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California, bay-front Jack London Square and a trendy dining scene it shares with its college town neighbor, Berkeley. The Great Outdoors One of the world's largest urban parks— the Golden Gate National Recreation Area—stretches over 60 miles of Bay Area coastline. The area encompasses beaches, historic sites, biking and hiking trails and vast open spaces to savor the Bay Area's varied natural beauty. Among the highlights are the majestic Marin Headlands and San Francisco's Presidio and revitalized Crissy Field, a popular walking area and restored wetlands that also draws kite boarders to the whitecapped waters at the Golden Gate. Rolling green hillsides dotted with California golden poppies make spring an especially ideal time to explore Mount Tamalpais and Muir Woods in Marin County. Point Reyes National Seashore's beautiful coastal terrain contains an abundance of wildlife, including migrating shorebirds and ducks, whales that are easily seen off the coast in migration season (mid-January to midMarch) and a herd of tule elk. There also is no lack of wide open spaces in the East Bay, where the regional park district includes 65 parks covering 112,000 acres in Alameda and Contra Costa counties. In the Santa Cruz mountains, discover California's oldest state park, Big Basin Redwoods, established in 1902. city almost overnight, can still be seen in thousands of 19th-century Victorians and quaint old quarters such as Alamo Square and Jackson Square. The Bay Area is home to world-class museums, including the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the de Young Museum and California Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park. In Oakland, there's the newly expanded Museum of California and, in Palo Alto, the Cantor Arts Center at Stanford. A lively art scene is found throughout the region and dozens of theater, opera, symphony and dance companies are based here. Diverse cultural influences thrive in pockets spread throughout the region, including many from Asia: Japantown and Chinatown in San Francisco, another Chinatown in Oakland and thriving Vietnamese and Southeast Asian communities in South Bay cities. Mexican and other Latin American influences can be found throughout, particularly in San Francisco's Mission district, while Italian immigrants left their indelible mark in San Francisco's North Beach and Sonoma and Napa wine-growing areas. Family Fun Spend a day at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, a century-old amusement park famous for The Giant Dipper, a 1920s-era roller coaster. On the San Mateo County coast, Half Moon Bay's mid-October festival features pumpkin carving and pie-eating contests, while nearby, Santa Clara's Great America theme park thrills visitors with the most water rides in Northern California. San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf and Pier 39 are lined with shops, restaurants, street performers and even a colony of sea lions that wow crowds. The pier also offers an antique carousel and the Aquarium of the Bay, with more than 20,000 marine animals. Over in Golden Gate Park, the California Academy of Sciences draws families with its penguin exhibit, a walk-through rain forest and aquarium with a live coral reef tank. CA SPECIAL EVENTS 2013 CHINESE NEW YEAR PARADE Feb. 23, San Francisco chineseparade.com TASTE OF YOUNTVILLE March 16, Yountville yountville.com CHERRY BLOSSOM FESTIVAL April 13-14, 20-21, San Francisco nccbf.org Heritage & Culture BAY TO BREAKERS May 19, San Francisco baytobreakers.com Early Mexican and Spanish explorers and settlers in the Bay Area left their mark, mostly in place names but also in historic buildings from that era. San Francisco's Mission Dolores, established in 1776, is the oldest building in San Francisco and the oldest intact original Mission in California. The patchwork design of its beamed ceilings resembles local Native American basket weaving. Other old missions are found elsewhere in the Bay Area: in Sonoma, San Rafael, Santa Clara, San Jose and Santa Cruz. Vestiges of San Francisco's colorful past, when the 1849 Gold Rush catapulted it from a hamlet to a large CARNAVAL May 25-26, San Francisco sfcarnaval.com 88 2 013 travel guide to c al ifo r n i a ETHNIC DANCE FESTIVAL June 1-30, San Francisco worldartswest.org STERN GROVE FESTIVAL June 16-Aug. 18, San Francisco sterngrove.org KITE FESTIVAL July 27-28, Berkeley highlinekites.com ART FESTIVAL Aug. 31-Sep. 2, Sausalito sausalitoartfestival.org AMERICA'S CUP FINALS Sep. 7-22, San Francisco Bay americascup.com HARDLY STRICTLY BLUEGRASS Oct. 4-6, San Francisco hardlystrictlybluegrass.com ART & PUMPKIN FESTIVAL Oct. 19-20, Half Moon Bay miramarevents.com UNION SQUARE TREE LIGHTING Nov. 29, San Francisco macys.com FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS Nov. 29 Yountville yountville.com OPPOSITE: PEERADACH RATTANAKOSES; S.BORISOV GAY PRIDE WEEKEND June 29-30, San Francisco sfpride.org