Frommers ShortCuts - Californias Central Coast

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ISBN 9781118188828 (ebk); ISBN 9781118188811 (ebk); ISBN 9781118188835 (ebk)

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About the Authors

Harry Basch is the author of Frommers Exploring America by RV and RV Vacations For Dummies and a contributor to Frommers USA. His books, articles, and photographsmany of which he produced in collaboration with his late wife, Shirleyhave been published internationally for more than 25 years.

Tara de Lis is a native Angeleno. She spent six years as the L.A. City Editor for Citysearch.com and has been published in L.A. Times Magazine , Gayot , dineLA, AOL, and CitySpots. Never officially off-duty, she spends her free time seeking out new restaurants and hand-crafted cocktails.

A third-generation Southern Californian, Mark Hiss is a writer and photographer who has spent more than 25 years in San Diego. He was founding editor of both the visitor guide Where San Diego and Performances, the playbill magazine for the citys leading performing arts venues. He is also a recovering publicist who spent many years working for several of San Diegos top theater companies.

A native San Franciscan, Erika Lenkert spends her time traipsing around the Bay Area and across the globe in search of adventure and great food. She has written for Travel + Leisure, Food & Wine, Bride's, Wine Country Living, San Francisco Magazine, Los Angeles Magazine, and Time Out. Her latest work is an entertaining and cooking guide called The Last-Minute Party Girl: Fashionable, Fearless, and Foolishly Simple Entertaining (www.lastminutepartygirl.com).

Kristin Luna hopped around a bit before finding a permanent home in San Francisco. Her intrepid spirit has led her all over the globe in search of adventure, whether scuba diving cageless with sharks in the South Pacific or hurling herself out of a plane at 15,000 feet in the Pyrenees. Kristin has worked on other Frommer's guides and been a contributor to Newsweek, Forbes Traveler, and the Travel Channel. Her work has also appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle, Islands, Real Simple, Sherman's Travel, Glamour, People, and Entertainment Weekly.

Matthew Poole , a native Californian, has authored more than two dozen travel guides to California, Hawaii, and abroad. A regular contributor to radio and television travel programs, he has made numerous guest appearances on the award-winning Bay Area Backroads television show, among other broadcast outlets. Before becoming a full-time travel writer and photographer, he worked as an English tutor in Prague, ski instructor in the Swiss Alps, and scuba instructor in Maui and Thailand. Highly allergic to office buildings and mortgage payments, he spends most of his time traveling the globe in search of new adventures.

Frommers Star Ratings, Icons & Abbreviations

Every hotel, restaurant, and attraction listing in this guide has been ranked for quality, value, service, amenities, and special features using a star-rating system . In country, state, and regional guides, we also rate towns and regions to help you narrow down your choices and budget your time accordingly. Hotels and restaurants are rated on a scale of zero (recommended) to three stars (exceptional). Attractions, shopping, nightlife, towns, and regions are rated according to the following scale: zero stars (recommended), one star (highly recommended), two stars (very highly recommended), and three stars (must-see).

In addition to the star-rating system, we also use seven feature icons that point you to the great deals, in-the-know advice, and unique experiences that separate travelers from tourists. Throughout the book, look for:

special findsthose places only insiders know about

fun factsdetails that make travelers more informed and their trips more fun

kidsbest bets for kids and advice for the whole family

special momentsthose experiences that memories are made of

overratedplaces or experiences not worth your time or money

insider tipsgreat ways to save time and money

great valueswhere to get the best deals

The following abbreviations are used for credit cards:

AE American Express DISC Discover V Visa

DC Diners Club MC MasterCard

The Best of California

by Harry Basch, Tara de Lis, Mark Hiss, Erika Lenkert, Kristin Luna & Matthew Poole

I n my early 20s, I took the requisite college students pilgrimage to Europe, exploring its finer train stations and sleeping on the premier park benches from London to Istanbul. I was relatively anonymousjust another tanned and skinny, blond and blue-eyed American with a backpack. That is, until I crossed into the former Eastern Bloc.

The reaction there was dramatic, almost palpable. Like Moses parting the sea, I wandered the crowded streets of Prague and citizens would stop, stare, and step aside as if I bore a scarlet letter A across my chest. It wasnt until a man with faltering English approached me that I discovered the reason for my newfound celebrity status.

Eh, you. Where you from? No, no. Let me guess. He stepped back and gave a cursory examination, followed by a pregnant pause. Ah, Ive got it! California! Youre from California, no? His eyes gleamed as I told him that, yes, he was quite correct. Wonderful! Wonderful! A dozen or so pilsners later with my loquacious new friend, it all became clear to me: To him, I was a celebritya rich, convertible-driving surfer who spent most of his days lazing on the beach, fending off hordes of buxom blondes while arguing with his agent via cellphone. The myth is complete, I thought. I am the Beach Boys. I am Baywatch. Status by association. The tentacles of Hollywood have done what no NATO pact could achievetheyve leapfrogged the staid issues of capitalism versus communism by offering a far more potent narcotic: the mystique of sun-drenched California, of movie stars strolling down Sunset Boulevard, of beautiful women in tight shorts and bikini tops roller-skating along Venice Beach. In short, the world has bought what the movie industry is selling.