California's Best Trips 2 - Full PDF eBook

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SanGabriel

Wilderness

Chino

Orange

Sunset
Beach

Seal
Beach

CostaMesa

Pomona

Anaheim

Ontario

SantaAna

Laguna

Beach

Newport

Beach

Huntington

Beach

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WXÕ^605

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dk 138

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FG 26

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Beach in your teeny-

weeny bikini. Jealously

guarded by locals,

Thousand Steps Beach

(off 9th Ave) is hidden

off Hwy 1 just south of

Mission Hospital, where

a stairway leads down to

a rocky beach, postcard-

perfect for sunbathing.

The Drive » Join Hwy 1, aka

Pacific Coast Hwy (PCH), for

the quick 10-mile trip north

to Newport Beach, passing

oceanfront Crystal Cove State

Park. Exit onto Newport Blvd,

following it down onto the

Balboa Peninsula.

2 Newport Beach

Next up are the superficial

charms of glitzy Newport

Beach. Primetime soap

The OC may be long

over, but the angst-

ridden adventures of its

glamorous teens have

given a hipper, youthful

sheen to the city’s

longstanding image as a

paradise for yachtsmen

and their trophy wives. On

the Balboa Peninsula, the

two-mile oceanfront strip

between Balboa Pier and

Newport Pier teems with

young glamazons. Inland,

more lifestyles of the

rich and famous revolve

around Fashion Island

(www.shopfashionisland.com;

401 Newport Center Dr), a

posh outdoor mall that’s

one of the OC’s biggest

shopping meccas.

5 p309

The Drive » Keep going

north up Hwy 1, often crawling

with bumper-to-bumper traffic

on summer weekends when

everyone’s heading to the

beach. Relax, it’s only 4 miles

to Huntington Beach, at the

intersection of Main St and PCH.

3 Huntington Beach

Time to make the pop-

cultural switch from the

boob tube to surfing.

Huntington Beach has

been the SoCal surf

hotspot since George

Freeth first demonstrated

the Hawaiian sport

of wave-riding here a

century ago. The city

recently trademarked

its nickname ‘Surf City

USA’ (the moniker from

Jan and Dean’s 1963

pop-music hit). Surfing

is seriously big business

in HB, with buyers for

major retailers coming

here to see what surfers

are wearing and then

marketing the look, while

beautiful blondes blithely

play volleyball on the

golden sand and skaters

whiz past the oceanfront

pier.

The Drive » Keep going north

for 12 miles on Hwy 1 passing

Sunset Beach (p309). Then join

the I-405 north, driving past

industrial areas of Los Angeles.

Take the Hwy 90 westbound exit

toward Marina del Rey, slingshot

TRIP HIGHLIGHT

h

Santa Barbara

Wine Country

Follow Hwy 154 up into the

mountains of the Santa

Ynez Valley, where Sideways

wine country is ready for its

close-up.

q

Disneyland &

Orange County

Beaches

If you can’t get enough of

the OC’s sunny sands, keep

cruising coastal Hwy 1, then

hit Disneyland.

LINK

YOUR

TRIP

SOUTHERN.CALIFORNIA.

29

.SOCAL POP CULTURE