Dana Point

Brendon is standing at the cave entrance

Brendon's surprise trip for me was to visit Dana point. I did too much sailing on the weekends before and it was time for us to go somewhere together, without racing and boating. Dana Point was named after Richard Henry Dana, Jr who wrote Two Years Before the Mast. Kinda strange to name a town after a dude who made his fame practically suffering good two years on a tall ship. First we went to San Onofre State Beach, which has some famous surf when all wind and sea are in perfect constellation. Was a pretty one if we don't think of the Nuclear Power Plant standing right where the beach ends.

Romantic beach getaway

Or as a matter of fact the beach doesn't end, the backdrop changes into fluorescent dogs and mutant ninja turtles.

They were mutants...

The Dana Point harbor is great. And big, open, pretty impressive and if somebody is not crazy about sailing boats then it is possible a very boring place. We even met a guy in the pub, who was well into his 80s walking 5 miles every day to get his two pints of beer there and about 3 days from heading to Australia as a returning tourist. We decided he was an ex-military dude based on his perfectly trimmed hair and even more perfectly ironed slacks with shirt and a Ralph Lauren pullover... I had fish sandwich and home mixed ginger ale.

Replica Pilgrim

Dinner was sushi and pretty good cocktails after watching the sunset by the water. Seemingly there were thousands and thousands of people parking all over the harbor. We figured that whole Camp Pendleton was partying here.

So very pretty with water in the air...

Next morning we toured out to the headland, which is an enirely different cup of water with rusting broken weather marks, caves, birds, hermit crabs and dead sea lions with dead sea otters. There is something for everybody. We had a lovely walk around it. I could have spent there hours and hours. I mean we spent there hours and hours. Then we came home.

Some sort of sea grass