California

This state opens the way for exploration of its newest sights while celebrating many historic events and traditions.

San Diego has one of the fastest growing cruise ports on the West Coast. It is homeport to Carnival Cruise Lines and Holland America Line, and an embarkation/debarkation port for Celebrity and Royal Caribbean ships. During its primary cruise season, September-May, ships docking at San Diego travel to the Mexican Riviera and Sea of Cortez, Hawaii, Vancouver and to the Panama Canal, Central America and Caribbean.

Because of this, San Diego is one of the most popular destinations for both shore excursions and pre and post-cruise tours. Its port is located at the citys Embarcadero, adjacent points of interest. It is only a few blocks from downtown, the Gaslamp Quarter, PETCO Park, Little Italy and many other popular areas. Cruise passengers not familiar with San Diego will want to visit the International Visitor Information Center located across the street from the Cruise Ship Terminal. Another option for an overview of the city highlights is with Old Town Trolley Tours. It stops at the Cruise Terminal every twenty minutes and offers a narrated two-hour tour of the city with on-and-off privileges at Seaport Village, the Gaslamp Quarter, Horton Plaza, Coronado Island, Balboa Park, the San Diego Zoo and Old Town San Diego State Historic Park.

Universal Studios Hollywood has added several enhancements to its studio tour. New attractions showcase King Kong and the new movie, The Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift, which uses advanced robotics to thrust guests into the movies underground world of street racing. Also new is a lively video narration by Whoopie Goldberg, Al Roker, Nancy O Dell and Billy Bush, who are the studios virtual tour guides. The tour that visits filming and production locations now highlights the shows, Crossing Jordan and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.

Shakespeare Santa Cruz concludes its 25th anniversary season with the world premiere of Sleeping Beauty, Nov. 17-Dec.10. This lively and witty musical rendition of the classic fairy tale is done in English plano style, and is performed at the University of Calif. Santa Cruzs Mainstage Theater.

Mountain Mandarin Festivl, Nov. 18-19, is at Auburns Gold Country Fairgrounds. The area boasts more than 50 Mandarin growers and the festival is held at harvest time. There are recipe contests, a cook-off and all types of mandarin flavored foods ranging from BBQ pork to milkshakes. There are fruit themed arts and crafts, music and entertainment.

San Franciscos Maritime Museum has closed for a major rehabilitation and redesign. The projected completion and re-opening is slated for fall of 2007.

In California, water is more precious than gold. Most of the states agricultural lands and metropolitan areas are dependent on the flow of water from the California Water Project, built in the 1950-60s. This facility consists of 33 water storage lakes and reservoirs and 20 pumping plants, nine of which are hydroelectric and generate power. It also has more than 700 miles of canals, pipelines, tunnels and siphons which deliver water throughout the state and includes 444 miles of the route that parallels Interstate Hwy. 5. Two important storage facilities, Lake Oroville near the town of Oroville, and San Luis Reservoir near Los Banos, have visitor centers. Each offers exhibits and information about the Water Project and its respective facility. In addition, there are guides and maps to other area sights and points of interest. At the Oroville Center, there is a 47-foot tower with an observation deck that offers panoramic views of the lake, Sierra Nevada Mountains, its foothills and the Sutter Buttes. The Feath r River Fish Hatchery is nearby and has visitor services. The San Luis Reservoir center has interpretive guides for groups to learn about the dam project and the areas natural history. The Reservoirs fore bay is a popular area for windsurfing and nearby is the Kesterson National Wildlife Refuge, an important winter nesting area for migrating birds.

The Folsom Powerhouse State Historic Park has completed its extensive seismic and structural improvements and has reopened for public view. Its massive transformers are capable of conducting from 800 to 11,000 volts of electricity. Displays describe the working of the fore bay and canal system which carried water from area dams and delivered electricity to Sacramento. Group visits and interpretive guides for tours are available with advance reservation.

Story by Elana Andersen

Courtesy: Grouptravelblog