California's Hidden Treasures

It’s an old-movie cliché: When the credit sequence shows the skyscrapers of Manhattan, soon enough we’ll find ourselves traipsing the corridors of corporate power. But if a contemporary filmmaker wants to suggest where the corporate action is, he’d be better off sticking to the West Coast. Today’s honchos are as likely to do their moving and shaking in Portland, Seattle, or the Silicon Valley as in the wormy Big Apple.

One definite attraction of the Left Coast: Rest and relaxation are always close at hand. Especially in California, with its spectacular natural beauty, along with those pleasures concocted by man—adrenaline-priming adventure outings, restaurants and inns that put the luxe in luxury. Here are four California itineraries that take a very short time to let busy businesspeople know they’re really, really on vacation.

Itinerary 1 (5 days) - Cruisin’ Up the Coast

Along California’s Central Coast, the jagged bluffs collide with the sea and create vistas of jawdropping spectacle. Make the trek in winter and watch the morning fog roll off the cliffs—while ducking the crowds that descend in warm weather. Wear layers: A T-shirt will do for an afternoon walk on the beach, but you’ll need a windbreaker at night. The evening chill never felt so good.

Day 1: Find true relaxation on a rocky outcropping 50 feet above the booming Pacific. At the Esalen Institute, a Zen meditation workshop center in Big Sur, you’ll attend yoga seminars and eat organic food, while letting the 119-degree hot springs pamper you like a first day of vacation should.

Day 2: With average high temperatures ranging from 59 to 69 degrees year-round, there’s no bad time to golf at Pebble Beach. The course is as historic as it is challenging, but be warned: Throwing your clubs into the ocean is frowned upon. You’ll have your choice of 19th hole, but at The Inn at Spanish Bay, the distant sounds of a bagpiper under the setting sun accompany your aperitifs.

Day 3: Rent a fast machine with no top and take it on up the Pacific Coast Highway toward Monterey. On the way, stop along touristoric Cannery Row, where fishmongery has given way to hotels, dining, and shopping. The jellyfish exhibit at nearby Monterey Bay Aquarium feels more like modern art than undersea science, and it’s well worth the stop.

Day 4: Spend the morning with the Monterey Bay Dive Company exploring the giant kelp beds only a few hundred feet off shore. Head to Sam’s Chowder House in Half Moon Bay for a liquid lunch— oyster-and-vodka shooters. As the evening sets in, stroll along Half Moon Bay’s tide pools and discover a rainbow of starfish, sea urchins, and snails. You’ll end your day in luxury accommodations: L’Auberge Carmel, perched on the bluffs above Carmel Beach. Each of the 20 rooms is different, but all exude old-world charm—and they all have heated bathroom floors to coddle you when you step out of the shower.

Day 5: You’ll be well rested for your journey at the wheel of a Land Rover. At shotgun, a professional driving instructor will help you take it where it was meant to go—over huge boulders and down terrifyingly steep grades. Tonight, dine at Cantinetta Luca, where the open kitchen lets you watch the crew make exquisite pumpkin ravioli and soul-satisfying thin-crust pizza. Eat well—you’ve earned it.

Itinerary 2 (4 days) - In Vino, Veritas

The uniquely temperate climate makes Napa and Sonoma counties ideal for winemaking, but this area offers a lot more than vineyards, including soothing spas, quaint villages, excellent shopping, and some of the world’s greatest restaurants. Bottoms up.

Day 1: Begin your tour of Napa with a stop in historic Calistoga. Stay at Harbin Hot Springs and get a massage—specifically one of their patented water-based massages. Sound relaxing? So does five pools, each a different temperature, and all with a clothing-optional policy.

Day 2: Time to wine and dine. Napa is famous for its cabernets and its hundreds of wineries, but to really get a taste for the area, try a single-vineyard winery like Nickel & Nickel. They specialize in terroir—the characteristics of wine that come from the geography of the vineyard. Appointment-only guided tours walk wine lovers through the process of creating these distinct place-based vintages.

Day 3: Spend the morning window-shopping in Calistoga’s downtown district and experience the 19th-century charm of the “Saratoga of California.” Then let the Vintage Aircraft Company take you on an open-air wine-country flyover in a World War II–era biplane, heading toward the coast where Tomales Bay empties into the Pacific Ocean. For an extra fee, the pilot will perform tricks like loops and barrel rolls, but the company takes no responsibility for loss of lunch.

Day 4: For a strong whiff of nostalgia—and a broader feel for the area’s oenological heritage—take the Wine Train, a journey through the heart of Napa Valley as it was traveled before automobiles. Tonight, have dinner at Thomas Keller’s world-famous French Laundry—nine exquisite courses in which no ingredient is used twice. Word to the wise: You gotta call two months in advance to nab a reservation. Just do it.

Itinerary 3 (4 days) – Mountain Retreat

In Yosemite Valley, winter is known as the “secret season.” Take advantage of the sunny winter days, the surprisingly temperate weather, and the virtually tourist-free terrain.

Day 1: Amble into Yosemite Valley, taking all the pull-offs as you descend. The first views of Half Dome in the distance, capped in snow, will change the way you look at rocks. Make your way to The Ansel Adams Gallery to see the great photographer’s vision of Yosemite. Tonight, cuddle up with your loved one in a heated tent cabin in Curry Village.

Day 2: Spend the morning at Curry Village’s outdoor ice-skating rink in view of huge granite walls like Half Dome and Glacier Point. Then take a short hike to the meadow beneath El Capitan, site of The Nose—the world’s most famous climb. Standing below the massive hunk of granite, twice as tall as the Sears Tower, begs the question: How do they get up this thing? Wind down by the fire at the rustic Ahwahnee Hotel, sipping El Capitini pomegranate cocktails while taking in the view.

Day 3: Take a guided snowshoe hike through the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias—the largest plants on Earth—near Wawona. These giants grow to more than 200 feet tall and live to be 3,000 years old. Rather feel the rush of wind by your ears? Spend a day on the slopes at Badger Pass—site of the West’s first ski lift. Two terrain parks keep things interesting for hotshots, but there’s still plenty of action for beginners and intermediates.

Day 4: If you have the time to spend, cross-country skis are great transportation for those with the backcountry bug. An overnight trip to Mirror Lake will take you well away from the mobs of tourists and give you a chance to see Yosemite as it was before the cars and crowds. On the way out of the park, be sure to stop in the town of Groveland for a juicy burger at the Iron Door Saloon.

Itinerary 4 (4 days) - La-La Land and Beyond

It’s the place where surfing rules, skin is in, and blondes have more fun. We’re talking about SoCal, and there’s no better destination in the states for catching rays.

Day 1: Start out with a trip to the movies at the ArcLight Hollywood. This cinephile’s paradise shows a mix of blockbusters, specialty films, and retrospective releases in specially constructed black-box theaters where the seats are three inches wider than the industry standard, with six extra inches of legroom. The lobby’s café bar features bistro dining and incredible desserts—we’re talking cheesecake, not Jujyfruits—and the sound quality exceeds THX standards. That’s good. Before or after, treat yourself to upscale eats at Wolfgang Puck’s CUT in the Beverly Wilshire. It’s renowned for food, wine, and architectural design, and it’s frequented by the likes of Tom Cruise and Heidi Montag—no, not together! The hotel’s penthouse suite will cost you $7,500 for the night, but the heated toilet/bidet seat may be too much to pass up. More modest accommodations are also available.

Day 2: Stay in LA and spend the day window-shopping on Rodeo Drive—the city’s most famous shopping strip. Here you’ll find every brand in Paris Hilton’s closet: Bulgari, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Hermès. You could easily spend all day—and all your savings—here, but you don’t want to miss the more raffish charms of Venice Beach. Get to the boardwalk before the sun goes down to watch hip-hop roller skaters who can dance on wheels better than most people can in shoes. Check out the piercing parlors, but don’t do anything drastic.

Day 3: Time for a little drive down the coast to La Jolla. San Diego is the sunniest city on the West Coast and a perfect place for sailing. Harbor Yacht Clubs offers skippered tours on vessels up to 43 feet long. With the steering and knot-tying under expert control, you can focus on a romantic picnic of wine and hors d’oeuvres as the sun sets over the Pacific. If seafaring makes you queasy and Dramamine makes you unconscious, try a day on horseback at Imperial Beach. You can ride all the way to the Mexican border, where the fence slowly deteriorates into the surf. Far from a barbed boundary too high to hop, the fence dwindles away and at low tide the curious could easily cross if not for the watchful eyes of Uncle Sam. This beach may look abandoned, but Border Patrol will kindly ask you to stay stateside if they spy you eagerly eyeing the other shore.

Day 4: Trying to fill a few more sunny days? Take one of a couple day trips from Santa Barbara. A two-hour ferry ride drops day-trippers and campers at Channel Islands National Park, a marine animal sanctuary that’s home to thousands of migratory birds and colorful flora that reside nowhere else on Earth. Head inland to Santa Ynez Valley—California’s other wine country. Check out the Zaca Mesa Winery, best known for its Syrah, which was served to Jacques Chirac at the White House. Say what you will of the French, they do know wine and the rumor is that Chirac liked it. Tonight, dine at an authentic locals’ spot, The Hitching Post, which specializes in barbeque and pinot noir. An unbeatable combination.

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MBA Jungle, August 2008