Tuesday Travel Ticker: Serious trees, serious runners

Avenue of the Giants Marathon, one of the most scenic long-distance races in the country, takes place May 6 through a canopy of Humboldt County redwoods. A half-marathon and 10K are also held. For info, click here . . . . The Santa Barbara Summer Solstice Celebration draws 100,000 spectators a year, thanks to extravagant floats and whimsical costumes and dancers. It’s set this year for June 22-24. Info: solsticeparade.com . . . . A week later (June 30), the Santa Barbara Wine Festival features tastings from 70 Central Coast wineries, in the picturesque Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History. Info: sbnature.org/winefestival . . . . The 32nd Annual Steinbeck Festival takes place May 3-6 in Salinas . . . . Big Sky Resort near Bozeman, Mont., is celebrating after closing the season with more than 340,000 skier visits, the most the resort has ever seen . . . . Remember, Mammoth will stay open through Memorial Day weekend, thanks in part to the 70 inches of snow it received in March . . . . Washington University in St. Louis tops the Daily Meal’s list of top schools for food lovers. Stanford is 9th and Caltech 14th. To check out the list, click here . . . . Three boutique hotels in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, are teaming up to help bring the city’s art scene to full flower, in a three-day “art happening,” June 1-3. The three hotels: Hotel Matilda, Dos Casas and L’Otel . . . . If you’re heading to Denver this summer, check out the $110-million History Colorado Center, which opens Saturday. Among the many novel activities, visitors can take a virtual soar off a historic ski jump, or become a miner who must set the dynamite correctly to explode . . . . Does anyplace in the country do festivals the way Louisiana does? Jazz Fest starts this weekend, followed by New Orleans Cajun-Zydeco Festival in June, Essence Music Festival in July, Satchmo Summerfest in August and the Voodoo Music Experience in October . . . . Travel quote of the day: “A sad soul can kill quicker than a germ.”
(John Steinbeck)