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SAN LUIS OBISPO: Mission, Vineyards & the Outdoors Nestled between the Pacific Ocean 11 miles to the west and the Santa Lucia Mountains just to the east, this central-coast city of 46,000 is located midway between San Francisco and Los Angeles. Easily acces- sible by train on Amtrak or via U.S. Highway 101 and famously scenic Cali- fornia Route 1, the historic core of the city clusters around the 1759 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 windsurfing. South of the city is prime territory for winery touring and tasting: the expansive Edna Valley wine-producing region. BUELLTON: Santa Barbara Wine Country Getaway Tucked away in the Santa Rita Hills in gorgeous Santa Barbara County, this instantly likeable small town offers an abundance of attrac- tions. Among them: two famed restaurants, Pea Shop Andersen's, long-known for—yes— its flavorful pea soup, and the Hitching Post II, featured in the 2004 movie Sideways, filmed in Santa Barbara County's Wine Country, and now a cult favorite. If you're a golfer, check out the 9-hole, par-3 Zaca Creek municipal golf course smack in the center of town. Buellton's Santa Ynez Botanic Garden offers close-up looks at native plants in River View Park. Local lodging is recently revamped, with an extensive renovation of the Marriott and the Sideways Inn; sched- uled to open in spring 2017 is a new Hampton Inn. Buellton is located on U.S. 101 just north of Santa Barbara. 2 0 1 7 T R A V E L G U I D E T O C A L I F O R N I A 23 RYAN FORBES/AVABLU; BUELLTON VISITORS BUREAU; ERICA ZABOWSKI/CREATIVE COMMONS/FLICKR ; RICHARD THORNTON/SHUTTERSTOCK . OPPOSITE: BONDROCKETIMAGES/SHUTTERSTOCK MISSION SAN FRANCISCO SOLANO, Sonoma, left; wine tasting at Sanford Winery in the Santa Rita Hills near Buellton, below; the Apple Farm Inn, San Luis Obispo, bottom left; the Bakersfield Californian Building is home to the local daily newspaper, and is on the National Register of Historic Places, bottom right.