San Diego: Boardwalk in Laguna Beach

Title:
San Diego: Boardwalk in Laguna Beach

Description:
After a nice tennis game in the morning the fog was finally starting to burn off. I had to decided to go on a little excursion up the California coastline and set off on the road by 10 am. From Solana Beach I drove north on historic Highway 101 through the coastal communities of Encinitas, Carlsbad and Oceanside. I made a stop in Oceanside, one of the largest cities in San Diego County. Oceanside has an attractive harbour area that features a variety of restaurants and retail stores. It is also known for the Oceanside Pier, the longest wooden pier on the western coastline of the United States. Now the sky had cleared up completely, and I started to head further north. I took Highway 5 since the coastal area is inaccessible as it is the location of Camp Pendleton, the busiest military base in the United States. Large tracts of land are used as training grounds for the United States Marine Corps as well as all other branches of the U.S. military. A good half hour further north of Camp Pendleton, Highway 5, a very busy eight- or ten-lane highway, started to curve inland. I had now left San Diego County and entered Orange County, the second most populous county in California just south of Los Angeles that is mostly made up of suburban communities. Many high-tech firms are located in Orange County, and many of the communities are very affluent. I drove past the town of San Juan Capistrano which is most well-known for being the site of a Catholic mission that was founded in 1776 when California still belonged to the Spanish empire. My destination for the day was Laguna Beach, a very pretty beach-front town, and after San Juan Capistrano the second oldest city in Southern Orange County. Originally sparsely populated by homesteaders, Laguna Beach became popular among landscape painters in the early 1920s. The town became a magnet for artists and even to this day has an active arts community and many galleries. Laguna Beach location on the Pacific coastline, with the coastal mountains petering out into the ocean, is simply stunning. Houses and villas are built into the hills and the downtown waterfront is highlighted by a large park with a broad sandy beach and a boardwalk. Further north along the shore there is a set of walkways on the sandstone cliffs that provide a gorgeous view of the waterfront and the bay of Laguna Beach. In many ways this town reminded me of the Riviera in Italy; it is definitely an extremely scenic destination.

Author:
travelandtransitions

Tags:
USA, Southern, California, San, Diego, Laguna, Beach,