North America

California

America has as much diversity in peoples as it does in geographies. - Terri Guillemets

— America

Place stories in California (United States Of America).

Map

Each pin sits where that place’s story is anchored — the latitude and longitude saved with the write-up.

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Places

Open a story — photos, maps, and notes from each location.

Big Sur
We started on the bit of the PCH called Big Sur, which is some of the most impressive coastline and windy windy roads!
Los Angeles
I’ve visited LA twice. Once in 2010 on a road trip from San Diego to San Francisco (via Yosemite) and once in 2019 to visit family. Both tr…
Malibu
Out of Santa Monica and through Malibu was beautiful, it was a really nice way to start the drive. I was driving that morning, and about tw…
Napa Valley
We then went to a small vineyard which also doubled as an Art Gallery on several floors. I had drawn the long straw so was able to do wine …
Sacramento
We walked into town. The main street was a recreation, much like Old Town in San Diego. Full of tourist trap stores, more Disney than anyth…
San Diego
Once checked in we wandered down to the gas lamp quarter to have a look around and find some dinner. Most of the buildings were from prohib…
San Francisco
We pulled into San Francisco at about quarter to five. A nice place, but smack bang in the middle of the Tenderloin, which isn't the best a…
San Luis Obispo
An evening stop on our drive along the Pacific Coast Highway, San Luis Obispo was a surprising place.
San Simeon
The following morning, I dragged myself out of bed at about nine for breakfast, and decided against the pool as I may drown (and enjoy it a…
Santa Barbara
Next stop on the drive was Santa Barbara, downtown. We parked in the main area by the pier and had lunch at a faux English fish and chips p…
Santa Cruz
Jumping back on the Highway One, we zoomed into Santa Cruz and checked in to a Knights Inn. Seems like a nice place and we've got a decent …
Santa Monica
We wandered around town for a while just getting a feel for the place. Santa Monica is awesome, it has a really good vibe!
Sonoma
We arrived in Sonoma and checked into the hotel, which was really nice. Old for America, having been built in the eighteen hundreds. It had…
Stockton
We briefly stopped in Stockton and were harassed about voting until we made it clear that we were tourists and so helping us vote would be …
Yosemite National Park
It is very hard to convey the sense of scale of the trees. In a picture they often look like regular trees because there are no context clu…