Things to Do in San Mateo

What started as a creative way to pay a debt led to the founding of Lemos Farm. Owner Bob Lemos' grandfather was repaid with a cow, so he bought land for the cow and her new calf in 1942, and over the years, the property morphed into a dairy farm, an alien robot, back into a dairy farm, and then a space for horses. Eventually Bob and his father, Arnold, peppered the land with Christmas trees, pumpkins, pony rides, and haunted houses, beckoning families to the sprawling grounds.

Visitors escape urban drudgery and revel in the decidedly country ambience, whether aboard hayrides or visiting the petting zoo for an introductory course in farm-animal massage therapy. During the holiday season, families wander the aromatic rows of the Christmas tree farm, where Douglas fir, incense cedar, and other pines await.

Overlooking the Pacific Ocean from the shoreline of San Mateo County, Moss Beach Ranch forms a hub for many miles of riding trails that branch out across more than 4,200 acres of Rancho Corral de Tierra. The ranch's director of instruction and training, Jeanette Jacobi, leads a team of experienced instructors and a stable of nearly 30 gentle horses, which students can ride during private or group lessons. Instruction can focus on either Western or English riding styles, and students pick up skills that range from jumping to dressage.

In addition to lessons, an experienced guide leads riders on trail rides across the surrounding terrain five times per week. On each excursion, parties climb rolling hills and traverse verdant ravines, even riding to spots that, like the private drinking clubs at Churchill Downs, are accessible only by horse.

As the owner and operator of the University of Surfing, Matt Cole has transformed incredibly talented surfers into an accomplished team of instructors. From Kyla Langen, the 2012 Bud Light Lime Tour Champ, and her globe-spanning surf career to veteran teacher and decorated pro surfer Kevin Rhodes, students reap the benefits of the instructors’ years of experience during two-hour introductory surfing lessons. In addition to these basic lessons, the staff also coaches intermediate surfers and offers private lessons, giving advice about paddling, proper standing technique, and proper burial technique for broken surfboards. The wave-loving group also hosts daylong and overnight camps that cover the deepest aspects of surfing.

The instructors at Bikram Hot Yoga Daly City embody a commitment to wellness through the method's 26 postures, having received their certifications from the creator of Bikram yoga himself, Bikram Choudhury. Demonstrating their dedication, the CPR-ready teachers must undergo recertification and win a barefoot-hopscotch tournament on an active volcano every three years, ensuring that they can lead classes in the studio's 105-degree heat.

Their 90-minute sessions bend and stretch through Bikram's poses in a progressive order, a sequence that both warms and limbers up the body's connective tissues. As the steamy temperatures flush out toxins through sweat, newly oxygenated blood refreshes every part of the physique. The staff encourages guests to cultivate a deep understanding of technique rather than a drive to quickly perfect it, reassuring them that "there is no standard of comparison except yourself."

Located steps from a seashore brimming with avian and marine activity, the Half Moon Bay RV Park and Campground's ample campus hosts RV trailers and old-fashioned tents for overnight stays. Walks along the coastal trails or evening gatherings around the barbecue pits provide communion with the natural order, whereas the adjacent Cameron's Inn Pub and a wireless network maintain campers' connections to the outside world. Volleyball courts and horseshoe pits provide more entertainment than spotting parabolas in a campfire.

Serves and volleys fill the room with the thwack of paddles, which send orbs on an airborne path across 10 regulation-size tables at Peninsula Table Tennis Club. Monthly memberships allow patrons unlimited access to the fleet of tables to hone skills and baffle opponents with perfectly timed smashes. The drop-in passes can be used by one player or split among cohorts for a day of friendly competition without the hassle of making enough chocolate pudding for home pudding-wrestling matches.