Most people think of California locals as flashy, stand-out, quirky characters, but that may only be true for about half of the locals here. The other half just wants to live a normal, average life and smell the roses.
Some people may read this and think it doesn’t sound very average compared to the rest of the world, but this is strictly about California.
- Car Culture: Californians love their cars. We have car shows, car expos, places you can reserve to drive on racetracks, and places you can eat in your car like Sonic and drive-in theaters like Rubidoux Theater and Paramount Drive-in.
- Picnics: Normal picnics are great, and when you sprinkle some SoCal culture in, you get scenic destinations, specialty grocery stores with amazing selections of to-go lunches, and the occasional luxury picnic.
- Theme Parks & Fairs: There are the big ones, Six Flags, Disneyland, Universal Studios, Knott’s Berry Farm, etc. Then there are the county fairs; biggest being the LA County Fair, San Diego County Fair and OC County Fair. Then spread out every few cities, there are smaller theme parks and fairs. A quick event search will reveal any near your destination.
- Parks & Gardens: Speaking of smelling flowers, every county has a botanical garden or regional park. There are some like the Huntington that are famous and there are some like the gardens at UCR. As far as state parks go, Chino Hills is a great balance of not-too-crowded and pleasant.
Golf: Despite its reputation as a lavish sport that only high-class citizens can afford, there are places normal people enjoy like Shandin Hills and Hawk’s Landing.
If you’d like to try something really modern, consider TopGolf.
Lakes: If you like going to lake beaches, you’re probably a normal person. Locally favorite ones include Lake Perris, Lake Gregory and Big Bear Lake. Some lakes like Castaic Lake require a small fee to park or enter.
