Let your hobby guide you to your perfect travel destination

With so many choices in travel destinations, sometimes it's best to plan a vacation around your passion. If you're a food and wine connoisseur, sports buff, daredevil or anything in between, these destinations can help satisfy your wanderlust.

Cuisine

Aspen, Colo.

Food & Wine magazine will celebrate the 30th anniversary of its legendary Food & Wine Classic in Aspen, June 15-17, with a series of new events and programming this year. This milestone event will offer food lovers a once-in-a-lifetime experience with 10 new exciting features, including the first live music concert, a charity run alongside star chefs and a late night dessert party.

Portland, Ore.

June is Dining Month in Portland, and that makes it an ideal time for frugal foodies to visit the city. All month long, select restaurants will offer $25 three-course menus every day of the week. Sixty-one restaurants participated in 2011. A passion for seasonal ingredients pervades kitchens throughout the city and is fueled by the world-class Portland Farmer's Market.

And while Portland has long been known as a destination for outstanding microbrews, world-class Willamette Valley wines and exceptional coffee, now the city is also widely accepted as the epicenter of the craft distilling movement.

Santa Barbara, Calif.

Wine aficionados have two reasons to visit Santa Barbara this summer. The Santa Barbara Wine Festival will be held June 30 along serene Mission Creek. Approximately 70 of the best Central Coast wineries will be showcased, along with food from local restaurants, caterers and bakers. Santa Barbara will also host the California Wine Festival July 19-21 at various locations. The three-day festival will include an "Old Spanish Days" fiesta, Riedel "Glassware Journey" seminar and the main event, which features more than 350 fine wines and gourmet food at a beach-front location.

Sports

San Francisco

The U.S. Open Golf Championship will take place at The Olympic Club in San Francisco. Staged by the United States Golf Association in a different location each year, the U.S. Open will be played on the famous Lake Course. The top golf event in the U.S., the Open will feature the biggest names in golf from around the world June 11-17.

Los Angeles

The Los Angeles Dodgers play at historic Dodger Stadium. Since 1958, when the Boys in Blue moved from Brooklyn to palm-studded Los Angeles, the Dodgers have won eight National League championships and five World Series titles. Dodgers Stadium, located adjacent to downtown Los Angeles, opened April 10, 1962, and is the third-oldest ballpark in Major League Baseball.

Del Mar, Calif.

Opening day, July 18, is Del Mar Thoroughbred Club's most prestigious day of horse racing. Opening day has drawn Southern California's most beautiful people in their most elegant hats since July 3, 1937, when Bing Crosby himself greeted the track's first fans. During the racing season, which runs through Sept. 5, concerts take place every Friday and select Saturdays. Aug. 26 is Del Mar's biggest stakes race, the $1 Million TVG Pacific Classic, which draws the nation's top horses and a robust racing crowd.

Adventure

Boulder, Colo.

Rated the "No. 1 Sports Town in America" by Outside Magazine, Boulder offers countless year-round recreational activities. There are 200 miles of public hiking and biking trails, approximately 43,000 acres of open space and the Boulder Creek Path, which runs through the middle of town. Located at the base of the Rocky Mountain foothills, Boulder is home to many renowned adventure athletes and Olympians, Chautauqua State Park (great hiking) and Eldorado Canyon (world-class rock climbing).

Moab, Utah

Moab offers a huge variety of trails for mountain bikers of any experience level, from beginners looking for a scenic ride through beautiful canyons and mesa tops, to seasoned bikers looking for the ultimate challenge. Moab is well known for the world-famous and highly technical Slickrock Bike Trail. This challenging 9.6-mile trail is considered by many to be the ultimate mountain biking experience.

Colorado River

Exploring the Grand Canyon by river is an experience unlike any other. There are hidden waterfalls and side canyons that are accessible only by river. Traversing the whitewater of the central Colorado River through Glenwood Canyon, rafters will see remnants of old mining villages. Outside the canyon, Glenwood Springs is known for its natural hot springs.

The upper Colorado River is ideal for first-time boaters and families with children who want beautiful canyon scenery and nonintimidating whitewater.

Trips on the western section of the river begin with a leisurely float that descends into Westwater Canyon, where the water quickens its pace. It is here that the rapids of Westwater offer the thrill of running some of the best whitewater in the region. River trips range from a few days to weeklong adventures.

Oahu, Hawaii

With Allegiant Air beginning nonstop flights from Las Vegas to Honolulu this summer, the beauty of the islands is just a quick flight away. Adventure abounds on the island of Oahu with an array of exhilarating sea, land, air and sporting activities. Visitors can hike through rainforests, bike along mountain ranges and horseback ride in lush valleys; parasail, parachute and glide over the dramatic landscape; swim, dive, snorkel and surf in the azure blue waters of the Pacific Ocean.

Art, Music and theater

Cedar City, Utah

The Utah Shakespeare Festival is widely recognized as one of the best professional theater events in the nation; in 2000, it was awarded the Tony Award for "Outstanding Regional Theater." The festival is a grand event that includes not only Shakespeare and contemporary productions, but also the "Greenshow," literary seminars, classes and intimate detailed backstage tours. The summer festival offers six plays in two grand theaters; the fall festival offers three plays. The festival begins June 21 and runs through Oct. 20.

Healdsburg, Calif.

The Healdsburg Jazz Festival will take the wine country by storm June 1-10 for the 14th consecutive year with a power-packed roster of jazz veterans and rising stars. As usual, the festival matches the jazz with the area's most beautiful settings, such as Rodney Strong Vineyards, Barndiva restaurant, the Cousteaux Bakery, the town plaza and the Raven Performing Arts Theater.

Laguna Beach, Calif.

Laguna Beach is known for its annual summer art festivals: Festival of Arts, Sawdust Art Festival and Art-A-Fair. These festivals showcase compelling works of art by local and international artists. This year, the Festival of Arts, which begins July 1, celebrates its 80th anniversary of top juried fine art show. Each night from July 7 through Aug. 31, the Festival of Arts presents its most famous attraction: the Pageant of the Masters, a world-famous stage presentation featuring tableaux vivants or "living pictures." Classical and contemporary works of art are re-created with real people posing to look exactly like their counterparts in the original pieces.