El Centro’s motto is “Where the Sun Spends the Winter.” What else needs to be said about this Southern California town? Lying just above the Mexican border and bordering Arizona, this city’s heat only begins with the weather. The infusion of Mexican and Midwest culture has made for a unique and spicy cuisine that comes relatively inexpensive and impressively authentic at any local eatery.
As a common crossover point for people immigrating to America, high unemployment rates occasionally cause desperate acts of criminal activity; a local El Centro tour guide will advise you of the streets to avoid after dark. Still, El Centro makes for a wonderful jump-off point to the tourist hot spots of Baja California.  It also boasts one of the only remaining outdoor drive-in cinemas, an enlivening warm weather experience.  A wildlife refuge, catching bullfrogs, and fishing are also on the menu for this California city, but the thick of summer sees temperature upwards of 100 and a better time might be had during the milder spring or fall seasons.