#almond-blossom-cruise

#almond-blossom-cruise

Kelsie Hayes of Popup Florist has opened her own NYC event space and creative studio, showcasing fresh floral designs that embody the spirit of spring.

Sol Botanica is HUNT & GATHER'S new home for gathering, where nature-forward drinks and seasonal small plates meet local art, celebrating the beauty of community.

Fresha, born Frescia Belmar, is nominally a jazz bassist, but her artistry transcends the form, moving effortlessly between jazz, rock, fusion, and R&B.

The Milestone Mo-Tel, an elegant, whitewashed structure modeled on an old Spanish mission, marked the beginning of a new form of accommodation and an entire travel movement.

"We want people to experience Big Sur the way it should be experienced, with these beautiful mountains and beaches," says Danielle Brown, front desk supervisor at Treebones. "... I want them to feel comfortable, but also disconnected."

The Japanese Tea Garden endures as one of the most popular attractions in San Francisco, featuring classic elements such as an arched drum bridge, pagodas, stone lanterns, and serene koi ponds.

Southern California, especially Los Angeles, has many breathtaking botanical gardens and wildflower-lined hiking trails. But it's also exciting to visit private home gardens that are rarely open to the public and find inspiration even if you don't have space for a garden at home.

Attendees will move between tasting stations set up at shops and restaurants throughout the row, sampling selections that range from local California vintages to international favorites, accompanied by lite bites.

Death Valley National Park is treating visitors to what rangers are calling the most outstanding bloom year in a decade - the best since the 2016 "superbloom" - according to National Park Service. Recent rainfall and mild winter temperatures have triggered dormant seeds to sprout, creating a fleeting spectacle of desert color.

Get up early to drive into the hills and park in the main lot, which opens 30 minutes before sunrise. This will leave you with enough time to make your way to the peak through the wildflower-scattered trails and watch the sunrise over the Bay.

For 2025, there was good news and bad news: overall, these areas were visited 323 million times over the course of the year. That's the good news; the bad news is that this figure was down ever so slightly - specifically, 2.7% - from a record-setting 2024.

As a SoCal resident, I visit Anza-Borrego at least once a year to explore the sandstone Slot canyon and surrounding desert, keeping an eye out for animals like chuckwalla lizards and bighorn sheep. Despite its incredibly dry environment (the park averages just four to eight inches of rain a year, and summertime temps routinely hit the hundreds), Anza-Borrego teems with life and opportunities to explore one of the nation's most unique ecosystems.

These oysters once existed in the millions here but were decimated by dredging, pollution and shoreline hardening. Now they're on the upswing, thanks to organizations like the Wild Oyster Project, which is working to build a "swimmable, edible Bay using the power of oysters."

It's 9:30 p.m. Snack time. A sacred fourth meal, when I pull out my handwash-only kobachi and drop in a small handful of Blue Diamond Smokehouse almonds. I've been eating them for more years than I care to admit, appreciating the mix of natural (high protein and fiber) almonds with a splash of addictive processing (mmm, hickory smoke flavor and maltodextrin) to keep them feeling dangerous.

Times are hard, but don't believe the rumors about the death of the Bay Area art scene. Yes, art institutions and galleries are closing. Yes, the techies have taken over, outpricing artists and polluting culture with their AI inventions. But there's an inherent spirit of rebellion to the region that won't be quashed so easily, and an inspired community that fights for it every day.

The event they're waiting for is the flowering of the valley's cherry trees, which number about two million. So far, only a handful—a variety called Royal Tioga—have dared to don their frilly spring frocks. The rest are still clutching their drab grey winter garb. Predicting the arrival of blossom is always tricky, but thanks to an unseasonably wet March the trees are three weeks late when I visit.

We want to honor and celebrate the diversity of our Japanese and Japanese American communities and invite others to learn more about our culture. Japanese and Japanese Americans have been vital to the Bay Area, and this festival is our way of bringing the community together.

This month-long crusade taking place at more than 50 participating wineries, restaurants, and hotels throughout Sonoma County drops the cost of tasting experiences down to just $15 from February 15th through March 15th. To participate, simply pick a location from the website and either walk in or call ahead for a reservation (most don't require one)and don't forget to mention Sonoma Sips.

Global travel booking website Skyscanner has named its top five destinations for solo travel this winter, and a Northern California favorite the Sonoma Coast made the list. The Sonoma Coast invites a different kind of stillness, the guide notes, praising the rugged shoreline as an antidote to crowded itineraries and overplanned escapes. The roundup also includes Guadalupe Mountains National Park in Texas, Tangier Island in Virginia, Olympic National Park in Washington and Red River Gorge in Kentucky.