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Quintessential California

The Automobile

If America has a love affair with the car, California has an out-and-out obsession. Even when gasoline prices go through the roof and freeway traffic slows to a crawl, their passion burns as hot as ever. Witness this ardor any summer weekend at huge classic- and custom-car shows throughout the state. An even better place to feel the love is behind the wheel. Drive through a canyon to the sea on Laguna Canyon Road to Laguna Beach; trace an old stagecoach route through the mountains above Santa Barbara on Highway 154; follow 17-Mile Drive along the precipitous edge of the Monterey Peninsula. Gorgeous for the most part, but authentically congested in some areas down south, Highway 1 runs almost the entire length of the California coast. Wherever you go on the road, you'll see California the way many locals prefer to: from inside a car.

The Beach

California's beach culture is, in a word, legendary. It only makes sense that a state with 1,264 mi of coastline, a hefty portion of which sees the sun upward of 300 days a year, would perfect the art of beach-going. It starts with year-round maintenance of a reasonably beach-ready physique and a wardrobe of stylish flip-flops, bikinis, and wet suits. Mastery of at least one beach skill—surfing, Boogie-boarding, kayaking, Frisbee-tossing, power-walking—is essential, as is having the right gear. As a visitor, you need only one bathing suit and some rented equipment. You can go to the beach almost anywhere, thanks to the Californian belief in coastal access as a birthright. The farther south you go, the wider, sandier, and sunnier the beaches; the farther north, the rockier and foggier, with colder and rougher surf. Each offers a little something different: just find any beach and spend an afternoon.

The Wine

If California were a country, it would rank as the world's fourth-largest wine producer, after Italy, France, and Spain. In those countries, which hardly think of it as an alcoholic beverage, wine represents delicious nourishment to be shared with friends and family. A modern, Americanized version of that mentality integrates wine into daily life in California. In the Napa and Sonoma valleys, Mendocino County, the Central Coast, the Sierra Foothills, and the Temecula Valley are respected appellations where numerous wineries offer tours and tastings. Simply driving through vineyard-blanketed countryside lets you feel the Wine Country vibe. Better restaurants and wineshops anywhere in the state will do the same if you take the time to ask their friendly experts which California bottles you might like.

The Outdoors

One of the great attractions of living in California—the mild year-round weather enjoyed by most of the state—inspires the people here to live outdoors as much as they can. To be sure, they have tremendous enthusiasm for every conceivable outdoor sport and wilderness activity, but the open-air life, California-style, has much greater scope. Alfresco dining on patios, decks, and wharves; open-air shopping malls with walkways through landscaped grounds; jazz, classical, and contemporary concert series held under the stars; street markets specializing in food, crafts, imported wares, antiques, or junk; major art museums with sculpture installed in extensive gardens; theater festivals in outdoor amphitheaters; fiestas and fairs celebrating everything from gay pride to garlic. Remember your sunscreen or sweater.