Playhouse is where Tony Award-winning plays and stars are born. The renowned Birch Aquarium at the Scripps Institute of Oceanography is one of San Diego County’s many prestigious scientific institutions. There, you can explore the Hall of Fishes or Hall of Oceanography, perusing exhibits and aquaria or venture into the ocean for guided snorkel and kayak trips. For a nature experience closer to shore, head to Seal Beach (Seal Beach Blvd. and Pacific Coast Highway) where, from the heights of a protected breakwater, you can watch the seals as they lounge and play in an aquamarine cove.

Continuing north, you reach Del Mar and its venerable Thoroughbred Club, which was founded by Bing Crosby and several Hollywood friends to indulge their passion to race horses by the sea. The racing still occurs each July to September. For a taste of the town’s favorite neighborhood restaurant, stop at Sbicca (215 15th St.) known for its fine wine list and new American bistro dishes or its sister restaurant, Meritage, on Historic Route 101 in Encinitas.

The refined tastes of the south coast are exemplified in Solana Beach, well known for its public art. Along its streets, you’ll find such notable works as “Starâ€? by internationally acclaimed modern artist Niki de Saint-Phalle (105 Cedros Ave.). One has to wonder though how an area best known for betting on ponies also became so committed to fine art. Perhaps it was the influence of The King’s Highway, as near U.S. 101 – along its entire length – are found several arts colonies and communities including Encinitas, Santa Barbara, Sausalito, Ukiah and Eureka… In Solana Beach, the Cedros Design District of brightly painted industrial buildings has attracted a vibrant community of merchants, fashion designers, importers and craftsmen. For a taste of the district, enjoy a salad of fresh greens with caramelized walnuts, blue cheese and balsamic vinaigrette at the Wild Note Café or belly up to the Belly-Up Tavern to hear some of America’s finest rock performances at what Rolling Stone magazine has called one of the hottest clubs on the West Coast.Â

It seems almost a civic obligation in California to attach superlatives like that to one’s business or community. Near U.S. 101, you’ll pass towns that call themselves the Avocado Capital of the World (Fallbrook), Garlic Capital of the World (Gilroy), the Lettuce Capital of the World (Salinas), The Artichoke Capital of the World (Castroville ), Broccoli Capital of the World (Greenfield), Flower Seed Capital of the World (Lompoc), Strawberry Capital of the World (Oxnard), Pear Capital of the World (Kelseyville) and Lily Capital of the World (Smith River), because they lead in production of those crops.

Encinitas, further north on U.S. 101, has a split personality. This quintessential beach town can’t decide whether to call itself the “surf capital of the worldâ€? or the “flower capital of the world.â€? Made famous by the Beach Boys’ hit song, “Sufin’ USA,â€? Encinitas’ Swami Beach is one of San Diego County’s prime surf spots. The town is so surf-conscious that it has even intalled distinctive road signs warning of surfer crossings. Yet, Encinitas’ salt air is also perfumed with the floral scents of many flowers that are grown there. A good place to see rare plants is at the Quail Botanical Gardens (230 Quail Gardens Drive) where endangered species from around the world are cultivated on 30 acres, including the largest bamboo plantation in the United States.Â

Flower lovers are also drawn to Carlsbad where from early March to early May they walk among nearly 50 acres of flowering Giant Tecolote Ranunculus that grow in spectacular crimson, yellow, white, orange, purple and burgundy bands across rolling hills set between the highway and Legoland California, a 128-acre theme park based on the creative play provided by Lego toys.

Carlsbad has been attracting attention since the late 1800s when former sea captain John Frazier dug a well and discovered mineral water very similar to the world-famous Karlsbad-Bohemia resort. The cool sips of mineral water that Frasier offered to thirsty train passengers soon became known for their healing properties. Within three years a 100-room hotel was built and touted as “the greatest seaside sanatorium on the Pacific coast–blessed with mineral wells which effect astonishing cures in remarkably brief periods.” While astonishing cures are no longer promised, astonishing relief from life’s stresses is found at three famous area spas: the Chopra Center at the La Costa Resort and Spa, the Four Seasons Aviara Resort, and the original Carlsbad Mineral Water Spa.

As you continue north along Historic U.S. 101 look for distinctive mission bells beside the road. They were first erected in 1906 to mark the route of the original El Camino Real. Some 400 bells were installed, with 600 planned… one for every mile along the route. Over the years, many of the mission bells have disappeared, though one stands in front of Mission San Luis Rey in Oceanside. This mission earned the nickname “King of Missions,� for being the largest in California.

California architecture is a mix of periods and styles, from the graceful white adobe walls and red Spanish tile roofs of the missions, to whimsical space-age themed 1960s “googie� architecture. A classic example of Jetsonesque design is found at the Star Theater in Oceanside where live performances are still presented (402 N Coast Hwy). Another don’t-miss establishment typical of the highway is the 101 Café (631 S. Coast Hwy) that began as a 20-seat diner in 1928; it still serves breakfast all day to locals and road-weary travelers who enjoy an immediate sense of shared experience.

The same sense of community binds San Clemente, one of the picture-perfect places along the California coast. Each shop here is an original, packaged within Spanish Colonial Revival-styled structures that give the village a welcoming atmosphere. This is a perfect place to stroll the beach, as President Richard Nixon often did when he would stay at Casa Pacifica, his Western White House. Though, the residential jewel of San Clemente is Casa Romantica, a Spanish Colonial Revival classic that was completed in 1928 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Homes.

From San Clemente, the El Camino Real bends inward following I-5 to downtown Los Angeles. This section of the road enters Southern California’s vast suburban landscape, though it travels past enclaves of California’s past, such as the fabled and beautiful mission of San Juan Capistrano whose swallows magically return each year on St. Joseph’s day, March 19. Mission San Juan Capistrano typifies classic California Spanish Colonial architecture. Its bronze bells, suspended within arches, call villagers to prayer in what is one of California’s most elaborately decorated mission churches, while a riot of magenta Bougainvillea blossoms embrace the mission’s ancient walls.

San Clemente is timeless, while Los Angeles – the last stop on a tour up 101 along the south coast – is a leap forward in time. Only on Olvera Street in downtown Los Angeles can the City of Angels’ origins as a humble and tiny pueblo be seen. Immediately east of downtown L.A., 27 historic structures dating from 1818 to 1930 are preserved. A colorful street market, shops, galleries and restaurants are alive with the vibrant tapestry and talents of Los Angelenos.

Not far from this part of old Los Angeles, the high rises of the new Los Angeles soar alongside performances at the luminescent Frank Gehry-designed Walt Disney Concert Hall, its silvery walls fluttering like sheet music in a Pacific breeze. Beneath downtown L.A., sleek Metro cars speed visitors to Hollywood Boulevard where they can find the star of their favorite celebrity among 2000 that line the boulevard, walk on the stage at the Kodak Theater where Oscars are presented, purchase a Hollywood collectible at the Larry Edmunds Book Store (6644 Hollywood Blvd.), or match their hand prints to those of celebrities that have been impressed on the concrete sidewalk in front of Grauman’s Chinese Theater (6925 Hollywood Blvd.).

Beyond Los Angeles, Historic U.S. 101 continues north 750 miles to the Oregon border.  It passes through sweetly scented citrus groves, fruit-laden vineyards, Spanish-influenced towns and modern cities, over rolling grassy oak-populated hills and past towering forests of fog-shrouded Redwood trees before leaving California at Smith River.Â

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.

Belly Up Tavern – www.bellyup.com
Birch Aquarium – www.aquarium.ucsd.edu
California Missions – www.missiontour.org
California Missions Foundation – www.missionsofcalifornia.org
Carlsbad – www.carlsbadca.org
Cedros Design District – www.cedrosdesigndistrict.com
El Camino Real – http://missiontour.org/related/elcaminoreal.htm
Encinitas – www.encinitaschamber.com
Encinitas MainStreet Association www.encinitas101.com/
Highway 101 Association www.drivethe101.com
Hollywood Tourism – www.visithollywood.org
Hollywood Walk of Fame – www.hollywoodchamber.net
La Jolla Playhouse – www.lajollaplayhouse.com
Legoland California – www.lego.com/legoland/california
Los Angeles Tourism – www.lacvb.com
Mission Bells – http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/paffairs/faq/faq62.htm
Mission San Juan Capistrano – www.missionsjc.com
Oceanside – www.oceansidechamber.com/
Old Town San Diego SHP – www.parks.ca.gov/default.asp?page_id=663
Paragliding – www.flytorrey.com
Quail Botanical Gardens – www.qbgardens.com
San Diego North Tourism – www.sandiegonorth.com
San Diego Tourism – www.sandiego.org
Sea World San Diego – www.seaworld.com/seaworld/ca
Solana Beach – www.solanabeachchamber.com
The Flower Fields – www.theflowerfields.com
Torrey Pines State Park Reserve – www.torreypine.org
Walt Disney Concert Hall – www.musiccenter.org