Off the Beaten Track: Five Lesser-Known California Cities To Explore, Including Sacramento, Capitola and Carlsbad

Everyone knows San Francisco and Los Angeles, and with good reason. Both are tremendous destinations, with a huge variety of things to do, as well as great restaurants and beautiful scenery. But there’s far more to CALI than SF and LA. Here’s one native Californian’s list of other great places to check out. I also have news about Air Canada’s annual report for 2023.

FIVE GREAT CALIFORNIA CITIES

CAPITOLA

 

 

With its multi-hued cottages tucked into a corner of a fine beach and a lively downtown shopping scene, this might be the best California seaside town never mentioned in a Beach Boys’ song. You’re only about an hour south of San Francisco if you take the inland freeways, but I prefer the slower drive along Highway One to enjoy the great coastal views. Capitola has several restaurants right on the sand, including a good Mexican place called Margaritaville. The wharf, which usually offers great views of the surfers, was damaged by storms last year but is slated to re-open this summer. Downtown has lots of great gift stores, galleries and surf shops, as well as a wine-tasting room. Shadowbrook is a lovely restaurant that cascades down a hill alongside Soquel Creek, with wonderful gardens and a tiny funicular. It can get crowded on the weekend, but there are parking lots a short walk from downtown.

CARLSBAD

 

 

This is an outstanding coastal town about a half hour north of San Diego There’s a great, walkable downtown filled with cool restaurants such as Shorehouse Kitchen and The Goods, which dishes out inventive donuts and good coffee. You’ll find plenty of independent shops, including Fahrenheit 451 book store. The Beach Terrace Inn is a fun, boutique hotel on the water. Leo Carrillo Ranch Historic Park is named for a Hollywood actor who played the role of Pancho in The Cisco Kid TV show, and had many movie roles over his career. He built a wonderful ranch high in the hills above the city, which you can tour. The Flower Fields is an incredible facility that grows acres and acres of ranunculus flowers, which bloom in late winter or early spring. There’s also a rose garden, a Santa’s Village and a playground for kids. Taking the kids or grandkids? Carlsbad also is home to the Legoland theme park.

TRI-VALLEY REGION

 

 

This is one of the oldest wine growing regions in California. It also may be the easiest wine region to visit in the state, as there’s a Bay Area Rapid Transit Station in Dublin/Pleasanton. The town of Pleasanton has a handsome downtown with independent, boutique shops. Ditto for next-door Livermore, which also is home to the San Francisco Bay Outlets shopping centre. Danville also has a great, walkable town centre with cafés and restaurants. It’s also home to Eugene O’Neill National Historic Site, where you can visit the home where one of America’s best-known writers lived for many years. San Ramon’s The region is popular among cyclists, golfers and outdoors lovers, with gentle, rolling hills and pretty canyons lined with oak trees and sweet-smelling eucalyptus. The wineries are excellent. I highly recommend Wente Brothers, Wood Family Vineyards, Darcie Kent and Concannon Vineyard.

TEMECULA

 

 

This is an up-and-coming wine region in southern California, only an hour or so from Orange County and roughly the same distance from Palm Springs. The wines are bold and flavourful, and more wineries seem to be opening up every day. Old Town Temecula has a throwback feel, with a mix of old brick and wood-front buildings. The Temecula Lavender Company sells lovely products, while Old Town Spice and Tea Merchants makes tea with lemongrass, hibiscus, orange and peppermint. The funky Hotel Temecula dates back to 1891 and has great stories to tell. For great views, try a hot air balloon ride over the valley with the folks from A Grape Escape.

SACRAMENTO

 

 

The home of the California government features one of the most beautiful capitol buildings in the U.S., surrounded by palm trees and stately gardens. Look for colourful street art and lively coffee shops in the city’s growing downtown and along the fashionable, trendy R Street Corridor. Old Sacramento is a fun spot, with dozens of historic buildings and an “Old West” feel from the state’s Gold Rush days. Pop into Solomon’s Vinyl Diner for fabulous decor and an interesting menu that includes French toast using Japanese Bread. The California State Railroad Museum is regarded as one of the top rail museums in the U.S.  The Kimpton Sawyer is one of the top hotels in town and has a lovely swimming pool. Just 15 minutes from downtown is The Old Sugar Mill, a towering old brick building that used to process sugar beets and now houses more than a dozen wine-tasting rooms. Click here for my full report on Sacramento from last year.

Air Canada Highlights Positive News and Growth in Annual Report For 2023

Super strong financial results. New, comfortable planes flying to new destinations. And more choice for customers and advisors.

Air Canada issued its 2023 Annual Report on 26MAR, highlighting the carrier’s achievements for the year. In addition to its strong financial results, including record annual revenue, the airline made progress on key strategic initiatives. The report is available in the Investor Relations section of www.aircanada.com.

“Air Canada delivered very strong results in 2023, ” said Michael Rousseau, President and Chief Executive Officer of Air Canada. “We met key financial objectives and advanced or exceeded most of our strategic and operational goals for the year, demonstrating our ability to perform consistently.”

“In 2023, we expanded our reach by introducing new routes and new destinations,” he said. “We are the largest provider of scheduled passenger services in the Canadian market and in the Canada-U.S. transborder and the international markets to and from Canada.

“Consistent with our goal of reaching new frontiers, we gave our customers more travel options through our arrangements with United Airlines and Emirates, offering our customers more destinations to the United States and the Middle East,” he said.

Rousseau also noted that Air Canada “invested in novel technologies and product enhancements to provide our customers high-quality comfort and enhanced service. This includes being the first Canadian airline to pilot a new facial recognition technology and expanding our premium airport lounge network to 29 lounges worldwide.”

As well, Aeroplan, Air Canada’s award-winning loyalty program, has more than eight million active members, a figure that has doubled since 2019. Aeroplan produced new, innovative partnerships and services in 2023, such as with Bell and Parkland.

“We continued to renew our fleet with more fuel-efficient and comfortable aircraft,” Rosseau said. “We also advanced our Environmental, Social and Governance programs through our sustainability, equity and accessibility activities and supported the communities we serve, including by providing thousands of employment opportunities,” Rousseau said.

“Air Canada has a solid foundation to build upon and a clear vision for the future as a leader in the global aviation industry, connecting Canada to the world, and as a trusted partner for all our stakeholders,” Rousseau added. “I thank our customers for their loyalty, our 39,000 employees for their hard work and dedication to safe operations and our investors for their support throughout the year.”