Visiting my home town---Huntington Beach!

Happy 5th! Did you have a nice holiday? I thought I would share a little about the city I live in. Huntington Beach is a great place to live. The weather is wonderful in this Southern California region and we have about 10 miles of coastline. Summer brings thousands of tourists to this city every day. The downtown is right by the beach with a long pier, shops, restaurants, bars and surf stores. The beach is a world class surfing destination, home to frequent surf contests and sand volleyball is big too. Besides the beach, there are homes of all kinds since this city was started in the early 1900s. Oil is still found here as well. Big hotels have come up along the beach  which include a Hilton and Hyatt hotels. Pacific Coast Highway is jammed all summer and frankly, I avoid the most crowded parts.

 But I decided to take a little visit to Huntington Beach, California Main Street, the beach and pier.. just to share! As you can see, the pier is decked out for the 4th of July Holiday.

  I took these photos on July 3rd, right before the big holiday. The city was packed with beach go-ers and those who come to see the Fourth of July parade. Typical of early July, the sky was overcast but cleared in the afternoon.

 Beach volleyball on the sand next to the pier. Professional competitions take place here too. In the background are stands set up for a surf contest taking place in the ocean beyond.

Huntington Beach is also know as Surf City. Lifeguards here have to be among the best and busiest!

 This is Main Street. It starts right at the pier. Lots of traffic and the surf shops had their wares out on the sidewalks for the big weekend of tourists.

The restaurants and cafes spilled out onto the sidewalks giving diners a view of the world passing by.

 

I peeked into this huge swimwear shop just because of the fabulous chandeliers of orchids and tropical flowers. 

Main Street turns into a tree lined boulevard with homes of every type. Craftsman, Victorian, Modern, Mid Century, and Spanish homes are just a few of the types of architecture on this street and in the downtown area. Many of the houses were decorated for the 4th. The parade runs right along this street and many parties are held over the holiday.

Well, that's my little trip to Downtown Huntington Beach! This city has over 200,000 people now and there are lots of parks, beaches, colleges and schools and other  interesting sites . Thanks for visiting a little corner of the Sunset Coast today!

Have an Paradise day!

Cindy

Coasting To Seal Beach!

Hey Kids! Today we're traveling a little bit north to the city of Seal Beach, in southern California. It was a perfect day, weatherwise, when I decided to be a tourist in my own 'hood'. Seal Beach is a really quaint town with a nice family beach, a cute main street and homes of all types.

San Gabriel River Meets Seal Beach

Just to change things up, I first visited Gum Grove Park. This park is sort of unknown because it's on the off shore side of the Pacific Coast Highway. Hidden behind a hill of homes, it's a nice trail for a nature walk, a bike ride or to walk your dog.

And what a day it was for nature! The sun was warm , the mustard flowers were in full bloom and the eucalyptus trees shaded the trail. The trail only goes back about 1/2 a mile. I wish I could share the sounds! Birds chirping and tweeting like crazy.The bushes were buzzing with bees and I could hear animals creeping through the brush. I saw robins and hummingbirds and hawks and butterflies.  And the smells! Eucalyptus leaves and wild flower scents and warm earth all mixed together. Nothing like getting out into nature, even if it's close to a city, to stimulate the senses.

 Sometimes I forget to take time to do that, take time to enjoy some natural space and recharge.

 

I passed a couple gals wearing their employee badges, they must have been on a lunchtime walk. They asked me if I saw the coyote! Oh, that must have been the creeping in the bushes because they pointed to where the coyote had crawled through an opening in the fencing. Same place I heard the sounds.. Our lovely friend the coyote is sharing space with us in southern California. It's bad news for cats and small pets. I've found cats killed by coyotes more than once.. sadly. 

 

Next, I headed a few blocks over to 'Old Town' Seal Beach---everything on the west/ocean side of Pacific Coast Highway. There you'll find the pier with a restaurant on the end, the beach of course, and Main Street. Main Street is a few blocks long and filled with restaurants, shops and boutiques, salons, coffee houses and at least 3 Irish pubs! The garden shop was full of blooms.

Seal Beach Pier

Main Street Seal Beach

 

 Among the restaurants, one of my favorite Mexican Food places is Taco Surf. I think most everyone in southern California has their favorite Mexican food!

The shops took a blow a few years ago and it seemed like a day of lunching with friends and checking out gift shops was over for me. As soon as a new shop came in, it was soon out of business for many of them. But Seal Beach has rallied and has several new stores that I took a peek into. You can find coastal decor, seashells, bathing suits and beach attire, art, jewelry, gourmet foods and more. There's even a home town hardware store. And the Seal Beach Psychic is still in business too..( is a psychic a required shop for a California beach town???)

 

The town of Seal Beach has all kinds of homes to check out too! Darling beach cottages, huge ocean front mansions, multi family homes, big houses and tiny houses make up the scenery.

Crafty Cottage

Ocean Front Mediterranean

Modern Mansion

Tiny Beach Bungalows

 I like Seal Beach for a lot of reasons. It has a nice beach for families.. not a surfing beach really. And the Main Street offers so many good restaurants and shops, it's a nice lunch or dinner destination. It's also a great place for walking--along the beach, down the pier, around the town, through the interesting streets of eclectic homes.

At the north end of the beach, there's the San Gabriel river that lets out into the ocean. You'll also find a beachfront cafe, River's End Cafe,  where you can dine outside and enjoy the sun, the breeze and the views. A long riverside bike trail also lets you off right there for a beachside break.

Riverside Rabbit

It's kind of fun to see a town you've known your whole life through tourists' eyes for a day. Some day I should visit the Red Car Museum. Located in the middle of town, it's a Pacific Red Car from 1925 that houses a museum. These train cars used to run between Los Angeles and Newport Beach from 1904 to the 1950's.  It's one of those places you think  'I'll go in there, someday'.

 

 

Photo Credit

 

Thanks for visiting the Sunset Coast! I would love you to join this site as a follower and have blog updates emailed to you, if you wish.

 

Have a Groovy Day!

Cindy

  Come see where the parties are!
http://www.savvysouthernstyle.net/

Beach Style Decor and Wreaths

I just love walking around interesting neighborhoods and looking at people's homes. Last week I was walking around Newport Beach, California. This is a beautiful city  with great beaches, a harbor and upscale homes and lifestyles. I like to walk around the more funky areas near the beach and this day I was walking around the Lido Isle area. Well, there is the cutest, and I mean cutest little community called 'Lido Peninsula Resort'. It's actually a neighborhood of tiny homes.. prefab homes and mobile homes. But it is so quaint. Almost every home has done some beachy decorating in their front yard and made the most of their itty bitty lot.  Seeing all the darling decorations inspired me to do some looking around pinterest for more beachy design and especially ocean and sea inspired wreaths.
   Here are some views on my walk...Love these!

  This porch was especially comfy looking with it's red Adirondack chairs and the great signal flag pillows.

A great hippie surfboard bus. I've seen this artist's work in Laguna Beach.

 

 

 I kind of like the reflections in this picture even though I was trying to photograph the seashell wreath. Do you see my head?

A sweet, classic white picket fence and some lighthouse painted chairs look inviting. How about those starfish in the windows?

 I liked this wreath, a combination of shells, fishnet and a mermaid.

 

 

 A nice hue of purple on this door and an inviting flower painting welcomes visitors.

Here's a view of one of the streets. These are the nicer homes. Many of the homes were mobile homes that were added onto like the one below.

 

This tiny home made the most of it's 'yard' using pots full of cactus and succulents. There's my orange door! I'm in an orange phase lately.

 

Now don't get ideas that you want to move to these little homes. As cute as they were, it is Newport Beach and the prices are high. The bad thing is, they're on leased land and when I went into an open house a couple years ago, the lease alone was $2400 a month! I think most of the people there use them as vacation cottages. It was certainly a perfect spot, right on the harbor with it's own beach.

Homebytheseashore.com

Okay, so I won't get a teeny, vacation cottage.. But, I could add some beach decor to my home! I found some beautiful wreaths on Pinterest.

Windandweather.com

 

Etsy.com/thechicadeeshop

 

Pinterest

 

http://blog.driftsc.com/

 

nicoleblissfullyblessed.com

 

anniescraftideas.blogspot.com

 

craftsdecorpins.com

 

I really like the wreaths with driftwood and seashells. Maybe I'll start collecting some driftwood and make one of these babies. Or maybe I'll just make this boat and sail off into dreamland!

thefancy.com

 

Which wreath do you like best?

Have a beachy day!

Cindy

 

Sharing at these places.. check them out!

My Simple Home Life

Dwellings

MockingHill Cottage