Exploring Tourist Spots in the Golden State Quiz

Answer: San Marino

The Huntington Library is located in the quiet, upscale city of San Marino, adjacent to the city of Pasadena, California.

The library is home to an extensive collection of rare books, manuscripts, and art displays. Among the treasures that can be viewed are one of the 11 only known copies of the "Guttenberg Bible" and hand-written manuscripts and letters by George Washington Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and Abraham Lincoln.
The Huntington Library houses the first two quartos of "Hamlet", written by William Shakespeare.
The Library's renowned art collection includes "The Blue Boy" by Thomas Gainsborough, "Pinkie" by Thomas Lawrence, and "Madonna and Child" by Rogier van der Weyden.

The grounds of the Huntington Library includes 120 acres with 15 botanical gardens featuring plants from around the globe. The gardens are divided into specialized sections including a Japanese Garden, a Desert Garden, a Subtropical Garden, a Jungle Garden, and a Chinese Garden, to name a few.

The Huntington Library welcomes over 500,000 visitors annually who take guided tours of the library and garden area. Those who choose to explore the grounds on their own are free to do so.

The Huntington Library offers free admission on the first Thursday of each month.

Answer: Valencia

Six Flags Magic Mountain, the ultimate amusement park for thrill seekers, is located in the northern section of Los Angeles County, in the city of Valencia.

The 262-acre theme park offers a multitude of rides, a game midway area, and 19 different roller coasters. In 2015, Six Flags Magic Mountain gained the World's Record for the most roller coasters in any amusement park.

Six Flags Magic Mountain attracts an average of 2.5 million guests annually.

Answer: San Simeon

Millions of tourists visit and tour the beautiful grounds of Hearst Castle in San Simeon each year.

The opulent castle was built, starting in 1919, as the personal residence for newspaper publishing tycoon William Randolph Hearst.

Now a tourist attraction and National California Historical Landmark, the castle, constructed in a Mediterranean Revival architecture style, sits atop a hill in the Santa Lucia Mountain Range.

The Casa Grande is the 60,645 square foot centerpiece of the castle which houses a collection of fine art and antiquities. The castle contains 56 bedrooms, 61 bathrooms, 19 sitting rooms, both indoor and outdoor swimming pools, a movie theater, and tennis courts.
The grounds of the castle includes 125 acres of gardens, a ranch where many rare and exotic animals are allowed to roam free, and the world's largest private zoo.

Tourists assemble at the Visitor Center at the base of the hill to receive a brief orientation before embarking on a bus for the 30-minute ride to the castle. Visitors can then take one of three guided tours, each tour covering a different portion of the massive estate. After the tour, visitors are free to explore selected portions of the castle and grounds before boarding busses for the return trip to the Visitor Center.

Answer: San Francisco

Second only to the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz Island is the most visible and recognizable landmark in San Francisco.

Alcatraz Island sits in San Francisco Bay, slightly more than a mile from the shores of bayside attractions of Fisherman's Wharf, Pier 39 Shopping Center, and the Cable Car Turntable station near Fisherman's Wharf.

From 1934 until 1963, Alcatraz Island served as the nation's most secure maximum security penitentiary, housing notable prisoners including Al Capone, George "Baby Face" Nelson, Mickey Cohen, Alvin "Creepy" Karpis, and Robert Franklin Stroud who was known as "The Birdman of Alcatraz".

Despite books and movies to the contrary, official records claim that no prisoner successfully escaped from Alcatraz, also known as "The Rock".

Each year, approximately 1.3 million visitors take the short boat trip to the island for a tour.

Answer: Los Angeles

The La Brea Tar Pits are located amongst the tall buildings and businesses in the mid-city, "Miracle Mile" section of Los Angeles, California.

The upscale community was built around the tar pits in Hancock Park. The tar pits date back approximately 55,000 years when animals freely roamed the area. The tar pits became the final resting place for the thousands of animals who became stuck in the tar and sank into the pits. Bones of the animals trapped in the tar were preserved. Bones and fossils were excavated from the tar pits, studied and researched, and in some cases, reconstructed.

The James C. Page Museum, located on the site of the La Brea Tar Pits, serves as an educational museum displaying fossils, bones, and full-scale replicas made from the excavated skeletons. Among the fossils and bones found were those of saber-tooth cats, dire wolves, mammoths and mastodons, American lions, horses, and longhorn bison.
The La Brea Tar Pits Museum, an extension of the James C. Page Museum, conducts continual education programs and tours that tell the story of the tar pits, the process and procedures for recovering fossils, and has life-size displays of animals found.

Both tours lead by Museum Docents and self-guided tours are available.

The La Brea Tar Pits have been officially designated as both a U.S. National Natural Landmark and a California Historical Landmark.

Answer: Buena Park

What started out as a small berry farm and roadside sales stand in 1920 grew into the most popular theme park in Buena Park, California.

Knott's Berry Farm features 40 rides, 10 rollercoasters, and two water rides, all located within four theme areas.

Ghost Town, the original theme area of the park, replicates an old Western Ghost town, complete with a haunted Calico Mine rollercoaster ride through a cave, an old time train and stagecoach ride (both subject to being robbed by masked outlaws) and a town street complete with horse hitching posts, a saloon, general store, traditionally dressed townsfolks, and a frontier school house.

Fiesta Village shows a festive village, honoring the history and culture of the early settlers from Mexico. The village features colorful tradition dances, food, and shopping areas.

The Boardwalk features games, food stands, and an assortment of rides, including six of the park's ten roller coasters. Restaurants on The Boardwalk represents some of the best eateries in the park.

Camp Snoopy is the family oriented portion of the park, designed specifically for the younger visitors. The Camp Snoopy theme is based on the popular cartoon character. Young guests can drive in their own cars on Pig Pen's Mud Buggies, soar over the area on Charlie Brown's Kite Flyer, or even fly a World War I, combat mission on Snoopy's Flying Ace airplane ride.

Knott's Berry Farm welcomes an average of 3.5 million visitors each year.

Answer: Anaheim

Disney California Adventure, part of Disney Resorts, is located in Anaheim, California, next door to Disneyland.

Disney California Adventure opened in 2001. Visitors can explore, through seven "lands", the history and culture of California. Rides and attractions in each land represent life and experiences of that portion of the state.

Visitors visit Buena Vista Street which serves as the main entrance to the park, Hollywood Land, Pacific Wharf, Paradise Pier, Grizzly Peak, Bug's Land, and Car Land.

Over 8 million visitors yearly experience the California Adventure at the park.

Answer: San Diego

More than one million tourists a year visit the USS Midway Museum in San Diego, California.

This maritime museum is berthed in downtown San Diego, at Navy Pier. The USS Midway (CV-41) was the longest serving aircraft carrier in the 20th century, seeing active service from 1945 until 1992. The museum was opened on June 7, 2004.

The USS Midway museum houses a large collection of aircraft. Visitors can take either a guided or self-guided audio tour of the ship, learning the rich history and about the operations of the giant aircraft carrier.

Answer: San Jose

The Winchester Mystery House is located in San Jose, California. The huge Victorian-styled mansion is believed by many to be haunted by spirits and ghosts. The mansion was once the personal home of Sarah Winchester, the widow of William Winchester who invented and manufactured the Winchester rifle. The mansion is said to be occupied by the hundreds of souls, ghosts, and spirits of those killed by the rifle.

The mansion was built in 1884 following a séance with a medium who told Sarah Winchester to build a large house to confuse the ghostly victims of her husband's rifles. The house contains 160 bedrooms, 40 bathrooms, and two ballrooms. The mansion has 47 fireplaces, 17 chimneys, two basements and three elevators. It resembles a maze with numerous stairways that lead to nowhere, doors and windows that open to empty walls, secret passages, and hallways that lead to dead ends. The mansion had only one working toilet for Sarah Winchester's use. The remaining bathrooms were decoys to fool and confuse the unwelcome spirits. To further confuse the unwanted spirits, Sarah Winchester is said to have slept in a different bedroom each night.

Sarah, who inherited more than 20.5 million dollars when her husband died, also maintained a full construction staff who continued to add, change, tear down, and rebuild portions of the mansion. It was said that Sarah had construction in progress 24 hours a day for 38 years. Construction continued until Sarah Winchester died in 1922.

Visitors can select any one of three guided tours to explore the mansion. The Grand Estate Tour requires two hours to complete. The Mansion Tour takes about 65 minutes, while the Behind the Scenes Tour is conducted in 45 minutes.

Answer: Hollywood

Few major sightseeing attractions are free, which makes the trip to the TLC Chinese Theater (formerly Grauman's Chinese Theater) in Hollywood, California, a true novelty.

When driving or walking past the classic cinema palace located in the heart of Hollywood, it is not unusual to see dozens of sightseeing tourist milling around the forecourt of the theater entrance, looking down at blocks of concrete with the footprints, handprints, and signatures of some of the movie industries biggest names. Many tourists photograph the blocks of their favorite movie stars while others match their own footprints and handprints with those of the stars.

Nearly 200 members of Hollywood's movie and television legends have left their mark since 1927 when stars Norma Talmadge, Douglas Fairbanks, and Mary Pickford started the tradition.

The forecourt in front of the theater remains open 24-hours a day and is free to walk through, view, or photograph.

During peak hours when the theater is open, crowds are entertained by numerous street performers including clowns, magician, and people dressed as movie figures or superheroes.