Postcard

California Connected visits the Santa Barbara Zoo.

With its windy coastline and dense fog atmosphere, Half Moon Bay is the perfect environment for pumpkins. That’s why 300,000 people flock to its pumpkin patches along Highway 1 every October.

We visit U.C. Berkeley’s Sather Tower, also known as The Campanile.

Children’s Beach in La Jolla was donated by California philanthropist Ellen Browning Scripps. This small sandy beach is protected by a sea wall making it a perfect spot for beachgoers. Since the 1990s, harbor seals have turned Children’s Beach into a breeding colony, setting off fierce legal battles over whether people or seals have rights to the beach.

Spanning 1,200 acres in San Diego, Balboa Park was home to the 1915 World’s Fair. In 2005, 12 million visitors enjoyed its 15 major museums, 8 botanical gardens, the world famous San Diego Zoo, the Old Globe Theater, the Cabrillo Bridge, and the Spanish Revival Masterpiece - Casa del Prado.

Located on the banks of the Sacramento River, Old Town began as a trading post and flourished during the Gold Rush. After several devastating floods in the mid-1800s, the streets of Old Town were raised above the flood line. Today, Old Town Sacramento is a national landmark and attracts over 5 million visitors a year to its cobblestone streets, waterfront restaurants and Western Heritage museums.

California Connected visits a five stamp mill in Mariposa.

Graffiti Summer is Modesto’s month-long classic car and oldies summer festival. Hot rodders and low-riders cruise the city streets and end up at the A&W drive-in where car hops deliver food right to the car window.

Devil’s Slide is the crumbling mountainside along a 250 foot stretch of Highway 1 in San Mateo County.

The Marine Mammal Center is a nonprofit hospital dedicated to the rescue, rehabilitation and study of ill and injured marine animals.

AT&T Park has been home to baseball’s San Francisco’s Giants since 2000. Located on the San Francisco waterfront, this open-air stadium seats 41,000 people. It’s most famous attraction is McCovey Cove, beyond right field, where fans float in boats and kayaks waiting for the next “spash hit” homerun.

Built in 1963, the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway ascends 2.5 miles from the floor of the Coachella Valley to the peak of Mt. San Jacinto in less than 10 minutes.

Within the Mecca Hills of Riverside County lies the Painted Canyon.

In Oceanside, Spanky’s Pizza has been feeding the marines of nearby Camp Pendelton for almost 40 years.

Built in 1872, Stearns Wharf is the oldest working wharf in California. It has survived devastating earthquakes and fires to become one of Santa Barbara’s most visited land marks.

In 1929, the Paseo del Mar neighborhood of San Pedro began slipping into the ocean. The land movement continued through the early 1960’s. The only remnants of what was once an exclusive sea-side neighborhood are slabs of street and house foundations, now known as the “Sunken City.”

More than 100 murals grace the Boyle Heights neighborhood. The most famous are the murals of the Estrada Courts, between 3200 and 3300 Olympic Blvd.