I am no stranger to California. Whether you're tasting wine in Sonoma County, driving along Highway 1 at Big Sur or observing the glorious Golden Gate in San Francisco, it's easy to see why California is so popular with travelers.
But there are pockets of the Golden State that are absolutely over the top. I'm partial to Lake Tahoe. The crisp air, the icy lake, the glorious mountains--it's fabulous. Add the state's national parks (Yosemite, Death Valley, Kings Canyon) and it's almost enough to make the traffic, taxes and smog worthwhile.
Here's another must-see: Laguna Beach. It's worth the trip, especially in late October.
For me, it was a friend of a friend who talked us into spending a few days on the beach before a meeting. I am no stranger to California beaches: I've camped along Highway 1 north of Jenner and enjoyed the coast from Arcata to San Diego. But Laguna Beach is spectacular.
We stayed at
, which is in "downtown" Laguna Beach. It's about two blocks south of
on Ocean Blvd. For several blocks in every direction, there are art galleries, boutiques and restaurants. But the real action is looking out on the ocean.
Just as the sun peaks over the horizon, the surfers are out. The hotel, first built in the 1940s, sits on St. Ann's Beach, which has some nice two- to four-foot rollers at any given time. That's perfect for those with surfboards and boogie boards. Everyone has a wetsuit on. Even though the ocean is warmer than here in Alaska, it's still a little chilly. Since the afternoon temperatures still top 80 degrees in October, beach lovers can frolic in the waves without freezing! Also, the hotel has a heated salt-water pool for the kids.
Kort Pearson runs the hotel -- his grandparents built it. "We have guests to have been coming here for 50 years," he said. "In fact, they get the same room each year. They make reservations for the next year when they check out," he said.
Many of the rooms open up over the ocean. Others look down on the garden area. But all have easy access to the walkway which leads down to the beach. Pearson recently remodeled many of the rooms--and the exterior design highlights the "retro" look of a mid-20th- century family resort.
There is no restaurant on-site. "Many of the rooms have kitchens," said Pearson. "When my family first built the hotel, it was hard to reach Laguna. The road was bad -- and my grandfather wasn't sure if a hotel was the best use of the building. So he was prepared to make it into apartments. But the hotel idea caught on -- and the kitchens are popular with families," he said.
There are dozens of good restaurants within a few blocks of the hotel. We dined at Cafe Zoolu, which Pearson claims has the best swordfish on the planet. I ordered the "Swordfish Sampler" which featured a couple of different sauces over the grilled fish. My tablemates ordered Ono, lobster (caught just offshore) and sea bass. Everything was delicious. In fact, we had plenty left over to take a doggie bag back to one of our jet-lagged friends who had just arrived from China.
Out-of-towners cannot help but gaze in wonder at the high-priced accoutrements of California beach life: the designer clothes, the fancy cars and the ... well, the whole shi-shi California beach "scene."
But for those of us pasty-white Alaskans who are anxious for a little sun and surf -- there's nothing quite like Laguna Beach. I look forward to returning again soon.
Online resources:
Alaska Travelgram video. I made a video of Laguna Beach. http://is.gd/4EuM9
Alaska Airlines. Fly into Orange County Airport for easy access to the beach. Purchase PFD sale tickets by Nov. 2. http://alaskaair.com
Laguna Beach Visitors Bureau. Learn more about the Laguna Beach area. http://www.lagunabeachinfo.com/