Things to Do in Sun City

Uncorked Tours Megan Franks does all she can to separate stuffiness from wine connoisseurship. For tours of Temecula's wine country, she dispatches a limo party coach with two flat-screen TVs and a dancer's pole, which she gaily poses next to in a photo on her website's About page. She also launches tipplers into the air during morning hot air balloon rides that begin, like the chauffeured tours, with a complimentary champagne toast. To contribute to the party vibe during each trip, a staff member continuously works a camera's shutter, producing digital photos that are then uploaded to Facebook for sharing and downloads.

Diana Lefort frolicked with horses as a child on her family's Arizona ranch, developing a passion that led to her owning and caring for several of her own quarter steeds as an adult. Now with 30 years of professional equine experience, she welcomes every opportunity to blend her two passions: horseback riding and the gorgeous scenery of the Temecula Valley's wine country. She and her team begin their stallion-studded tours at various wineries in the region, where experts demonstrate the incantations used to summon tears from grapes and participants tipple seasonal fermented juices from at the chosen winery. The team then saddles participants on well-seasoned steeds with gentle temperaments and good credit ratings for tours through lush vineyard trails as the morning dew evaporates under the rising sun or as daylight slowly unspools around them into a glorious sunset. Many tours include a gourmet meal from local farmers at the Creekside Grille at Wilson Creek Winery.

Designed by renowned course architect David Rainville—whose resumé includes famed courses such as Indian Wells Country Club—the 18-hole California Oaks course stretches across 5,218 yards of bucolic Southern California topography. Towering trees, intervening ponds, and immense bunkers conspire to kidnap wayward balls throughout the course, and the club's immaculate fairways provide a hospitable landing zone for pinpointed drives and golf-obsessed extraterrestrials. A stream flows alongside every hole, adding a sense of continuity to rounds as golfers contend with each on-course challenge. After 18-hole expeditions, players can replenish at Oaks Bar & Grill, which, like the course itself, affords customers splendid views of the Temecula Valley, the San Jacinto mountain range, and the cloud-like spirits of drowned golf balls trying to contact 9-irons from the beyond.

Course at a Glance:

18-hole, par-70 course (par 68 from the ladies' tees)

Designed by David Rainville

Length of 5,218 yards from the farthest tees

Course rating of 66.1 from the farthest tees

Slope of 122 from the farthest tees

Three tee options

Across the nation, the skies are filled with giant, kaleidoscopically colored balloons languidly soaring over snowcapped peaks and green valleys. This is partly due to Balloon Rides Online, whose network of nationwide hot-air balloons paints the sky each day. Employing a FAA-approved basket and a professional pilot who has completed at least 500 flight hours, the company floats passengers over mountains, forests, and streams of caramel for one hour. While gliding with the ease of a cloud, pilots encourage guests to snap photos of sprawling landscapes and capture the moment. After landing, crew members and passengers celebrate with a champagne, mimosa or orange-juice toast—an important tradition in hot-air ballooning and preparing for inevitable hovercraft uprisings. With passengers' safety in mind, Balloon Rides Online also keeps a minimum insurance liability of $100,000 per guest.

Since 1975, FAA-certified balloon pilot Dan Glick has whisked sightseers on picturesque sunrise flights over Temecula Valley wine country, packed with wining, dining, and professional photography. Each excursion feels like an occasion, with groups starting off at the Monte De Oro Winery for a preflight reception to sip and snack on coffee, mimosas, and pastries before ascending through the troposphere. As the dirigible hangs over rolling vineyards, professional photographer Megan Franks captures the adventure and the debates between intellectual birds on camera, leaving floating tourists with an HD video of the launch and more than 100 photographs of the flight experience. The sky-high journeys conclude on the ground with a round of champagne and cake to celebrate the endeavor. For special occasions, Sunrise Balloons can play celebratory launch music or adorn the carriage with banners proclaiming birthdays, anniversaries, or weddings.

Sunrise Balloons also hosts tours of the vineyards they frequently fly over. As luxurious as their airborne counterparts, tours forgo the balloon for a limo party coach that escorts passengers from one stop to the next.