Staycations California

Here is a list of festivals and events still going on for summer:

 

tival	city	web / contact
All Food Festivals – August	California	seecalifornia.com
Accordion Festival	Cotati	cotatifest.com
Arts, Crafts & Music Festival	Gilroy	casadefruta.com
Art on the Lake	Big Bear Lake	bigbeararts council.org
Big Bear Cowboy Gathering	Big Bear Lake	bigbearcowboy gathering.net
Burning Man	Black Rock Desert	burningman.com
Burlingame Art Festival	Burlingame	burlingame chamber.org
Bodega Seafood Art & Wine Festival	Bodega Bay	winecountry festivals.com
Casparfest	Caspar	casparfest.org
Corn Festival (1st Friday in Aug)	La Habra	lahabracorn festival.com
Corning Olive Festival	Corning	corning chamber.org
Summer Festival	Culver City	culvercity music.org
Fairfield Tomato Festival	Fairfield	fairfield downtown.com
Huck Finn Fishing Derby	Huntington Beach	surfcity-hb.org
Lake in the Sky Air Show	South Lake Tahoe	lakeinthesky airshow.com
Lemon Festival	Chula Vista	thirdavenue village.com
Olive Festival	Paso Robles	pasorobles downtown.org
Festival of the Arts	Palo Alto	mla productions.com
Sawdust Festival	Laguna Beach	sawdustart festival.org
Scottish Games & Celtic Festival	Salinas	monterey scotgames.com
Tomato Festival & West Coast BBQ Championship	Fairfield	fairfield downtown.com
Monterey	Turkish Arts & Culture Festival	turkfestca.org
Brushes and Blues	Lompoc
Taste of National City	National City
Heritage Days	McCloud
Mountain Top Days	Running Springs	runningsprings chamber.com
Festa Italiana	Sacramento	italiancenter.net
San Jose Jazz Festival	San Jose	sanjosejazz.org
Steinbeck Festival	Salinas	steinbeck.org
Summer Kite Festival	Santa Barbara
Westend Celebration	Sand City	westend celebration.com
Scotts Valley Art Under the Oaks& Wine Festival	Scotts Valley	svchamber.org
Seal Beach/Los Alamitos Rotary Fishing Derby	Seal Beach	losalrotary.org
Tomato Festival	Woodland	woodlandtomato festival.com
IRL Grand Prix of Sonoma	Sonoma	infineon raceway.com
Mountain Festival	Tehachapi	tehachapimountain festival.com
Pow Wow – Indian Show	Three Rivers
Scottish Games & Celtic Festival	Toro
Pride by the Sea	Ventura	glccventura.com
Whitey Harrison Classic Outrigger Race	Doheny	dohenystate beach.org

After posting a staycation article about the new musical at the San Diego Civic Center based on Carole Kings life, we decided to try and see it for ourselves.

It was a last minute purchase and last minute gets you seats way up in the balcony. I am talking way up!   The guy next to me was surprised that it went up that
high and frankly I was too.   It was about three rows short of getting a nose bleed.

We didn’t mind as the production wasn’t extremely elaborate as far as stage design.  It was nothing like a Lion King or a production like that where you would want to be up close to see the amazing props.

Although the stage design was clever, it was something you could see from where we were sitting.  Besides, they tell me the lower seats were in the hundreds of dollars.

We didn’t think $66.00 was cheap but we now know at least in this case, they were “El Cheapos.”

The production of “Beautiful”  takes you mostly through the early days of Carole Kings career and how she met her first husband Gerry Goffen.  That marriage was significant because he was the lyrics to her wonderful music. The song writing team wrote many hits for various artists including:

• Will You Love Me Tomorrow
• Take Good Care Of My Baby
• Chains
• The Loco Motion
• Up On The Roof
• One Fine Day
• I’m Into Something Good
• Goin’ Back

From her early days with producer Don Kirshner,she wrote music that was sold to any artist that Kirshner thought the song would fit. Gerry Goffen provided the amazing lyrics. There she met another songwriting team Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil who produced many hits themselves such as, “On Broadway” and “ You’ve Lost that Lovin Feeling.”

Continue reading “Beautiful”

AUGUST 2-7, 2016

BEAUTIFUL – The Carole King Musical tells the Tony Award-winning inspiring true story of King’s remarkable rise to stardom, from being part of a hit songwriting team with her husband Gerry Goffin, to her relationship with fellow writers and best friends Cynthia Weil and Barry Mann, to becoming one of the most successful solo acts in popular music history. Along the way, she made more than beautiful music, she wrote the soundtrack to a generation.

. The Recreational Boating and Fishing Foundation recently released their list of the Top 100 family-friendly places to boat and fish in the United States. California was well represented. Clear Lake State Park, Brannon Island State Park and Dockweiler State Beach ranked five, six and seven, respectively. Criteria for the Top 100 included having a public body of water within driving distance of a major city, good fishing opportunities and family-friendly amenities. Nearly 35,000 different anglers and boaters cast nearly 650,000 votes to support their favorite fishing and boating locations. Round up the family, get your license, pack the fishing gear, hit the road and cast your line.     #5 – Clear Lake State Park Many professional bass fishing organizations have designated Clear Lake as the best bass fishing lake in America. Channel catfish, crappie and bluegill fishing can also be excellent. Several thousand years ago, a landslide blocked natural drainage from a valley into the Russian River. The water rose until it found an outlet through Cache Creek into the Sacramento River to form Clear Lake, the largest natural lake entirely within California. The entrance to Clear Lake State Park is 3.5 miles northeast of Kelseyville on Soda Bay Road, north of Calistoga in the wine country. Click For More Info   > #6 – Brannan Island State Recreation Area Brannan Island State Recreation Area is a maze of waterways through the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. This park northeast of San Francisco Bay, has countless islands and marshes with many wildlife habitats and offers great fishing for striped bass, black bass, sturgeon, catfish and bluegill. The park is on Highway 160 a few miles south of the city of Rio Vista in Sacramento County. The park is located on the lower peninsular extension of Brannan Island, and is surrounded by the Sacramento River on the west, Three Mile Slough on the southeast and Seven Mile Slough on the northeast. Click For More Info   >     #7 – Dockweiler State Beach Dockweiler State Beach features a three-mile long shoreline with a picnic area and concession stand. Surf fishers regularly catch halibut, corbina, croaker and surfperch from the beach. The beach is located at the western terminus of Imperial Highway in Playa del Rey. Click For More Info   >

Continue reading “California Lands Three of the Top 10-Family-Friendly Fishing Spots in the U.S.”

I love living in California by the coast because each beach town is so unique.  Just half an hour drive in any direction can take you into another city with a whole different look and feel.

Such is the case with Dana Point Harbor which is about a 35 minute drive from the smaller Oceanside Harbor and about the same distance from the larger Newport Harbor.  The city if Dana Point is only a few minutes from the Interstate 5 off-ramp, making it easily accessible.

Although the harbor is filled with tons of things to do, to me it always seems less crowded than even the smaller Oceanside Harbor and definitely less than Newport.  You can easily stroll along the bay-side walkway with just a few people in your path.  The tranquil scene of moored boats and the calm harbor makes for a relaxing time.

I actually had the pleasure of going to Dana Point Harbor twice in one week even though it is forty minutes from where I live.  The first night was for a last minute decision to catch the sunset from a different vantage point and the other was to have dinner with a long time friend.

Dana Point Harbor at night

The first night we concentrated on the north end of the harbor with our destination of Dana Point Headlands Beach.    The beach sits at the end of the outer jetty and is a great place to sit back and enjoy the sunset or the ocean. I have dubbed it Francis Beach as a tribute to a wonderful lady whose ashes were spread out to sea nearby.

Francis Beach otherwise known as Dana Point Headlands Beach

As it turned out, we didn’t see much of a sunset as the sun was blocked out by a large cliff to the north.  We were content just watching the waves crashing over the rocks and the smell of the sea air.   The breakers were gently rolling over the off shore rock formations giving an appearance of dozens of tiny waterfalls.

A handful of  stand up paddle boarders were headed out to sea to enjoy the calmer waters near the jetty while in contrast, boats were making their way back in for the evening.

Dana Point Harbor is home to a variety of restaurants and quaint cafes with many of them sitting at water’s edge and a view of the marina.  There are unique shops and boutiques as well as rental places for any type of watercraft.  Excursions to Catalina are available and whale watching tours are popular in the migration season.

Although they have a boat ramp on the south end of the harbor, Sup and kayak riders can launch their craft down the road at Baby Beach where the water is calm and a perfect place for families with kids.

Baby Beach, a great place to take your family. Calm water, no waves.

Outrigger canoeists on their way out to beyond the harbor

Nearby sits the The Ocean Institute  with its hands-on educational sea exhibits,  children’s day camps, overnight trips, boat excursions, and other various educational resources.

The institute is also home to the ship called the “Pilgrim” which is a full sized replica of a 19^th century sailing ship.

Dana Point also hosts many festivals including the annual Festival of Whales, Thanksgiving Turkey Trot, Christmas Boat Parade, Classic Wooden Boat Festival, and many others.

The harbor is also close to one of my favorite surfing beaches at Doheny State Park.  Up the hill from the harbor, the city itself has hotels, restaurants, shops, etc.

So there is plenty to do in Dana Point even if it is just for a couple hours.   A day or even weekend staycation would be even better as it is a water wonderland with surfing, stand up paddling, kayaking, Sea-Dooing, boating, or enjoying a meal or two.

I think I may have just talked myself into going again this week.

Anyway, I think you will love Dana Point Harbor and the surrounding area, so give it a try.

Photos and Story:Debbie Colwell

 

Parting Shot:

Dana Point Harbor at night with the walkway lit up in the background