Travel: Northern California

Home of two major cities, Sacramento and San Francisco, northern California is a world away from the beaches, flipflops and celebrities of southern California.

Sacramento, the state capital of California, is located a bit inland from the pacific coast. Visiting Sacramento includes visiting one of the largest railroad museums in the United States, the California State Railroad Museum. Other museums worth noting are the California State Capital Museum, and the California Museum for History, Women and the Arts.

Take a day trip out to Amador Flower Farm which is home to 12 acres of lovely gardens ~ bring a picnic lunch to enjoy on the grounds. On your way back to Sacramento, visit the tasting room at Deaver Vineyards to sample the award winning wines that have been a Deaver family tradition for over a century.

Notably, a mere seventy-five miles (121 km) north of Sacramento, is Lake Oroville State Recreation Area, which has fishing, hiking and camping areas, including a visitor's center with interactive exhibits.

Sacramento is a cultural power house, with Old Sacramento as the centerpoint of Sacramento's history. This 28-acre state historic park is home of a variety of museums, restaurants, shops and entertainment and is located right on Sacramento River. Another cultural area of interest includes the Sacramento Philharmonic Orchestra which is celebrating it's 10th Anniversary in 2007, which promises to be a great season with a number of world premieres.

Southwest of Sacramento, and right on the coast lays the infamous San Francisco! The most famous of San Francisco hallmarks include the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz Island and of course, the San Francisco cable cars.

Alcatraz prison was only open for a mere 29 years, however its reputation has lasted much longer- with 14 escape attempts (none officially successful) and many famous prisoners! Alcatraz is also listed by many publications as one of the most haunted places in America.

San Francisco is a hub for culture and contemporary living - famous for liberalism, and often a center of controversy. As the home of "San Francisco Pride" one of the most well known gay pride festivals in the world, San Fran has earned the nickname the "gay mecca" and is the world's most popular destination for gay tourists.

San Francisco has many beautiful museums- the architecture is worth seeing as much as what is contained within. The Palace of Fine Arts is a popular spot for marriages and has a 1,000 seat performing arts theater on the grounds as well as the "exploratorium"- a public science museum which draws over 500,000 visitors per year. San Francisco also boasts the Asian Art Museum which contains one of the most comprehensive collections of Asian art in the world.

San Francisco has been ranked by the Mercer human resources firm as the 28th best city to live in, in the world and has 15 designated "sister cities" including Caracas, Venezuela; Sydney, Australia; and Paris, France.