Despite the relatively short timeline of its modern development, Northern California has been shaped into one of the most startlingly diverse and richly historical regions of the nation by a number of cataclysmic and sensational events.
The region was long inhabited by indigenous people, and after nearly a century of Spanish and Mexican rule, the Gold Rush of 1848 and 1849 irresistibly drew approximately 300,000 hopeful people from all over the world via newfangled steamships and railroads to the previously sparsely settled area to try their luck at striking it rich. This influx of miners and their money led directly to California’s statehood in 1850 as well as the rapid growth of many communities.
In 1906, the region was shaken to the core by the Great Earthquake, the destruction of which forever marked the citizens of Northern California as survivors.
A wave of World War II veterans and their families swelled the population in the late 1940s and ’50s, and the rise of computers in the 1970s continues to create another sort of rush in the technology capital of Silicon Valley.
Each exciting chapter in Northern California’s progress has left its distinctive mark, and the past is never far away, as a wealth of historic meeting venues and group opportunities await discovery in every corner of the region.
San Francisco
San Francisco’s rise from podunk coastal settlement to teeming boomtown with the discovery of gold in 1848 is the stuff of legend, as is the proud young city’s rise from destruction in the Great Earthquake and Fire of 1906. The city’s rapid, grand rebuilding impressed President William Howard Taft enough in 1911 to dub it the “City that Knows How” and to declare San Francisco the official World’s Fair city to celebrate the opening of the Panama Canal as the host of the Panama-Pacific International Exposition in 1915.
Despite its modern-day reputation for peace-loving politics, the city was a vital naval and military stronghold from the Civil War through World War II. San Francisco’s legacy of glamour and drama lends itself perfectly to inspiring events in a wide variety of striking, history-laden venues.
The Palace Hotel is a perfect symbol of the city’s death and rebirth. It was the dream of banking tycoon William Ralston to transform San Francisco from a tumultuous Gold Rush village into a world-class gem of a city by creating a hotel that would put the most magnificent hotels of Europe to shame. Mere weeks away from witnessing its grand opening, his financial empire collapsed, and Ralston’s body was found floating in the bay. His partner persevered in making Ralston’s dream come true, and The Palace opened in 1875 as the world’s most luxurious hotel, without peer. The hotel was gutted by fire after the 1906 quake but was lavishly rebuilt to open again in 1909. An impeccable restoration in 1989 returned the property as much as possible to its original splendor, and today the hotel greets groups with 552 guest rooms and 53,000 square feet of meeting space.
“The Palace seamlessly merges modern necessity with historic elegance and luxurious comfort to provide an exceptional guest experience,” says Stephanie Lapsley, director of sales and marketing at the property. “The hotel is San Francisco history, and you feel that the minute you walk through the front door.”
Just down the street along the palm-lined Embarcadero, the newly rebuilt Ferry Building was renovated in 2004 as an upscale food market featuring a huge variety of local specialty, gourmet and organic items for the discerning palate. It is also once again serving the city as a ferry terminus, and thousands of commuters pass through it daily. Built in 1898, the Ferry Building was once called “a famous city’s most famous landmark” by beloved San Francisco Chronicle columnist Herb Caen.
“The Ferry Building’s historic Grand Hall offers a variety of possibilities for special events,” says Jane Connors, communications specialist at San Francisco’s Equity Office. “With a breathtaking skylight, detailed mosaic floor and remarkable history, the Ferry Building creates an unforgettable experience for every event.”
The Ferry Building is able to accommodate private events as large as 400 for seated meals or 500 for receptions. Hip Vietnamese fusion restaurant the Slanted Door, located at the Ferry Building, offers a private dining room capable of seating 20 people.
The Presidio, a former military base on the forested northern tip of the San Francisco Peninsula, was first sited as a Spanish fort in 1776 and later became the home of the U.S. 6th Army. The base was closed in 1995 and has since become a unique park with fantastic views of the Golden Gate Bridge.
“Two centuries of military history and a breathtaking natural environment set against the backdrop of the Golden Gate Bridge make the Presidio one of the most desirable gathering places in America,” says Evelyn Hymans, special events sales and events manager at the Presidio Trust. “For those who wish to make special memories or create an event of distinction, there is no better place.”
The Golden Gate Club is the Presidio’s largest meeting facility as well as one of its oldest buildings, with some adobe walls dating to the 1790s. The club offers six rooms, the largest of which can accommodate receptions as large as 400. The Presidio is also home to an 18-hole golf course that has been played by two presidents, with a clubhouse capable of hosting groups as large as 190 for events. Docent-led Presidio nature and history tours for groups are available with advance reservations.
Nearby in the city’s Marina District, the Bernard Maybeck-designed Palace of Fine Arts, built in 1915 for the Panama-Pacific International Exposition, still stands as one of the city’s premier landmarks, hosting events in its 1,000-seat theater and grand rotunda.
Created in 1939 for the Golden Gate International Exposition, Treasure Island is an artificial island in the San Francisco Bay between San Francisco and Oakland. After the exposition closed in 1940, the island was used as a naval base until its closure in 1993. The island now presents a number of flexible meeting venues with unrivaled views of the bay, its islands and San Francisco.
“Treasure Island, the hidden jewel of the bay, has breathtaking views of San Francisco,” says Marianne Mazzucco Thompson, spokesperson for the Treasure Island Development Authority. “There are seven event venues of different capacities and styles. The only limit to Treasure Island is your imagination.”
Treasure Island’s Building One Lobby, housed in an original Art Deco structure built for the expo, provides an elegant space for events as large as 900 people. Casa de la Vista, built in 1944 as an officer’s club, offers San Francisco skyline views for groups as large as 300. For larger gatherings, planners might consider Building 180, with two separate 20,000-square-foot spaces.
In San Francisco, just exploring the city is an historic diversion, with trademark draws such as Victorian houses, the Golden Gate Bridge and the circa-1776 Mission Dolores (the city’s oldest structure). Visitors can also literally take a ride on history; since 1873, the city’s world-famous cable cars have negotiated the steep hills of its downtown neighborhoods. Groups can also visit the Cable Car Museum, which doubles as the cable car barn and powerhouse.
Oakland and Berkeley
Oakland received its first major influx of citizens during the Gold Rush, but its real boom began with the growth of the railroad. The city’s port served as the terminus for the Transcontinental Railroad, completed in 1869. During the Second World War, Oakland was the site of important shipyards.
Oakland’s Jack London Square was the thriving heart of the city’s maritime and Gold Rush activity, and a favorite haunt of the adventure-loving author for which it is named.
“This waterfront was the birthplace of Oakland in 1852, and its rich tradition lives on in historic landmarks throughout the square,” says Rhonda Hirata, director of marketing and external communications for the square. “A dynamic destination with restaurants, shops, hotels, entertainment, recreation, and a lively Sunday Farmers’ Market, Jack London Square is a community of its own, where thousands live and work each day.”
The Jack London history walk, marked out with wolf tracks, takes visitors to Heinold’s First and Last Chance Saloon, which has been serving up drinks since 1883; the historic Coast Guard lightship Relief; and the USS Potomac, a National Historic Landmark berthed on the Oakland waterfront.
The 165-foot Potomac was built in 1934, but during the administration of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt she was refitted to serve as his presidential yacht. Called the “Floating White House,” the vessel has been open to the public since 1995 as a memorial to the president who fathered the New Deal and shepherded the U.S. during the Great Depression and World War II. The ship offers narrated two-hour history cruises from May through November, with tickets discounted to $30 for groups of 20 or more. Dockside tours are also available.
Among Oakland’s many other historic treasures that are available for events are the circa-1899 Dunsmuir House, a Colonial Revival mansion with lush gardens, and the Paramount Theatre, a lovingly restored, ornate Art Deco gem that showcases concerts, classic movies, the Oakland East Bay Symphony, and the Oakland Ballet.
Attendees can also step back in time in the Old Oakland Historic District, a vibrant area of restored Victorian commercial buildings filled with restaurants, shops and galleries.
Nearby Berkeley was a quiet farming community until the 1860s, when the College of California selected a prime spot at the foot of the Berkeley Hills to relocate and soon became the University of California. A bustling town quickly grew up around the young campus, and its population exploded with refugees of the 1906 quake soon after it devastated San Francisco. As early as the 1950s, the university and the city began to lean toward dissent from conservative political trends and to develop the trademark passion for civil rights, free speech and world peace for which it still makes the news today.
UC Berkeley offers several meeting venues of historic interest. International House was remarkable as a college residence for its coeducational and multiracial nature when it opened in 1930 to foster better relationships with foreign students. Featuring several meeting rooms and an auditorium capable of seating 450 people, International House is decorated in a warm and inviting Mission Revival style.
Another historically revered building and unique off-site venue in Berkeley is the Julia Morgan Center for the Arts. Originally created by Julia Morgan in 1908 as St. John’s Presbyterian Church, the natural wood building is now an architectural attraction that stages dance, theater, music, and other performing arts.
Perched on 22 hillside Berkeley acres overlooking San Francisco Bay, the Claremont Hotel opened for business in 1915 as a luxurious place for San Franciscans to escape the fog of the city. In the 1950s, the Claremont began focusing on attracting meetings and events. At that time, it offered more convention space than any other hotel west of Chicago. Today, the Claremont Resort and Spa remains a tempting choice for groups, with 279 guest rooms, 30,000 square feet of meeting space and a high-end spa.
San Mateo County
Sandwiched between San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean, San Mateo County was the source of much of the raw natural resources used to build San Francisco. Today, the county, filled with thriving cities and towns, has the good fortune to be home to many beautiful state parks and beaches, in addition to historic treasures, some of which include the country estates of millionaire captains of industry in the gilded age of the 19th century.
Ralston Hall, a National Historic Landmark in Belmont, was constructed in the 1860s as the estate of William Chapman Ralston, a founder of the Bank of California. The property is now owned by Notre Dame de Namur University. Capable of hosting 200 seated guests, the mansion features a mirrored ballroom, an opulent dining room, several parlors, and a garden.
“The Italianate villa-style mansion still retains many of the original features, including period furniture, crystal chandeliers, skylights, and mirrors, thus lending the charm and glamour of a bygone era to today’s festive events,” says Denise Winkelstein, event coordinator for Ralston Hall. “Ralston Hall is a premier location for weddings, corporate events and holiday parties.”
Filoli, a magnificent country estate in Woodside that is a private property of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, is another intriguing group option. Built in 1915 for William Bowers Bourn, a prominent San Francisco businessman, and his wife, Agnes Moody Bourn, Filoli’s Georgian Revival house and extensive formal gardens are available for tours, and its visitor and education center building can be used for daytime meetings from February through October.
In Burlingame, Kohl Mansion, a Tudor Revival-style red brick estate, provides another historically rich setting for events. Built for Frederick and Bessie Kohl over 400 woodland acres in 1914, the mansion, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is open year-round for corporate events, dinners, weddings, and concerts, with numerous indoor venues, including an elegant Great Hall, and lush exterior grounds.
What event couldn’t use a dash of glitz? At the ornate Fox Theatre in Redwood City, planners can splash their events across the marquee for all to see. Built in 1929 as a vaudeville venue and movie house, the theater sports an eye-catching Gothic Revival exterior. The Fox is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and offers three floors of event space with a combined capacity of more than 1,400 people.
San Jose
San Jose was founded in 1777 as a farming community, part of the Spanish colony of Nueva California (later Alta California), to support military installations north and south along the coast. Later, San Jose was named California’s first capital briefly after statehood was achieved in 1850. For the most part, it remained a sleepy farming town until a large influx of World War II veterans and their families rapidly increased its growth in the post-war years. With the advent of the computer age in the 1970s, San Jose again became a capital—this time of a skyrocketing technology industry.
In 1884, Sarah Winchester, widow heiress of the Winchester rifle fortune, began building a house near San Jose. She continued building it for 38 years, and at the time of her death it comprised 160 rooms, 47 fireplaces, 40 staircases, 17 chimneys, three working elevators, and many puzzling anomalies.
Many believe that her unorthodox behavior can be explained by her preoccupation with the idea that the spirits of those killed by Winchester guns had visited tragedy upon her family and that continuing to build was the only way to appease them. Now called the Winchester Mystery House, this amazing property is an unforgettable site for events.
“The historic Winchester Mystery House is San Jose’s most famous landmark, which makes for a unique backdrop for group events,” says Shozo Kagoshima, general manager of the facility. “Whether it is a team-building event for 15 or a sit-down dinner for 300, the Winchester Mystery House will work with each individual group’s need to make their event an historic and memorable one.”
Tours and lunches are available for groups of 15 or more. The Winchester Room can seat as many as 65 people. Team-building opportunities include a photo scavenger hunt. Private flashlight tours for 100 or more are available either combined with a meal or as a separate activity. Several hundred can be accommodated in the extensive gardens surrounding the house.
San Jose’s 55,000-square-foot Mexican Heritage Plaza was established in 1999 to preserve, showcase and educate people about Latino arts, culture and history. The plaza provides a colorful and richly artistic backdrop for meetings and offers a 500-seat theater, gallery space and outdoor gardens.
“We’re the largest Latino arts center in California,” says Marcela Davison Aviles, executive director of the plaza. “Our location is right where the Chicano civil rights movement was born. It’s a terrific place for folks to come and meet. We’re especially an ideal location for corporate meetings targeting multiethnic audiences.”
Celebrating both Silicon Valley’s past and the future, the Tech Museum of Innovation in downtown San Jose houses more than 250 hands-on exhibits dedicated to science and technology. Evening rentals can accommodate receptions as large as 2,500 guests and banquets of up to 500 people, and the 295-seat Hackworth IMAX Dome Theater can take groups on a journey without leaving the event.
Sacramento and Davis
Sacramento was founded during the Gold Rush as a major commercial and agricultural center and a transportation terminus served by riverboats, stagecoaches, wagon trains, and the Transcontinental Railroad. It was named California’s capital in 1854.
The 28 picturesque acres of the Old Sacramento Historic District, a National Historic Landmark and California State Historic Park, preserves several blocks of Gold Rush-era Sacramento along the river. Visitors stroll along cobblestone streets and wooden sidewalks to browse more than 200 shops and restaurants housed in original 1840s and ’50s structures. Located within the district are the California Governor’s Mansion and John Sutter’s Fort State Historic Park.
A unique venue for off-sites filled with history is the California State Railroad Museum, situated in Old Sacramento. The museum provides an exciting window into the important role of rail transportation in America. More than 40 exhibits and 20 restored locomotives and railcars are on display. The museum welcomes receptions as large as 550 people in its Roundhouse and banquets in its 48-seat diner, and it also offers two 135-seat theaters, several classrooms and outdoor space.
The Delta King, a 285-foot riverboat that was christened in 1927 and cruised between Sacramento and San Francisco until the late 1930s, is another testament to the city’s vast history. Completely restored in the 1980s, the Delta King is now a floating hotel and entertainment attraction docked in Old Sacramento, and several venues are available for meetings and banquets.
Nearby Davis sprang out of a railroad depot in the late 1860s. From its roots as a farming center, it has grown into a college town with a large University of California campus featuring a strong focus on the sciences.
Marin County
It may be truth or hoax that Sir Francis Drake landed on the coast of Marin County in 1579. It is certainly true that with the completion of the Golden Gate Bridge in 1937, life changed dramatically for people living north of San Francisco. Development increased as thousands migrated to work at the shipyards in Sausalito and the Air Force base in Novato. Today, Marin is renowned for its great natural beauty, its wealth and its progressive, liberal politics.
Angel Island, now a state park that sits on the Marin County side of San Francisco Bay, served as a military base and quarantine and immigration station for decades. Known as the Ellis Island of the West, the immigration facilities played a major role in the entrance of thousands of Asians, especially Chinese, into the country.
The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, merely one chapter in a long legacy of intolerance against Asians in California’s history, detained some immigrants on the island for as long as two years. Some detainees carved bitter poetry into the walls of their cells that remains visible today.
The Immigration Museum is currently undergoing renovations that will keep it closed into 2007, but its outdoor facilities present many choices for group activities, all with splendid views of San Francisco, the bridge and the bay.
“Angel Island State Park has over 99 years of military history and is home to the Immigration Station,” says Robin Adams, volunteer and tour coordinator for the park. “There are facilities for group tours, picnics and team-building activities as well as an opportunity for beautiful hikes with spectacular views.”
Marin County Civic Center is the only public building designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, as well as a National Historic Landmark. Located in San Rafael, the center offers a 2,000-seat auditorium, a 300-seat theater, a 22,500-square-foot exhibition hall, meeting rooms for groups as large as 125, and a fairground. Groups of 10 or more people can arrange for docent-led Frank Lloyd Wright tours of the facility.
Muir Woods has been a happening meeting spot since the 1890s, when the Bohemian Club, a men’s artistic society that included future presidents, cabinet officials and leaders of industry, gathered here for one of their annual summer retreats. (Still in existence, the club continues to meet annually in a remote spot in Sonoma County.)
These days, Muir Woods makes a fantastic group tour, giving attendees an opportunity to view the rare coast redwoods, capable of growing to a height of 370 feet. The oldest trees at Muir Woods are approximately 1,100 years old.
“Muir Woods is among the most popular destinations within the Golden Gate National Parks, with its magnificent redwood groves and proximity to San Francisco,” says David Shaw, director of communications at the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy. “Muir Woods is the perfect location for inspiration and reflection, in which the natural beauty of the place has often been compared to a cathedral of trees.”
Napa and Sonoma
Since 1838, Napa and Sonoma counties have been known for wine. For several generations, Northern California’s vintners have battled diseases of the grape, changes in weather and Prohibition to produce some of the world’s best wine. Today, the region is home to hundreds of wineries, many of which offer tasting rooms, group banquet facilities and other opportunities to meet and celebrate the fruit of the vine.
Of the many options available, Buena Vista Carneros is one of the most historically significant. Founded in 1857, the winery offers private group tastings and tours and is also available for private events.
“Buena Vista Carneros, celebrating its 150th anniversary in 2007 as the first premium winery in California, is the largest landholder in the Carneros appellation, with 1,000 acres of property,” says Tony Lombardi, public relations manager at Beam Wine Estates, which owns Buena Vista along with several other wineries.
Near Buena Vista Carneros, the historic Sonoma Plaza, the town’s main square, is lined with shops and restaurants. Facing the plaza is the Mission San Francisco Solano, which was founded in 1823 as the last and northernmost of the 21 California missions. Today, it is part of the Sonoma State Historic Park.
Attendees can also step into the past in downtown Napa, which has gone through an impressive revitalization over the past several years. The recently restored Napa Valley Opera House, which originally opened in 1880, is one of the destination’s most unique historic venues for groups, hosting receptions, dinners and other events for up to 300 people.
Mendocino and Humboldt
Founded in 1850 as a logging community, the small town of Mendocino later became an artists colony and tourist destination due to its scenic location overlooking the Pacific. Timber and fishing drew settlers to Humboldt County in the 1800s. The area was the scene of racial strife and bloodshed both with indigenous Native American tribal populations and later with Chinese immigrants, with the entire Chinese community of more than 200 men and women expelled in 1885.
Today, Mendocino and Humboldt counties offer some of California’s most scenic coastal and inland stretches, as well as historic lures.
Kelley House in Mendocino was constructed of redwood in 1861 by William Kelley, one of the town’s founding fathers. The house is now a museum dedicated to preserving Mendocino’s history. It is available for meetings, accommodating up to 50 people inside or larger gatherings of 100 guests outdoors in its gardens.
Several landmark lighthouses along the lovely coastline are open to the public. Point Arena Lighthouse has lit up a rugged parcel of the coast since 1908. The lighthouse offers four rental homes, each accommodating six people, as well as outdoor space for parties and receptions of up to 150 people.
In Humboldt County, visitors can delve into natural history along the Avenue of the Giants redwood trail and enjoy the quaint, historic towns of Eureka, Arcata and Ferndale.
The Clarke Historical Museum, set in a circa-1912 building in the heart of Old Town Eureka, showcases exhibits dedicated to the Victorian era, as well as an extensive Native American basketry collection.
Attendees can also explore the Ferndale State Historic Landmark, an authentic Victorian village with 19th century buildings.
Historic, meetings-friendly lodging options in the area include the Tudor-style Eureka Inn and Benbow Inn, which date to the 1920s.
Lake Tahoe
Lake Tahoe was founded as a resort destination for those drawn to nearby Virginia City by the discovery of silver in the Comstock Lode in 1858. After World War II, the nascent casino industry brought both population and development to the area. The breathtaking beauty of the lake and mountains continues to lure visitors from far and wide to enjoy its skiing, hiking, biking, gambling, and water activities.
Thunderbird Lodge, constructed in 1939 as the Tudor Revival summer retreat of eccentric tycoon George Whittell, is a decadent and unusual property to say the least, and one of Lake Tahoe’s top historic venues.
The magnate designed the six-acre compound as his private pleasure grounds with space to house his collections of rare automobiles and wild animals, as well as secret passageways and a three-story waterfall.
“The stone buildings, wild animal barns, secret tunnels, and grand chateau of the George Whittell Thunderbird Lodge National Historic Site are the remains of a vast estate that once spanned 45,000 acres and 27 miles of Nevada’s Lake Tahoe shoreline,” says Bill Watson, manager and curator of the site. “Captain Whittell’s former summer home continues to host the most effervescent gatherings, where flappers frolicked during America’s gilded age and lions once roared from cages in the gardens.”
The lodge, set on the eastern shore of North Lake Tahoe, offers planners 3,000 square feet of interior space, including a 1,500-square-foot conference room with views of the water and the 1,800-square-foot Lighthouse Room. Whittell’s custom 55-foot wooden speedboat Thunderbird is also available for charter tours on Lake Tahoe.
Built in 1926 on Crystal Bay, Cal-Neva Resort, formerly owned by Frank Sinatra, is another historic attraction, as well as a meetings-friendly property. The resort features 220 guest rooms, meeting space for groups as large as 400, and a casino, golf course and spa.
Monterey and Carmel
Monterey received its name from a Spanish explorer in 1602, and it is still home to more than 30 original adobe structures, many of which can be viewed on one of the city’s many walking tours. The city’s fishing industry was established by Chinese fishermen who emigrated from China in junks in the 1850s. In many ways, Monterey was a pioneering city for the development of California, as it was home to the state’s first theater, brick house, printing press, and public school and library.
Monterey has drawn artists to live and create among its scenes of seaside beauty since the late 1800s, and their works and influence can be seen in its abundance of public art.
In 1945, the year John Steinbeck wrote Cannery Row, the book’s namesake processed a quarter-million tons of sardines. The dynamic fish-packing days are gone, but Cannery Row is now the epicenter of an historic tourist destination. With attractions such as Monterey Bay Aquarium and more than 80 stores and 20 restaurants within a short, pleasant walk, the former industrial site is one of the country’s most popular attractions.
“Cannery Row offers groups an authentic visitor destination, with a literary legacy that includes Steinbeck’s renowned novel about the area’s sardine-canning heyday in the 1940s,” says Diane C. Mandeville, vice president of marketing at Cannery Row. “Today, Cannery Row is the bustling heart of Monterey, with luxury hotels, spas, world-class dining and shopping, and recreation that draws on the pristine National Monterey Bay Marine Sanctuary lapping at the shores.”
Just south of Monterey, Carmel-by-the-Sea, or simply Carmel, has been a town of artists and actors since the Carmel Arts and Crafts Club was formed in 1905. In 1906, the town’s population was given a boost by an influx of artistic refugees of the 1906 earthquake.
Many of its small, charming inns were built between the 1880s and 1920s, and its Forest Theater, the first outdoor theater west of the Rocky Mountains, was constructed in 1910 and continues to stage performances.
Santa Cruz
In the 1760s, the Spanish discovered what is now Santa Cruz and soon thereafter founded a mission. In the 1960s, the hippies discovered Santa Cruz and began attending the University of California campus there, making it their mission to experiment with and promote alternative approaches to just about everything. Santa Cruz has long been a popular seaside destination, and its tradition of fun and sun is alive and well today.
Built in 1907, the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk is California’s oldest amusement park. Although many of the entertainment offerings along the Boardwalk have changed, the park still features a circa-1911 Charles Looff carousel with a pipe organ and brass rings, and the wooden Giant Dipper roller coaster, built in 1924, among its 35 rides. Other attractions, such as Laffing Sal, the larger-than-life, gap-toothed, coin-operated laughing woman, have been delighting (or terrifying) children and adults since the 1930s. The park welcomes corporate groups with discounts and a wide variety of packages.
The Cocoanut Grove restaurant, built in 1907, is a California Historical Landmark located next to the Boardwalk and a perfect spot for meetings and banquets. The restaurant features a 6,300-square-foot grand ballroom with ocean views and a 6,500-square-foot sun room that sports a retractable glass ceiling and a view of Monterey Bay.
“The Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk and Cocoanut Grove are unique venues, rich in California history, sitting on a mile of sandy beach,” says Kathie Keeley, the Boardwalk’s director of sales. “In 2007, we’re celebrating our centennial and remarkable past, which includes the greatest of the big bands and the first Miss California pageants.”
As the largest seaside amusement park remaining on the West Coast, the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk offers a variety of options for groups, according to Keeley.
“A group can choose from a picnic on the Beach Deck to formal dining in an ocean-view banquet room, and include beach volleyball or a ride on the classic 1924 Giant Dipper roller coaster,” Keeley says.
For More Info
Berkeley CVB 510.549.7040 www.berkeleycvb.com
Humboldt County CVB 707.443.5097 www.redwoodvisitor.org
Lake Tahoe Visitors Authority 530.544.5050 www.bluelaketahoe.com
Marin County Visitors Bureau 415.925.2060
www.visitmarin.org
Mendocino County Alliance 707.462.7417
www.gomendo.com
Monterey Convention Authority 831.646.3388
www.montereyconventionauthority.com
Monterey County CVB 831.657.6400
www.montereyinfo.org
Napa Valley Conference and Visitors Bureau 707.226.7459 www.napavalley.org
North Lake Tahoe Visitors and Convention Bureau 530.581.8703 www.puretahoenorth.com
Oakland CVB 510.839.9000
www.oaklandcvb.com
Sacramento CVB 916.808.7777 www.discovergold.org
San Francisco CVB 415.391.2000
www.sfvisitor.org
San Jose CVB 408.295.9600
www.sanjose.org
San Mateo County CVB 650.348.7600 www.sanmateocountycvb.com
Santa Cruz County Conference and Visitors Council 831.425.1234 www.santacruzca.org
Sonoma County Tourism Bureau 707.539.7282
www.sonomacounty.com
Yolo County Visitors Bureau 530.297.1900
www.yolocvb.org
