A.M. Murrow

Some people plan road trips around beaches or national parks. Others plan them around a single steak. Across California, families pack the car, fill the tank, and drive for hours toward a small Central Coast town for one reason: a ribeye cooked over a red oak fire. The restaurant is not fancy, and it does […]

Two movies, one ticket, and your own car as the best seat in the house. That deal still exists in California, and it is easier to find than you might think. From the Bay Area to the Mojave Desert, a handful of drive-ins keep screening new releases on big outdoor screens, with sound coming through

Some towns look like they were built for a holiday movie set, and a few of them actually have the history to back it up. Tucked into the Sierra Nevada foothills, one small California city has spent generations holding onto its Gold Rush roots while quietly welcoming travelers who want a slower pace. Its main

California is famous for home prices that can make a grown adult sit down on the curb. But at the far southwestern edge of the San Joaquin Valley, a small foothill city keeps turning up in conversations about homes that still sell under $140,000. It has around 8,500 residents, a spot about 32 miles from

Every winter, the flat farm country north of Sacramento fills up with guests who never booked a room. They arrive by the thousands, dropping out of the sky onto shallow wetlands, and they bring their noisy relatives along. Out here, a bald eagle can be perched right beside a gravel road, and a jackrabbit might

Some of the best tacos in California do not come with tablecloths, reservations, or a fancy sign. They come on a paper-lined tray, straight from a busy counter on a long Oakland boulevard where the line starts forming soon after the doors open. People drive in from Livermore and San Jose just to eat here,

Most people have never wrapped their arms around a cow that weighs as much as a small car. In the hills north of Los Angeles, that is exactly what families, couples, and curious animal lovers line up to do. The cows here have learned to trust people again, and they seem happy to share a

Santa Barbara has a secret tucked into its foothills, and it only shows off after the rain. A short walk from a quiet road leads to a creek that stair-steps down the mountain in a chain of falls and pools. There are few signs, limited parking, and plenty of boulders to climb, which keeps the

Some road trips are planned around mountains, and some are planned around a loaf of bread. In the small mountain town of Tehachapi, California, one bakery has become the reason many drivers take the exit instead of rolling on toward Vegas or the Los Angeles area. The place keeps a line at the counter, a

Some shops in San Jose have security cameras. One has a cat. Behind a modest storefront sits a bookstore that turns out to be much bigger than it looks from the street, with room after room of shelves stacked to the ceiling and piles of books waiting on the floor. Used paperbacks, new releases, century-old

Somewhere in Northern California, a volcano still classified as a high threat keeps watch over a lake so big it needs more than 100 miles of shoreline to hold it. Locals barely blink. They are too busy reeling in bass, touring small towns, and watching the moon climb over the mountains. The lake itself formed

California has 21 Spanish missions strung along the old El Camino Real, and a surprising number of them still open their doors to visitors every week. Some sit in busy city neighborhoods, while others wait in small towns you might otherwise zip right past on the highway. Many are still working churches, so a visit

Some bookstores are quick errands, and some quietly swallow your whole day. California has a surprising number of the second kind, from an open-air courtyard in Ojai to a four-story literary landmark in Berkeley. This list covers ten used bookstores where the shelves run deep, the prices are friendly, and the browsing never seems to

Palm Springs has a reputation for golf courses, pools, and mid-century homes. Few people expect to find a B-17 Flying Fortress parked a short walk from a working runway. Yet out in the Coachella Valley, a set of hangars holds warplanes that once flew over Europe and the Pacific, many of them restored to the

Some places in Los Angeles County chase trends every six months. Others just keep the soft serve machine running and let the decades roll by. In Inglewood, a small walk-up stand with an old building, a handful of patio tables, and a menu board full of shakes and twisters has been doing exactly that for

Some hotels are just places to sleep, but one building in downtown Riverside is more like a small city with a front desk. It has towers, arches, courtyards, a chapel, and a five-story rotunda. Its story reaches back to the late 1800s, and presidents and famous names have checked in over the years. Keep reading

Some buildings are old, and then there is one small adobe chapel in Southern California that still holds parts of its walls from 1777. The year the Declaration of Independence was signed, a mission was being founded on the West Coast, and it is still open to the public today. It has survived a major

Not every great waterfall asks you to earn it with a long, sweaty climb. Northern California has plenty of falls you can reach with a short stroll, a paved path, or barely a walk from the car. That makes them great for families, road trips, and anyone who wants the view without the blisters. Here

California has a reputation for sky-high rent, crowded freeways, and home prices that make retirees wince. Tucked into the state’s northeastern corner, though, sits a small mountain town that tells a very different story. It rests along a river at more than 4,000 feet, serves as the seat of its county, and moves at a

Most vacation rentals come with a view of the water. A few in California put you right on top of it. From a floating cabin in a San Diego County park to houseboats cruising the long arms of Shasta Lake, these seven spots let you fall asleep with a lake under your bed. It is

Every fall, orange-and-black travelers finish a long trip and settle into a small patch of trees on the Monterey Peninsula. They do not arrive with luggage, but they do arrive in numbers big enough to turn branches into living clusters. The show is free, the trail is short, and the stars of the season hang

Some summer plans need a spreadsheet. This one needs a tube, a friend with a car, and a free weekday. Up in Northern California, a river winds past redwoods, small towns, and rocky beaches where the current barely seems to be in a hurry. Groups drive up from San Francisco every single year just to

Far up in the northeast corner of California, the ground is full of holes, and that is exactly the point. Hundreds of tunnels were carved by rivers of molten rock long ago, and many of them are open for anyone with a good light and a sense of adventure. Some have stairs and lighting, while

Somewhere in the Santa Cruz Mountains, a narrow gauge steam train still grinds up steep grades, switches back and forth, and carries families deep into a redwood forest. It is not a museum piece behind glass. It is a working ride, complete with a chatty conductor, open-air cars, and a camp that looks like it

Not everyone wants to sleep on hard ground to enjoy the great outdoors. Glamping gives you the trees, the trails and the campfire, but with a real bed and a clean bathroom close by. California has some great places to try it, from cliffside yurts in Big Sur to redwood hideaways near the Russian River.

Some roads get you somewhere fast, and some roads make you forget you had anywhere to be. Tucked into the far northern corner of California, near the town of Crescent City, there is a narrow route where the trees are so tall that your car suddenly feels like a toy. It runs for only about

Some people wait their whole lives to meet a beagle who flies a doghouse into battle. In Santa Rosa, California, grown adults quietly hold back happy tears while kids race to the next comic strip on the wall. There is a life-size Charlie Brown by the door, a kite-eating tree, and a drawing studio where

Movie night does not have to mean sticky armrests, tiny seats, and a ticket price that makes your wallet flinch. In San Jose, California, there is a spot where the screen is huge, the seat is your own car, and one ticket gets you two brand-new movies in a single night. Families bring blankets and

Some Los Angeles drivers will sit through freeway traffic for one bowl of soup. The destination is a deli tucked into a small shopping center in the San Fernando Valley, and it has kept people coming back since 1967. Its matzo ball soup earns steady praise, right alongside towering pastrami sandwiches and warm rye bread.

Some towns are big enough for traffic lights. This one has fewer residents than a typical high school graduating class, and it sits high in the Sierra Nevada where the pavement gives way to granite peaks and quiet water. Chalet-style cabins line the slopes, lakes rest in the valleys, and the whole scene looks more

Most hotels hand you a room key and a Wi-Fi password. This one might send an elephant over with breakfast. Tucked into the hills outside Salinas, California, there is a place where guests fall asleep to lion roars and wake up to zebras and rhinos wandering just below their patio. It is part zoo, part

Some sandwiches are built for a quick lunch, and some are built like a construction project. In Pasadena, one busy counter has spent decades piling thin-sliced pastrami so high that a single sandwich can make the bun look like a small lid on top. The fries arrive in portions large enough to share with the