What Can You Discover From A Trip To The Beach?

If you are previous guest poster, John Paraskevopoulos, this among other things:

“By Beauty’s truth, we can be elevated beyond the getting and spending of everyday awareness.”

John’s account of his spring break trip with his graduating senior class from Santa Teresa High goes straight from Highway 17 into exploring universal truths such as the power of beauty to make us happy and the transcendence of human life.

A masterly piece of writing, the post reminds us we should be more aware of the beauty of our own existence as also the beauty that surrounds us all.

Read it Tuesday.

Meanwhile, since the SFO Bay Area is home to some of the best and most celebrated beaches in the world, here’s a shortlist of some I have visited, with fun facts, most of which are common knowledge, but some which I got from scouring the web:

Stinson Beach, Marin County (20M North of the Golden Gate Bridge):

*Named for Nathan and Rose Stinson – who established the first campground at Stinson.

*Became popular after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake when displaced San Francisco families relocated there and set up homes and businesses.

*Evolved into a popular weekend tourist destination with the advance of the motor-car and the building of the Golden Gate Bridge in 1937.

* Grateful Dead guitarist Jerry Garcia and his wife were both born and raised in the census-designated place known as Stinson Beach and part of Janis Joplin’s ashes were scattered at Stinson Beach; Stinson Beach is also the setting of Woody Allen’s Play It Again Sam.

You can read more about Stinson Beach here.

Capitola Beach, Santa Cruz County (1/2 hour drive from San Jose, CA)

*Thought to be the oldest beach on the West Coast.

*Named for the heroine of The Hidden Hand, a novel by E.D.E.N. Southworth.

*The Venetian Hotel which sits on the right of the pier is a designated National Historic Place.

*The beach was attacked by hundreds of Sooty Shearwaters (a type of bird) in 1961, an event that was to become the inspiration for Alfred Hitchcock’s ‘The Birds’.

You can read more about the City of Capitola and Capitola Beach here.

Santa Cruz Beach, Santa Cruz County (1/2 hour drive from San Jose, CA)

*Famous for its Boardwalk, which is California’s oldest surviving amusement park and one of the few seaside amusement parks on the West Coast, you pay for parking and rides, but there is no admission fee and the beach is public.

*Considered one of the best spots in the world for surfing.

*From June 17 thru September 2, Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk hosts Free Friday Nights Bands on the Beach at 6:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.

*There’s plenty to see and visit in and around Santa Cruz... Roaring Camp Railroad, Mystery Spot, Pasatiempo Golf Club, Ken Wormhoudt Skate Park, Pacific Garden Mall and the Santa Cruz Mission State Historic Park.

You can read more about Santa Cruz beach and Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk here and here.

Monterey Beach, Monterey County (1 hour drive from San Jose, CA)

*Setting of John Steinbeck’s Cannery Row, Tortilla Flat, East of Eden and Of Mice and Men.

*Home to popular tourist attractions such as Fisherman’s Wharf and Monterey Bay Aquarium.

*Kayaking, scuba-diving, surfing, whale watching and beach-going are among the many water activities you can enjoy at Monterey Beach.

*Historic landmarks include California’s first theatre, and Colton Hall - where California’s first constitution was written.

You can learn more about Monterey here and here.

Carmel By The Sea, Monterey County, 1 hr 30 mins from San Jose

*Usually combined with a visit to Pebble Beach Golf Course and 17 Mile Drive.

*City of poets and actors, many of whom served as mayors for a term, including Clint Eastwood (1986-1988); it’s also where legendary photographer Ansel Adams printed and published a majority of his life’s works.

*Home to a historic artists colony, the one described in Jack London’s The Valley of the Moon -  Carmel has over 100 art galleries.

*A dog-friendly city where most hotels and restaurants accept dogs;  shoes with heels higher than 2 inches require a permit, though.

You can find out more about Carmel By the Sea, Pebble Beach and 17 mile drive here, here and here.

P.S. Hope you enjoyed this quick primer on some of the best SFO Bay Area beaches. You should bookmark the links to all of them, since each has something unique to offer and is worth a visit on its own.  The wonderful part is that since Capitola, Santa Cruz, Monterey and Carmel are all along Highway 1, you can plan an itinerary which covers them all. Amazon offers books, dvds and cds to read before or bring along.

P.S. 2:  If you are an artist and would like to explore an artists colony in India, you should look at Cholamandal near Mahabalipuram in Southern India.  You can even do an internship there through an organization called Diversity Abroad.  Learn more about a Cholamandal internship through Diversity Abroad here.

P.S. 3:  Don’t forget to mark Tuesday for John’s post about his trip to the beach. Meanwhile, if you want to read his previous post On the Importance of Language Arts, you can read it here.

P.S. 4: Finally, here's a sprinkling of what you can find on Amazon in connection with Capitola, Santa Cruz, Monterey and Carmel.