Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara

6 February 2024 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, San Francisco Bay Area, Sport Reading Time:  5 minutes

Broncos vs 49ers preseason game © flickr.com - Jim Bahn/cc-by-sa-3.0

Broncos vs 49ers preseason game © flickr.com – Jim Bahn/cc-by-sa-3.0

Levi’s Stadium is an American football stadium located in Santa Clara, California, just west of the much larger city of San Jose, in the San Francisco Bay Area. It has served as the home venue for the National Football League (NFL)’s San Francisco 49ers since 2014. The stadium is located approximately 40 miles (64 km) south of San Francisco. It is named after Levi Strauss & Co., which purchased naming rights in 2013.   read more…

Madonna Inn in California

18 December 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Hotels Reading Time:  7 minutes

© flickr.com - Omar Omar/cc-by-2.0

© flickr.com – Omar Omar/cc-by-2.0

The Madonna Inn is a motel in San Luis Obispo, California. Opened for business in 1958, it quickly became a landmark on the Central Coast of California. It is noted for its unique decor, pink dining room, and themed rooms. It was created by Alex Madonna, a successful construction magnate and entrepreneur, and his wife Phyllis. The inn includes a restaurant and bakery, and is located on the west side of US Route 101 and situated on the lower eastern portion of Cerro San Luis Obispo.   read more…

North Beach in San Francisco

5 December 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Bon appétit, San Francisco Bay Area, Shopping Reading Time:  7 minutes

© panoramio.com - Almondox/cc-by-3.0

© panoramio.com – Almondox/cc-by-3.0

North Beach is a neighborhood in the northeast of San Francisco adjacent to Chinatown, the Financial District, and Russian Hill. The neighborhood is San Francisco’s “Little Italy” and has historically been home to a large Italian American population, largely from Northern Italy. It still has many Italian restaurants, though many other ethnic groups currently live in the neighborhood. It was also the historic center of the beatnik subculture and has become one of San Francisco’s main nightlife districts as well as a residential neighborhood populated by a mix of young urban professionals, families, and Chinese immigrants. The American Planning Association (APA) has named North Beach as one of ten “Great Neighborhoods in America”.   read more…

Santa Maria in California

1 October 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  5 minutes

Santa Maria–style barbecue made with pink beans © flickr.com - Eugene Kim/cc-by-2.0

Santa Maria–style barbecue made with pink beans © flickr.com – Eugene Kim/cc-by-2.0

Santa Maria (Spanish for “St. Mary“) is a city in the Central Coast of California in northern Santa Barbara County. It is approximately 65 miles (105 km) northwest of Santa Barbara and 150 miles (240 km) northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Its population was 109,707 at the 2020 census, making it the most populous city in the county and the Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA Metro Area. The city is notable for its wine industry and Santa Maria-style barbecue.   read more…

Novato in the North Bay Area

11 September 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, San Francisco Bay Area Reading Time:  6 minutes

Spanish Colonial Revival homes at Hamilton Army Airfield © Terrygraham415/cc-by-sa-4.0

Spanish Colonial Revival homes at Hamilton Army Airfield © Terrygraham415/cc-by-sa-4.0

Novato is a city in Marin County, California, in the North Bay region of the Bay Area. At the 2020 census, Novato had a population of 53,225. What is now Novato was originally the site of several Coast Miwok villages: Chokecherry, near downtown Novato; Puyuku, near Ignacio; and Olómpali, at the present-day Olompali State Historic Park.   read more…

Mendocino in California

17 July 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  8 minutes

© flickr.com - Lee Coursey/cc-by-2.0

© flickr.com – Lee Coursey/cc-by-2.0

Mendocino (Spanish for “of Mendoza“) is an unincorporated community in Mendocino County, California, United States. The name comes from Cape Mendocino 85 miles (137 km) to the north, named by early Spanish navigators in honor of Antonio de Mendoza, Viceroy of New Spain. Despite its small size, the town’s scenic location on a headland surrounded by the Pacific Ocean has made it extremely popular as an artists’ colony and with vacationers. Mendocino is located 10 miles (16 km) south of Fort Bragg at an elevation of 154 feet (47 m).   read more…

Pebble Beach in California

29 May 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  6 minutes

The Residences at Spanish Bay Golf Resort © Joshua Painter/cc-by-sa-4.0

The Residences at Spanish Bay Golf Resort © Joshua Painter/cc-by-sa-4.0

Pebble Beach is an unincorporated community on the Monterey Peninsula in Monterey County, California. The small coastal residential community of mostly single-family homes is also notable as a resort destination, and the home of the golf courses of Cypress Point Club, Monterey Peninsula Country Club, and Pebble Beach Golf Links. Nonresidents are charged a toll to use 17-Mile Drive, the main road through Pebble Beach, making it a de-facto gated community.   read more…

South of Market in San Francisco

13 April 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, San Francisco Bay Area Reading Time:  9 minutes

© flickr.com - Pascal Vuylsteker/cc-by-sa-2.0

© flickr.com – Pascal Vuylsteker/cc-by-sa-2.0

South of Market (SoMa) is a neighborhood in San Francisco, California, situated just south of Market Street. It contains several sub-neighborhoods including South Beach, Yerba Buena, and Rincon Hill. SoMa is home to many of the city’s museums, to the headquarters of several major software and Internet companies, and to the Moscone Conference Center.   read more…

Cathedral City in California

20 February 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  7 minutes

© Patrick Pelster/cc-by-sa-3.0

© Patrick Pelster/cc-by-sa-3.0

Cathedral City, colloquially known as “Cat City”, is a desert resort city in Riverside County, California, United States, within the Colorado Desert‘s Coachella Valley. Situated between Palm Springs and Rancho Mirage, the city has the second largest population, after Indio, of the nine cities in the Coachella Valley. Its population was 51,493 at the 2020 census, a slight increase from 51,200 at the 2010 census.   read more…

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