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»CA.CITIES THE EUREKA Boardwalk is a focal point on the waterfront of Old Town Eureka. NFL's Oakland Raiders, NBA's Golden State Warriors and Major League Baseball's Oakland Athletics keep sports fans entertained, while spandex-clad weekend athletes walk, bike, rollerblade and run alongside pretty, manmade Lake Merritt. VENTURA: The Beach & Beaux-Arts Under-the-radar Ventura city, the county seat of agricultural Ventura County, is a classic Southern California beach town, with some surprising twists. Located a few minutes south of Santa Barbara and an hour's drive north of Los Angeles, the Ventura Beach section of town is popular with surfers, paddle-boarders, joggers, sailors and sun-worshippers. Walking distance from the sands, Ventura city's fast-reviving downtown presents a mix of restaurants, shops and wine bars along Main Street, including the massive, multi-level restaurant and music venue Watermark. The Beaux-Arts 1912 City Hall is an impressive sight on its downtown hilltop; Erle Stanley Gardner, creator of the fictional courtroom wizard Perry 16 2 013 travel guide to c al i fo r n ia Mason, practiced law just down the hill. The outdoor apparel company Patagonia showcases its headquarters store in a renovated heritage building on West Santa Clara Street. At the city's bustling marina, the Channel Islands National Park visitors center dispenses useful information. Park concessionaire Island Packers operates ferry runs year-round to splendid, rugged off-shore isles, churning past leaping dolphins and spouting migratory whales. SAN LUIS OBISPO: Central Coast Gem Nestled between the Pacific Ocean 11 miles (18 km) to the west and the Santa Lucia Mountains just to the east, this central-coast city of 45,000 is located midway between San Francisco and Los Angeles. Easily accessible by train on Amtrak or via U.S. Interstate 101 and famously scenic California Route 1, the historic core of the city clusters around the 1772 Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa. This is the place to find restaurants, cafés and shops. Music and theater productions are mounted on the campus of California Polytechnic Institute ("Cal Poly''). Outdoorsy visitors and locals hike and bike the Nine Sisters hills. The marine-minded head to the sometimes-chilly, foggy coast with their wetsuits for surfing, kayaking and wind-surfing. South of the city is prime territory for winery touring and tasting: the expansive Edna Valley wine-producing region. BAKERSFIELD: Basques & Buck Owens Calling all honky-tonk angels: Bakersfield may just be a must-stop. Once home to country-music legends Merle Haggard and the late Buck Owens, this San Joaquin Valley community may never be as drop-dead gorgeous as, say, San Francisco, but its workaday, unpretentious facade masks a city of surprises. Located well inland and northwest of Los Angeles, Bakersfield is reached via California routes 99 and 58. The city of 323,000 is home to one of the largest and most vibrant Basque communities in the United States. Family-style Basque restaurants such as Wool Growers and the Pyrenees Café add diversity to the downhome DON LEONARD NAPA: More Than Wine Napa is three places: city, valley and county. Time was, Napa city was a place visitors stopped only for gasoline. No longer. The city is brimming with finedining, new hotels, happening bars, a handsome promenade downtown along the Napa River and foodie favorite Oxbow Public Market, with its locally sourced, seasonal bounty. The Napa Valley Wine Train rumbles up and down the valley on three-hour excursions, offering full meals on wheels and, of course, California wines. Michelinstarred La Toque in the Westin Verasa Hotel highlights refined in-city dining. First Street showcases a still-developing cluster of art galleries and eye-catching public art pieces. Napa's renovated Uptown Theatre presents pop, folk and blues music and pours premium wines, while the spruced-up 1880 Napa Valley Opera House is a jewel-box venue for music, stand-up comedy and theater. Moreover, center-city Napa is speckled with lovely bed and breakfast places in artfully restored Victorian fantasias of turrets, stained glass and burnished wood.