Innovation, Nostalgia, and Agricultural Bounty

With a start at San José Mineta International Airport, you’re only minutes away from San Jose’s creative, colorful SoFA District, home to eight blocks of museums, galleries, eateries, and breweries. Get a bead on San Jose’s artistic diversity at the free-admission Institute of Contemporary Art, where light-filled galleries show off conversation-sparking works. The neighboring Museum of Quilts and Textiles displays a global collection of quilts, garments, textiles, and fiber art. Five blocks away, the San Jose Museum of Art houses more than 2,500 cutting-edge works by mostly California artists. For the left-brained, The Tech Interactive celebrates San Jose's culture of innovation with exhibits on space exploration, artificial intelligence, and human health. If museum-hopping makes you hungry, head to San Pedro Square Market, where you can nosh your way through a global feast: Nepali steamed dumplings from Urban Momo, Vietnamese spring rolls at On a Roll, Peruvian ceviche at Jora, and braised barbacoa at Loteria Taco Bar.

This shady, pedestrian-friendly village in the Santa Cruz Mountains’ foothills blends small-town intimacy with big-city sophistication. To get to know Los Gatos, start with a stroll down North Santa Cruz Avenue for window-shopping and people-watching. Pop into the New Museum Los Gatos to survey contemporary art and local history exhibits. Savor fine cuisine at French-inspired Épernay Bistro or Mediterranean Dio Deka, or chow down on burgers and shakes at The Happy Hound. Taste Pinot Noir at Testarossa, housed in a historic novitiate where Jesuits made wine in the late 1800s. Traveling with little ones? Take them to Vasona Lake County Park to ride the carousel and the century-old miniature railroad.

In Santa Cruz, life revolves around the seaside. Get a feel for the beach life along West Cliff Drive, where locals ride the waves at Steamer Lane and the Santa Cruz Surfing Museum houses a century’s worth of surf memories. The Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk has peddled playful pastimes since 1907—you can scream your head off on the Giant Dipper roller coaster, compete for prizes at the ring toss or shootout gallery, or test your skills on 300 arcade games. There’s classic boardwalk cuisine, too. Vendors hawk cotton candy, funnel cakes, corn dogs, saltwater taffy, deep-fried Twinkies, kettle corn, and clam chowder. To find the edgier side of Santa Cruz, head to downtown, where boho-chic boutiques and vintage shops sell festival garb and vinyl records, and down-to-earth eateries serve tasty concoctions of kale and quinoa.    

Nine miles south of Santa Cruz, the woodsy village of Aptos is home to The Forest of Nisene Marks State Park, where hiking and biking trails meander through second-growth redwood and Douglas fir forest. Take an easy stroll along Aptos Creek, or in the rainy season, get your feet wet as you cross multiple streams to Maple Falls. (If you’d rather pedal than walk, rent mountain bikes at Cyclepath Outfitters.) Venture beyond Aptos’ genteel downtown for a wine-tasting trek on the Corralitos Wine Trail, where you can taste Pinot Noir and Chardonnay at Nicholson Vineyards, Storrs Winery, and Alfaro Family Vineyards, all within a 6-mile radius. 

Highway 1 skirts the bayside hamlet of Moss Landing, a busy fishing harbor surrounded by homespun art galleries, antique shops, and seafood restaurants. Poke around the harbor to see fuzzy sea otters popping up between the boats, or watch for the adorable back-floaters at Moss Landing State Beach’s protected cove. Want to see bigger wildlife? Head out to sea with Sanctuary Cruises, and you’re likely to spot gray whales and orcas in winter and spring, or humpbacks and blue whales in summer. Moss Landing’s marine neighbors include an array of dolphins—Risso’s, Pacific white-sided, common, and bottlenose—so there’s always a show. When your boat returns to the harbor, sit down to a pescado Cubano at The Haute Enchilada.  

Dreamers and romantics are drawn to Carmel, a walkable village filled with come-hither shops tucked into fairy tale cottages, hidden courtyards and passageways, nearly 100 art galleries, and an impossibly white sand beach. There’s history, too: Carmel Mission was founded in 1770 and its church was completed in 1797. Wander and linger in Carmel’s one-mile-square downtown (don’t miss the scones at The Tuck Box and the book selection at Pilgrim’s Way), then plop down on Carmel Beach’s white crescent of sand. If you have more time, go see the spectacular wave-cut terraces and blue-green lagoons of Point Lobos State Natural Reserve, three miles south of town.  

As Monterey County’s agricultural hub, Salinas is known for its fertile farmland and vegetable packing plants. But it also holds an important spot in literary history as the birthplace of John Steinbeck. The National Steinbeck Center honors The Grapes of Wrath author with interactive exhibits that tell Steinbeck’s story and highlight local spots that were featured in his work. A few blocks away, the Steinbeck House—where the author was born—is now a restaurant serving high tea and lunch amid a collection of Steinbeck photos and memorabilia. To see another side of Salinas, drive the River Road Wine Trail to Santa Lucia Highlands’ wineries, including Caraccioli Cellars and Odonata Wines, or stop in to El Charrito for tasty carne asada and chile Colorado.

Home of cliffs and crags formed by an ancient volcano, Pinnacles National Park attracts rock climbers, hikers, birders, and wildflower fans to a playground of burnished gold boulders and spires. Eighty percent of Pinnacles National Park is wilderness, which can only be explored on foot—no roads cross the park. By entering on the park’s west side (Hwy. 146), you’ll have easy access to Balconies’ tunnel-like talus caves, where you can squeeze through clefts in the rock and twist through narrow passageways. For a longer hike, traipse across the High Peaks, a maze-like cluster of boulders, pinnacles, and spires. From the trail’s high point, you might spot magnificent California condors flying overhead, their wingspans stretching up to 10 feet.

When Gilroy heralds “the stinking rose” at its annual summer Garlic Festival, festivalgoers devour three tons of garlic in three days. If you miss the celebration, you can still indulge in garlic-worship at Gilroy’s culinary-focused shops—Garlic World and Casa de Fruta—or taste festival prizewinners like Garlic Festival Scampi year-round at Mama Mia’s restaurant. (For maps, guides, and helpful tips from the local staff, drop by the California Welcome Center – Gilroy.) If you have kids in the car, take them to Gilroy Gardens Family Theme Park to ride the Artichoke Dip and the Garlic Twirl and see the famous “circus trees”—sycamores, ashes, and oaks that were grafted into intricate basket-weave shapes. Marvel at these horticultural wonders, then stock up on garlic braids and garlic cookbooks and head back to San Jose Airport, less than an hour away.