I have had the extreme pleasure to travel to California 5 times. Twice when I was younger I was able to visit Los Angeles and San Diego. Another time I had an unexpected and decent layover on my way to New Zealand, and then for the last two years, I realized my Local Guide dream of traveling to Local Guides Connect in 2018 in San Francisco and once again to San Jose in 2019.
San Francisco
In 2018 I was able to attend Connect Live 2018 and make so many new friends along the way. Meeting some Connect moderators and Local Guides around the world. Sadly, because I had never visited the city before I had to skip the meetups and do some sightseeing. I was able to visit so many places in 3 days’ time. My favorites were the Golden Gate Bridge, Ghirardelli Square (bought so many chocolates), In & Out Burger, Boudin Bakery (The best bear I’ve ever eaten), the Wharf, running each morning to take photos of the many bridges and piers, and seeing the Google campus was the cherry on top.
San Jose
My trip last year to California was equally exciting and even more so because I recognized so many faces and met even more new LG friends. San Jose was such a fun city. It came alive at night as we visited fun breweries like Uproar Brewing and Camino (where I saw Moderators Luigi and Alejandra dance the night away). We also had a blast riding scooters around town and even breaking in some newbies who had never ridden one before. I also loved trying Philz Coffee for the first time, visiting beautiful murals and street art around town, and sightseeing at the Winchester Mystery House (a house full of architectural oddities like stairs to nowhere, trap doors, and was under construction for 38 years. Gotta ward off ghosts somehow)
Also, from my first childhood visits to California, these were my favorite destinations:
- San Diego Zoo - With over 4 million visitors, San Diego Zoo is the most visited zoo in the United States, housing more than 3,500 animals of more than 650 species and subspecies.
- Dodger Stadium - Catching a Los Angeles Dodgers game at Dodger Stadium. I kept the little baseball hat ice cream cup and commemorative bat for almost 20 years.
- Walk of Fame - I really enjoyed seeing all the Hollywood Stars on the sidewalk and getting accosted by street performers as a kid.
- Randy’s Doughnuts - I have no idea if these doughnuts were good. But the giant doughnut sign was the thing I talked about most after my trip to LA.
My Weird California Facts
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Many popular inventions have come out of California including skateboards, fortune cookies, Barbies, Apple, blue jeans, and video arcade games
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Beverly Hills began as a lima bean ranch
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The full Californian 1,100-mile-long coastline is a national monument
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In Blythe, California it is illegal to wear cowboy boots unless you own a minimum of two cows
Happy to be a part of #TeamUSA
This post is part of the #StateChallenge organized by @Kwiksatik and @Denise_Barlock. If you want to find out more, check out the State Challenge index, and you can also find other submissions by searching the #StateChallenge hashtag.
I will try it when I come to California again.