L AT I ME S .
CO M
ROAD TRIPS PLACES TO GO
QUICK BREAKS
It’s amazing what a couple of days away can do for a body. Hop in the car and set your
navigation system for relaxation at any of these nine driving-distance destinations, drawn
from our popular Weekend Escape series (www.latimes.com/weekend escapes). It may be
only a short time, but you’ll find yourself making lifelong memories in these settings.
LIBERTY STATION in San Diego is a walkable area with plenty of dining and museums to explore, no naval training required.
SAN DIEGO
THE ART OF LIBERTY
By Irene Lechowitzky
All hands on deck! Liberty
Station, a 1920s naval training fa-
cility in San Diego, has been repur-
posed as a mixed-use devel-
opment. It’s still used for training,
but now converted barracks host
dance and art classes as well as
galleries, shops and small muse-
ums. The Spanish Revival archi-
tecture, covered walkways and
plazas are a delight to stroll
through.
My husband and I popped into
a watercolor exhibit, watched a
flamenco dance class work on a
difficult sequence and listened to
a docent explain an elaborate tex-
tile piece. Best of all, the Navy
commissary that served chipped
beef on toast has been replaced by
NEWPORT BEACH
WILDLIFE AND URBAN DELIGHTS
By Jan Molen
Between school and work, three
days was all my family of four could
put together for a vacation. We
wanted relaxation, a sense of awe
and good food so imagine our sur-
prise at finding all that in Newport
Beach a half-hour from our home.
Our first stop was the Newport
Bay Conservancy’s Peter and Mary
Muth Interpretive Center for a les-
son in how Upper Newport Bay be-
came a critical wildlife habitat in
the heart of an upscale city. After-
ward, we hit the Upper Bay Trail
(2.2 miles) and the Back Bay Drive
(3 1/2 miles, popular with bird
watchers).
We chose the Newport Beach
Marriott Bayview, across the street
from the hiking trails. Our suite
had two double beds and a sepa-
rate living room with a mini-fridge
and sleeper-sofa — plenty of space
for a family with two daughters, 17
and 20, and all the stuff they can’t
leave home without.
We aimed to keep our dining
casual, mid-range and close, al-
though it would have been easy to
splurge (we were in Newport
Beach, after all). Dinner was at
Nancy Silverton’s and Mario
Batali’s Pizzeria Mozza. Highlights
included the Brussels sprouts
pizza and caprese with roasted
cherry tomatoes and creamy bur-
rata. The next day we strayed down
the coast a bit to the Tackle Box,
the snack shack of “Top Chef” con-
testant Brian Huskey right on the
the Liberty Public Market, a food
hall with multiple vendors.
The Courtyard San Diego Air-
port/Liberty Station, adjacent to
a large park with waterfront views
of downtown, is an easy walk to
everything in Liberty Station and
offers a free shuttle to the nearby
airport. The rooms have enough
style to overcome the feel of a
standard business hotel; ameni-
ties include free Wi-Fi, mini-fridge,
Keurig coffeemaker and a 40-inch
flat-screen TV.
Families might want to choose
the Homewood Suites by Hilton
next door, which offers daily com-
plimentary breakfast and other
extras.
We grazed our way through
Liberty Public Market, sampling
goodies from its food artisans and
chefs. There are butchers, bakers
A BLACK SKIMMER flies over the Upper Newport Bay State Marine Conservation Area.
beach in Corona del Mar. We loved
the pork belly bánh mi, fried catfish
sandwich and buffalo cauliflower.
Thanks to the Newport Bay
Conservancy’s two-hour kayak
tour, we witnessed an animated
spat between a heron and a duck,
gawked as a flock of birds flew by at
eye level and paddled past tall
cordgrass used by endangered
and olive oil makers as well as a
roster of kitchen wizards knock-
ing out ceviche, jambalaya, poke,
lobster rolls and more. My top
picks from a weekend’s worth of
indulgence included the
bratwurst sandwich with onions,
peppers and bacon crumbles at
Mastiff Sausage Co. and the sea-
soned chicken and beef empa-
nadas at Parana Empanadas
Argentinas.
The tiny New Americans
Museum in Liberty Station cele-
brates immigrants.Nearby, the
San Diego Comic Art Gallery fea-
tures original art and often has
working artists on the premises.
If you visit on the first Friday of
the month, there’s the nighttime
art walk with its mix of dance, the-
ater and music performances,
open museums and galleries, and
Ridgway’s rails to weave nests that
rise and sink with the tide. The
tour, which leaves from the New-
port Aquatic Center, started with a
quick lesson, but we moved across
the bay at a leisurely pace. Tours
are at 10 a.m. on weekends.
Miles one way from downtown
L.A.: 43
S U NDAY , J U N E 11, 2 017
ULI/San Diego-Tijuana photos
opportunities to yak with local
artists.
Miles one way from downtown
L.A.: 117
Resources: Liberty Station,
www.libertystation.com; Court-
yard San Diego Airport/Liberty
Station, www.lat.ms/liberty
stationhotel; Homewood Suites
by Hilton, www.lat.ms
/libertystationhomewood; Liber-
ty Public Market, www.liberty
publicmarket.com; Mastiff Sau-
sage Co., www.mastiffsausage
company.com; Parana Empa-
nadas Argentinas, www
.paranaempanadas.com; New
Americans Museum,
www.newamericansmuseum.org;
San Diego Comic Art Gallery,
www.sdcomicartgallery.com
Irfan Khan Los Angeles Times
Resources: Peter and Mary
Muth Interpretive Center,
www.lat.ms/newportbay;
Newport Beach Marriott Bayview,
www.lat.ms/bayview; Pizzeria
Mozza, newportbeach.pizzeria
mozza.com; Tackle Box, www
.tackleboxoc.com; Newport
Aquatic Center, www.lat.ms/
kayaktour
S19
Rebecca Bryant Los Angeles Times
A TREE on the Redwood
Grove Loop Trail in Henry
Cowell Redwoods State Park.
FELTON, CALIF.
LOOK
UP IN
THE
WOODS
By Rebecca Bryant
Felton is all about the red-
woods. You can hike under them,
chug past them or just sit with a
drink in your hand and gaze at
them.
The small town (population
4,000), tucked in the woods min-
utes north of Santa Cruz, has an
old-growth forest and miles of hik-
ing trails. Don’t feel like walking?
You can also ride the rails through
the woods. Roaring Camp
Railroads’ open-car steam trains
are the big-boy versions of the Grif-
fith Park steamers, with engines
dating from the 1890s.
The cabins at the family-run
Fern River Resort are what led us
to Felton. You open the windows on
cool nights and listen to the San
Lorenzo River just yards away. In
the morning, you sit on your back
porch and watch the water mean-
der past. The cabins are quaint, if
sometimes quirky. The shower
head in one cabin was so low I had
to duck under it (I’m 5 feet 3 inches
tall).
For breakfast, head to Rocky’s
Cafe and sit in the sun-soaked en-
closed porch. After home fries and
eggs or the butter-covered French
toast sandwich (it’s as sinful as it
sounds), you might want to curl up
on a bench and let the morning
rays warm you.
Dinner is at the Cremer House.
You can order bison meatballs on
creamy polenta or go the opposite
route with the beet burger and
wash down whichever with a choice
of two dozen craft beers — or
house-made sodas. Almond and
cherry is a standout.
Stroll among the giants at
Henry Cowell Redwoods State
Park and see if you can pick out
which is the tallest tree at 277 feet.
You’ll definitely want to start on
the Redwood Grove Loop Trail.
Stand up in the fire-hollowed Fre-
mont Tree that Gen. John C. Fré-
mont is said to have camped in
when he and Kit Carson passed
through in 1846.
You can walk from Henry Cow-
ell Redwoods State Park to Roar-
ing Camp Railroads, or vice versa,
saving the short drive and the dou-
ble parking fee.
Miles one way from downtown
L.A.: 348
Resources: Fern River Resort,
www.fernriver.com; Rocky’s Cafe,
www.lat.ms/rockyscafe; Cremer
House, www.cremerhouse.com;
Henry Cowell Redwoods State
Park, www.lat.ms/henry
cowellpark; Roaring Camp
Railroads, www.roaringcamp
.com