Bakersfield:

Bakersfield is a central valley town with a hard-work-and-honky-tonk spirit that feels a lot more west Texas than west coast. In the 1960s it birthed the “Bakersfield Sound” – a style of country & western music popularized by Buck Owens, Merle Haggard and others punctuated by the Fender Telecaster and pedal steel guitars. Fans from around the globe still make the pilgrimage to catch top C&W acts at Buck Owens’ Crystal Palace and the historic Fox Theater. The town, about 100 miles north of Los Angeles, also offers eclectic events ranging from drag racing at Famosa Dragstrip and Lowrider Nationals to the Scottish Games & Gatherings and the Kern County Basque Festival. Interestingly, Bakersfield’s “Basque Block” has the largest concentration of Basque (an autonomous community of Spain) restaurants in the United States dishing up hearty dishes in vast quantities. The Wool Growers Restaurant and Pyrenees Café are popular options remaining since the 1893 Noriega Hotel shut down due to the pandemic. When not boot scootin’ or chowing down, you can also take a river rafting adventure or explore the serene Sequoia National Forest not too far from town. The Kern County Museum has the “Bakersfield Sound” exhibit, including the original home where Merle Haggard was born and raised. The Padre Hotel, built in 1928, was recently renovated into a stylish boutique inn and seems like the perfect place to lay your head after a rowdy night on the town – perhaps after a nightcap at classic dives like Guthrie’s Alley Cat or The Silver Fox Starlite Lounge