Skydance Skydiving

Enjoying (Northern) California

Bored? There's an entire state of gorgeous landscapes, crazy sports, and excited people waiting to entertain you.

Introduction It doesn't take long to realize that there's a reason so many people move to California. From wandering the tourist-packed streets of Los Angeles, to enjoying the quiet solitude of Big Basin, to narrowly avoiding being blown off the Golden Gate Bridge on your bicycle, to feeling the adrenaline pump through your veins as you free-fall from 13, 000 feet in Sacramento, there's always a new experience to be had.

Geographically

• The City
• Golden Gate Bridge - of course you have to see the bridge. It's huge and red and gorgeous. Biking or walking across it is really nice on a nice day, but on a cloudy day it can get quite chilly. Be careful of strong winds if you choose to bike!
• Golden Gate Park - There's something going on here all the time. Swing dancing on weekends, as well as various cultural festivals to be seen. We tried tightrope walking. Kickball is big here, as are Ultimate, lawn bowling, and jogging. There are also museums, a Japanese tea garden, a flower conservatory, and horseshoe pits here.
• The Haight - The birthplace of revolution is still home to some pretty intriguing things. The people are pretty chill, and their street festivals are pretty sweet. They know how to party.
• The Piers - Pier 39 is famous for the sea lions that live on it, but the whole area is pretty interesting. There are old ships (pirate and otherwise) that you can check out, as well as some pretty amazing clam chowder. There's a ferry that will take you to Sausalito, which is a cute little tourist town on the North Bay. You can see Alcatraz from here.
• The Mission - Mmmmm. Burrito!
• Chinatown - There's some pretty fantastic Chinese food to be had in the City. The famous restaurants are good, but they always have long lines. It's just as worth it to go to a smaller place.
• Yerba Buena/SF MOMA area - Near the Caltrain station in the City there's a wealth of things to do. At Yerba Buena Gardens you can find ice skating, bowling, the Zeum, a playground with a xylophone, waterfalls, and an amazing tea shop. Just next door are the Metreon, which has an amazing arcade and an IMAX theater, and SF MOMA.
• Ghirardelli Square - They give you a free square of chocolate just for visiting, and they have ice cream that's to die for.
• Coit Tower - One of the highest spots in the city with a great view of the skyline.
• Twin Peaks - The highest spot in the city. Market Street points pretty much straight at the viewing platforms at the top, which makes a pretty sweet backdrop for photos.
• South Bay
• San Jose - 10th largest city in the US, home to the Tech Museum of Innovation, innumerable play houses, and the Winchester Mystery House.
• Silicon Valley - The Computer History Museum, Google, eBay, Yahoo!, Facebook, Apple, parts of Microsoft, and lots of startups live here. It's history in the making!
• Stanford - This campus is gorgeous. Red brick as far as the eye can see, plus murals, colonnades, and interesting sculptures.
• East Bay
• Oakland - This place is a little sketch, but there are interesting events here sometimes. The Fire Arts Festival was in Oakland at the end of July, and it was sweet.

• Santa Cruz
• Boardwalk - Everyone goes to the boardwalk in Santa Cruz. It's pretty much requisite. There are sea lions to watch, waves to catch, and even an amusement park to check out.
• Marine Institute - A little ways north of the main city is a marine institute run by one of the nearby universities. There are whale skeletons, picturesque cliffs, and interesting vegetation.
• Monterey
• Aquarium - Famous! And pretty neat. Sort of expensive, but definitely the biggest aquarium I've ever been in.
• Cannery Row - As made famous by Steinbeck. It's sadly dilapidated now, but it was clearly once teeming with people. (I guess it still is, but once upon a time they weren't all tourists.)
• 17 Mile Drive - Not often will I pay to drive on a road, but this one was pretty interesting. There's a famous golf course here, as well as slews of multi-million dollar houses. Manatees chill along the beach, as do pelicans and other seaside wildlife.
• Pacific Coast Highway
• Driving - Do it. The PCH is one of the most scenic highways in the US.
• Surfing - Down by Los Angeles is where surfing is a lifestyle. It's not too expensive to rent a board (we found boards + wetsuits for around $75/person for the whole day), and there are places where the waves are tame enough to practically teach yourself.

• Hollywood
• Grauman's Chinese Theater - It's neat to see, but there isn't a lot to do here. There are street shows around.
• The Hollywood sign - One of my favorite memories from the trip to LA was driving the convertible, looking in the rear-view mirror, and seeing the Hollywood sign slowly getting smaller behind me. It's iconic.
• The walk of fame - So many stars! And so many people I hadn't heard of before... but it's neat to see.
• The Church of Scientology - Seriously? There's a 10-story building dedicated to it.
• Beverly Hills
• Rodeo Drive - The shopping site of the stars. Things are wicked expensive, but you could be on the bleeding edge of fashion.
• Homes - Just driving around in Beverly Hills and marveling at people who spend your annual salary on filling up their jets is a good experience.
• Downtown
• Fountains - There are tons of fountains scattered through the city, and some of them are HUGE.

• Death Valley - The lowest point in the states, at around 100 feet below sea level. And hot as blazes. For a more authentic experience, do it without air conditioning! There's a danger of your car overheating if you try to run it, anyway.
• Big Basin - California redwoods. So humbling. There are numerous trails for day hikes or overnight hikes here.
• Yosemite - At the top of a treacherous drive is one of the best National Parks in the country. Hiking trails abound, of course. The trail that we took was called "Yosemite Falls, " and it ultimately led us to the top of the mountains, and to a fantastic mountain spring-fed pool.
• Mount Tamalpais - Just north of San Francisco is this park. The area is pretty, but it can be hauntingly beautiful when wreathed in the City's characteristic fog.
• Tuolomne River - One of the only class V rivers in the States. Great for rafting!

Topically

• Sky Dance skydiving (Davis)
• Jetski Rental (Near Tahoe)
• Surf Rental Shops (Venice, Malibu, etc.)
• Whitewater Rafting (Tuolomne River and elsewhere)
• Tightrope walking (San Francisco - Golden Gate Park)
  

• Pearl's (San Francisco)
• Stanford Theater (Palo Alto)
• Samovar Tea Lounge (San Francisco)
• Swing dancing in the park (San Francisco - Golden Gate Park)
  

• Big Basin (Big Basin)
• Yosemite (Yosemite)
• Mount Tamalpais (north of San Francisco)
  
• Death Valley (near the Nevada border)
• Sierra Nevadas (the spine of California to the East)

• Soccer field (anywhere)
• Golden Gate Park (San Francisco)
• Golden Gate Bridge (San Francisco)
• Big Basin (Big Basin)
• Yosemite (Yosemite)
  

• Film festivals (San Francisco - Golden Gate Park)
• Bottom of the Hill (San Francisco)
  

• The Haight (San Francisco)
  

• Tech Museum of Innovation (San Jose)
• Computer History Museum (Mountain View)
• LucasFilms (San Francisco - Presidio)
  

• Santa Cruz
• Venice (Los Angeles)
• Malibu (Los Angeles)
  

• Garlic Festival (Gilroy)
• Napa Valley (Bay Area)
• Ghirardelli Square (San Francisco)
  

• BFD (Mountain View)
• Projekt Revolution (Mountain View)
• Download Festival (Mountain View)
  
• Pearl's (San Francisco)
  

• Golden Gate Bridge (San Francisco)
• Corner of Haight and Ashbury (San Francisco)
• UN Building (San Francisco)
• Ghirardelli Square (San Francisco)
• Napa Valley (Bay Area)
  
• Pier 39 (San Francisco)
  
• Monterey Bay Aquarium (Monterey Bay)
• Cannery Row (Monterey Bay)
• Grauman's Chinese Theater (Los Angeles - Hollywood)
• Walk of Fame (Los Angeles - Hollywood)
  
• Rodeo Drive (Los Angeles - Beverly Hills)
• Church of Scientology (Los Angeles - Hollywood)