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Tags: Train Travel / California / California Travel / Napa Valley Travel / Thanksgiving Travel / Thanksgiving Alternatives / Wine Travel / Wine Country / → All Tags

Gourmet On A Train: Ditch Cooking For A Napa Wine Dinner

There is a certain romantic allure to train travel—just ask fictional sweethearts Jesse and Céline of Before Sunrise. But Stateside, unfortunately, the mode of transport isn't as common as it is in other parts of the world. While you continue to dream about hopping aboard a Darjeeling Railway car, we're happy to report that a smaller-scale train trek can be had in California, even if it is less grand than journeying across exotic international ground.

The Napa Valley Wine Train is a refined alternative to unofficial "drunk buses" tourists often book to stay safe while sipping wine flights throughout the day. Equally drinker-friendly, and much more respectable, the train is holding a special Thanksgiving dinner aboard its Gourmet and Vista Dome cars for $104 and $139, respectively. Sadly, lunch tickets have already sold out.

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Tags: Top Chef Travel / San Francisco Travel / California Travel / Top Chef / Food Travel / Restaurant Travel / → All Tags

Laurine Wickett Of 'Top Chef' Gives Left Coast Some Market-Fresh Options

This week's cheftestant profile involves travel to you, rather than a self-initiated jaunt to a cast member's restaurant. Laurine Wickett, whose tenure on Top Chef effectively ended after what is arguably the show's most difficult challenge, "Restaurant Wars," has since returned to San Francisco where she runs Left Coast Catering.

New York born, but Northern California bred—at least in the culinary sense—Laurine incorporates the Bay Area's various cultural influences into market-fresh menus for her clients. Whether left coast parents planning a Bat Mitzvah or bride-to-be hosting a dessert reception, Laurine will provide you with options galore. We perused some of her sample menus online, which reflect a flavorful Californian approach to cooking while turning to other regions of the world for inspiration. She does everything from sushi stations to steak and french fries, on the same menu if you'd like guests to have multiple options. Her ill-fated Pork Rillette (or, as Dana Cowin punishingly put it, "cat food") made no appearance on any of the menus we saw.

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Tags: San Francisco / San Francisco Travel / Educational Travel / California / California Travel / → All Tags

The Golden Gate Bridge Wants You To Stay Longer, Learn Something

San Francisco's majestic orange gateway, the Golden Gate Bridge, has served as highlight in panoramic film shots, and famously, a protest site for a green-friendly Hollywood actor. It's come to represent the City by the Bay like no other landmark, hence the throngs of tourists and locals that flock to it for photo opportunities, or to see its fantastic details up close.

To augment its beauty, the San Francisco Chronicle reported this week that The National Science Foundation "awarded the bridge district $3 million...to install outdoor exhibits explaining "its engineering and history." For visitors, this offers the chance to soak up some educational details while ogling its impressive construction. During most of our visits to the Bridge, we've seen people cruise by for a quick picture and maybe a moment of reflection, then quickly depart. The installations will, hopefully, remedy this hurried tourist mindset. Reports the Chronicle:

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Tags: Ski Travel / California / California Travel / Skiing / Free Stuff / → All Tags

Mammoth Mountain Opens Early, Free Skiing For All!

Skiing in Southern California sounds like a horrible oxymoron, or a poorly conceived of joke. But it's true, Golden State foreigners: There's snow to be found around our usually heat-stricken climes, namely at Mammoth Mountain.

In recent years we've heard reports of poor snowfall and late season starts in some California skiing regions, Lake Tahoe in particular. That isn't the case at Mammoth in 2009, though; the mountain was hit with two-to-six feet of snow ahead of schedule, according to a report from the Los Angeles Examiner, boding well for ski bunnies itching to hit the slopes early. The Examiner states that Mammoth's current "26 inches of snow is the highest October total since the 2004-05 season," with "warm temperatures approaching 60 degrees" around the mountain. Now that's oxymoronic.

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Tags: Top Chef / Top Chef Travel / Food Travel / California / California Travel / San Francisco / San Francisco Travel / San Francisco Restaurants / → All Tags

Get Cozy With Top Chef's Mattin In San Francisco

As we uphold our weekly tradition of highlighting ex-cheftestants, giving due attention to the poor souls that didn't make it to the Final Three, we arrive at sprightly French chef Mattin Noblia. With a million-watt smile and red neckerchief that we hope he was wearing ironically, Noblia stole our hearts for being so disarmingly sweet...or maybe it was the accent. Either way, Padma and Co. bid Mattin au revoir after he presented a disastrous ceviche that Tom Colicchio found so offensive he actually spit it out. Tragic.

When he's not flashing his boyish grin on national television, Mattin can be found at Iluna Basque, his San Francisco restaurant. As you can guess from its name, the cuisine is inspired by the Basque region, served up on small plates that diners are encouraged to share.

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Tags: Music Travel / Los Angeles / Los Angeles Travel / San Francisco / San Francisco Travel / Live Music Travel / Live Music / California Travel / → All Tags

Jaunted's Guide To California Fall Concerts Al Fresco

Hollywood Hoedown al fresco, anyone?

With a torrent of flash flood warnings in San Francisco and standing water bathing the streets of Los Angeles, California is looking decidedly un-Californian this week. We get it; it's fall, time for leaves to change colors and a crisp chill to hit the air, but us Golden State natives know that the wet weather will pass and we'll still have a solid few weeks to enjoy being outdoors before it becomes truly unbearable. And by unbearable, we mean 50 degrees.

Catching music al fresco is one of our favorite ways to take advantage of the amazing climate, like thousands of Bay Area young'uns will be doing this weekend when they descend upon the Treasure Island Music Festival. But if MGMT, Grizzly Bear, and pushing your way through a crowd of Doc Martens (who brought these back, anyway?) doesn't do it for you, there are other options on the concert docket.

More on outdoor concerts after the jump.

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Tags: Wine Travel / California Travel / Wine Country Travel / → All Tags

Madera Vintners Say Drink Up and Get Into the 'Holiday Spirit'

Barrel room at a Madera winery

The Central Valley region of California is lesser known than its stately Napa counterpart, but its products aren't any less stellar, and the wine flows like, uh, wine. That is to say, there's wine, wine everywhere, and more than a drop to drink along the Madera Wine Trail. Lined with Cabernet-Franc and Merlot grapes galore, the area will play home to a Holiday Spirit Weekend, a pre-Thanksgiving and Chrismahanukwanzakah rev up celebrating local wineries, including newcomers like the San Joaquin Wine Company and Idle Hour.

Taking place from 10:00-5:00 on November 14th and 15th, attendees can get their cup to runneth over with vintage offerings, sample special food pairings, and enjoy local art and live music. As you can probably guess, this is hardly a "drink to get drunk" beerfest, but its organizers aren't naive, either. With all of those quick sips and wine flights, they're keeping guests grounded by letting them know about special travel packages courtesy of Touch of Class Limousine Service, and a shuttle for those traveling form the Fresno/Clovis area. Stumble responsibly if you're planning on taking advantage of all the wine-related revelry that weekend.

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Tags: Killer Beachers / Sharks / California Travel / surfing / Beach Travel / → All Tags

There Are Sharks On And Off LA's Sunset Boulevard

Since summer is over, we naturally assume that shark season is over. But of course not, since these beautiful beasts of the sea frolic and hunt close to some coasts throughout the year, and southern California is just as pleasant a vacation for them as it is for those of us who head to warmer climes in winter.

Thank to an excellent photo capture by Randy Wright on Surfline, of a white shark (not a Great White, just a white) breaching along an LA beach, we realize that it's not only visor-wearing tourists who flock to Sunset Boulevard; this shark jumped near the end of Sunsert Boulevard, at Sunset Beach. The road goes from the sharks of Hollywood to actual sharks, it seems.

If you find yourself tempted to swim in the waters here, but are deathly scared of seeing a fin emerge from the water near you, then we might suggest a little activity on dry land, like the nearby Getty Villa. Once you turn on the Pacific Coast Highway from Sunset and head north, it's only one mile further up in Malibu. Keep in mind that the museum is closed on Tuesdays and requires advance ticket reservations, which you can make here. Tickets are free!

Related Stories:
· White Shark Breaches In LA [Surfline]
· The Getty [Official Site] · Sharks coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Surfline.com]

Tags: Music Festivals / Events / Music Travel / Fall Travel / California Travel / → All Tags

Start The VW Camper Van And Get Going To Phish-Fest

Phish has been rocking out all summer long after announcing that they were back from retirement. Now they are looking to celebrate the season with Phish Festival 8, another installment of their sporadic get-togethers. The band, along with those who follow them around, are headed out to Indio, California from October 30 to November 1.

Think of this year’s festival as a sort of musical way to celebrate Halloween. The band is planning to cover a classic album in its entirety, but so far, their choice of album remains a secret. We’ll trust that they’ll pick something that their fans will enjoy—sorry Annie Lennox, this probably isn’t your year to be honored. Besides the cover concert, they will also be featuring an all-acoustic set on Sunday at noon. This concert brunch will also feature coffee and donuts for those with the munchies.

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Tags: Animal Travel / Fall Festivals / California Travel / Events / → All Tags

BYOT (Bring Your Own Tarantula) To California Town's Tarantula Fest

While cities usher in October with Oktoberfest and Halloween-related festivals, small-town Coarsegold, California, marks it with a celebration of the tarantula. This place has so much tarantula love that a massive spider sculpture sits atop the city’s Historic Village and killing one is a major faux paux. The 11th annual Coarsegold Tarantula Festival pays homage to the eight-legged spiders with a day of events on October 24.

Officials say the reason why the old mining town reveres the creepy-crawly spiders is that residents take pride in their natural surroundings, especially the diverse wildlife. The tarantulas are unique to the area, and as such the residents protect them as an integral part of the community. "When we first moved here, I accidentally ran over a tarantula and was severely admonished by a neighbor," says Dian Boland, the founder of the event. The incident prompted her to learn more about the misunderstood creatures. The more she learned, the more she wanted to honor the tarantula. "I wanted to make people aware of how interesting they are, how they really are good for the environment and unique to the mountains up here and really a lot of fun,” she says.

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Tags: National Parks Travel / California Travel / Arnold Schwarzenegger / → All Tags

Schwarzenegger Won't Pulverize CA State Parks...For The Time Being

El Matador State Beach in Malibu, California

Rest easy, Pio Pico State Historic Park, as California's burly Governor Schwarzenegger won't pulverize you (metaphorically speaking) just yet. California's hotly debated budget woes have been well documented in the press, with the closure of several state parks proposed to cut state spending.

Yet in recent weeks, reports The San Jose Mercury News, the Governor has changed course, no doubt due to the "protests, letters from the public, critical newspaper editorials and requests from Republican lawmakers in rural districts that their parks not be closed because of the loss to tourism." Back in May, Schwarzenegger suggested shutting down up to 220 of 279 parks, nearly 80 percent of California's parks.

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Tags: Fall-Foliage-Map / Fall Foliage Travel / Fall Travel / Outdoor Travel / California Travel / → All Tags

Rare Fall Foliage Alert: Southern California Sees Some Color In Julian

See? Fall colors do exist in SoCal.

You'd be hard-pressed to find golds and reds in the palm trees during the fall in Southern California, but head one hour northeast of San Diego and you'll see plenty of leaves turning in Julian, a small old mining town.

Julian sits among the Laguna Mountains—at an elevation of 4,200 feet—making it a picturesque place to check out the foliage. It's among the few places in San Diego County that has a winter, spring, summer and fall. But Southern Californians are starved to see something other than greenery and to get some cool air, so they tend to pack the town this time of the year, which can make it seem less rustic and more touristy. You'll avoid crowds if you go during the week.

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