Comprised of four regions – Ventura, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, and Monterey – the Central Coast stretches 350 miles from the south to the north between Los Angeles and the Bay Area.

How far do you have to drive to have a California wine weekend? Two hours? Four? All the way up to Napa? Or, is there another option – a purely Southern California destination, loaded with Mediterranean beauty, unique varietals – that’s a scant hour and a half (or less) away?.

There are so many advantages to living in Southern California – beautiful weather, fascinating culture, the beach – that it’s sometimes easy to forget the myriad entertainment options we have right at our fingertips and in our own backyards.

Luckily for Southern Californians, those options are near-limitless. And while you may pass by a luxury resort or hotel every day, it’s an entirely different experience to wake up on the other side of the resort’s grounds.

Follow Southern California’s seemingly endless freeway system east as it opens up to a desert wonderland. Just two hours out, past an iconic wind farm and a towering mountain peak,...

CLAREMONT IS L.A.’S COLLEGE AND ARTS TOWN..