Bodega Bay is one of the many scenic stops on the 76-mile Pacific coastline of Sonoma County in northern California. Photo by Gene Korte

Located 30 miles north of San Francisco and next door to the Napa Valley, this area is home to more than 400 wineries, fine Northern California cuisine — flavorful, local, often organic — and miles of dramatic Pacific coastline.

In mid-December, the leaves are just turning colors, temps are in the high 60s and the sky is sunny. And that’s the winter forecast every year, with a tad bit of rain added for variety. Fortunately for visitors, this is also the off-season. So there’s a lot of scenery in and around vineyards, bargains in its many restaurants and small hotels and not much traffic, (www.sonomacounty.com).

For those travelers who come to do more than wine and dine, there are bike and hiking trails, golf courses and state parks, including Jack London State Historic Park (www.jacklondonpark.com), named for one of California’s most famous writers.

For art of a different kind, visit the sculptures on Florence Avenue in Sebastopol. They are one-of-a-kind treasures. It’s there you’ll find the whimsical creations of Patrick Amiot. It seemed every house on that street had one of the sculptures in its front yard. As we turned the corner onto Florence, we had one of those “oh look” moments and suspect many other visitors do, too. See an interview with the artist at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wN0neVpHSO0/

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This winter scene includes an open-air iceskating rink in Union Square, a park in the heart of San Francisco’s downtown shopping district.         Photo by Gene Korte

It’s walkable and loveable (people do leave their hearts here) and according to many travelers, this city boasts some of the best food and wines anywhere.

If you’re yearning for a big-city vacation and have a weekend to spare, why not come to San Francisco, the city on the bay.

Dine, wine, shop and get around on cable cars and buses when it’s too far to walk.

Wear flowers in your hair, especially in the charming Haight-Ashbury neighborhood of Victorian homes, and enjoy the many bargains from hotel discounts to meal deals at fine restaurants all over the city. You can always put your feet up when you get back home.

With only three nights and two days in the city, we chose bustling Union Square as our home base.

Chinatown is only six blocks away, flower stands are on every corner, and the Powell Street cable cars are right here.

It’s a park in the heart of the downtown shopping district and a neighborhood where new and renovated hotels bloom like daisies. In the winter, the ice-skating rink was open, too, and it was full of skaters well into the night.

Here are three hotels each a stone’s throw from the Square — Kensington Park Hotel, Villa Florence and the Westin St. Francis.  They vary in accouterments and price, but they all offer great beds and service.

To continue reading this article, go to http://www.ihavenet.com/Travel-San-Francisco-Weekend-Getaway.html.

With the annual Hollywood award season in full swing, perhaps it’s time to revisit a favorite stop of the stars.

The Electric Fountain in Beverly Gardens Park, seen in the movie, “Clueless,” is located at the corner of Santa Monica and Wilshire Boulevards in Beverly Hills, California. Photo by Gene Korte.

Beverly Hills is a dazzling movie set that’s open to the public. That palm-tree lined avenue, isn’t that from “Beverly Hills Cop”? Didn’t we see Julia Roberts in “Pretty Woman” walk through the Art Deco lobby of the Beverly Wilshire Hotel? Surely that was Cher who realized she loved Josh in “Clueless,” as she walked by the Electric Fountain in Beverly Gardens Park? Cinema deja vu, it’s everywhere here. The Hollywood district itself is only a few miles away, but perhaps lackluster in comparison.

About a hundred years ago this 5.7 square mile piece of land was mostly a giant lima bean field. Today’s hometown industries are beauty and fashion, celebrities, their homes and their hangouts. The grass is greener and the flowers are prettier here. There are thousands of private and public gardeners in this small town of about 35,000 souls. And there are definitely a lot of high heels and cleavage. Your fingers will go numb googling through all the cosmetic surgeon listings in its three zip codes. The best known being 90210.

The streets are full of stretch limos, of course, Mercedes and BMWs, Bentleys and Ferraris, but it’s so walkable here, as the central business district is measured in blocks not miles.

Denver Post edited excerpt. Distributed by Tribune Media Services, INC. for World’s Fare Syndicate

© 2011-2013  Diana and Gene Korte