Weekender From beaches to culinary treats

California's central coast has everything

By Kwon Mee-yoo

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. — The state of California has a thousand charms. San Francisco, the city of free spirits, and Los Angeles, the glamorous city of Hollywood, are two metropolises and the central coast connects them with breathtaking scenery and culinary treats including local wineries.

There are numerous ways to travel from San Francisco to Los Angeles, but one of the best ways would be the California State Route 1, more commonly known as Highway 1. The highway runs along some of the most beautiful coastlines of California and guarantees a pleasant scenic drive.

The coastal highway was partially closed due to a landslide in April but is scheduled to reopen this week, providing full access for travelers to see the Big Sur coastline.

Monterey Bay

Delve into the beauty of this coastal region by heading south from San Francisco to Los Angeles and the first stop would be Monterey.

The city cannot be missed for those who loved John Steinbeck’s famed novel “Cannery Row.” This is the place where the novel was set and some of the houses that inspired the story still remain in the area.

To commemorate the place’s origin, vintage can labels from the old canneries are hidden along the Cannery Row and finding these could be very amusing. The list is available at the information center.

See the cutest otters at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. The aquarium building was once a cannery, but renovated in 1984 to house more than 35,000 animals and plants including fish, invertebrates, mammals, reptiles, birds and plants found in Monterey Bay.

The sea otters on exhibit are those that have been rescued and cannot survive in the wild. Living carefree, the otters are one of the most popular marine life destinations in the aquarium, along with the three-story Kelp Forest exhibit and first-hand experiences at The Splash Zone.

The aquarium opens “The Open Sea” exhibit in July, featuring swirling sardines, colorful jellyfish shimmering in a variety of shades and other deep sea marine life such as sharks, tuna, sea turtles and many more.

After walking around the Cannery Row, visit Fisherman’s Wharf Monterey for hearty pasta served with local ingredients at Cafe Fina. The cafe’s signature dish is made from fresh homemade linguini with clam butter sauce, topped with baby bay shrimp, roma tomatoes and black olives.

For detailed information, visit www.seemonterey.com.

Hearst Castle

Newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst built his castle in San Luis Obispo County with architect Julia Morgan, bringing in a tremendous collection of antiques from all around the world from 1919 to 1947 and now it is open to the public as the California State Park.

The castle, or “La Cuesta Encantada” (“The Enchanted Hill”), called Hearst, is located on top of the Hearst Ranch’s hill. It is composed of the main castle Casa Grande and three guesthouses — Casa del Mar, Casa del Monte and Casa del Sol.

The iconic Neptune Pool has a gorgeous view of the Pacific coast. Its centerpiece is the facade of an ancient Roman temple Hearst imported to California like most other antiques in the castle. An indoor Roman pool is decorated with glass mosaic tiles from Italy.

There are five types of tours introducing different parts of the castle. Visit www.hearstcastle.org for more information.

Danish village in California

Colorful wooden buildings of Denmark pop out amid sunny California in the city of Solvang. Solvang is a small but unique town celebrating its centennial this year, established by a group of Danes.

It’s a small Denmark here — a statue of the famous Little Mermaid from Copenhagen, the bust of famed Danish fable writer Hans Christian Andersen and a replica of Copenhagen’s Round Tower can all be seen in this town. Even the name of the city comes from Danish, meaning “sunny fields.”

Unique shops and restaurants grace the Danish buildings of Solvang. For those with a sweet tooth, the city offers a “Sweet Trail” guide introducing bakeries and other candy shops in town. Among them, Danish dessert aebleskiver is not to be missed. Three round and fluffy pancakes are served with raspberry jam and powdered sugar.

The city also has the Solvang Festival Theater, which holds the Solvang Theaterfest every summer. This year’s program of the outdoor theater features the American premiere of “My Fairytale,” a Danish musical about Andersen, as well as “Hairspray,” “Two Gentlemen of Verona” and “39 Steps.”

Visit www.solvangusa.com for more information.