WEEKEND GETAWAYS | SAN DIEGO
Beach vibrations in La Jolla
Even in the off-season, the San Diego town seems like a sunny summer day.
Here along the Southern California coast, beach season arrives slowly, then seems to disappear far too soon. School begins. Lifeguard stands close. The Pacific quickly regains its native chill.
This year, my wife and I decided to do our best to prolong the season into late fall. Alison had memories of fine summer days, swimming and swatting balls at the venerable La Jolla Beach & Tennis Club. I liked the idea of heading south but avoiding the San Diego Zoo-Sea World-Legoland vortex.
A likely date presented itself in mid-November, and we set out to see if we could recapture the warm buzz of summer. Happily speeding south in what a friend aptly derides as the "Family Funster" (gleaming white minivan, bristling with cup holders), we hit our first glitch. Traffic on Interstate 5. Dutiful mother Alison doled out pretzels and juice boxes. We persevered.
Despite the delay, it took just over two hours to get from South Pasadena to La Jolla. We went straight into the heart of the village, finding street parking just above the town's signature cove.
As the Funster's electronic door rolled open, a gust of briny air washed over us, and the three kids — ages 4 to 12 — piled out.
The cove's native seals were waiting for us, basking on their rocks and lolling about in the easy surf. Pelicans and gulls seemed to watch along with us from the bluffs above.
If we'd had the patience, we could have listened to a fervent, sunburned woman who wanted to tell us all about the daily travesty that has befallen the small beach, known as the Children's Pool. It seems the city is driving the seals away to reclaim the area for humans, as was intended when a breakwater went up decades ago to create a swimming haven.
The seals looked happy enough on the rocks just off the beach. And we were more concerned with the care and feeding of our own creatures.
Half a block up from the bluffs, on Girard Avenue, we found a bistro called Cody's La Jolla. A patio wrapped around two sides of the cottage, providing a brilliant ocean view. The outdoor setting also helped minimize some of the staid, ladies-who-lunch milieu that prevails in parts of the upscale village.
Cody's is a bit pricey for the corndog-and-ketchup set, but I kept the tab down by eating off everyone else's plate. And the kids said they really liked their omelets and chicken tenders.
Legs stretched and bellies full, we were ready for our final destination.
La Jolla is one of the few spots along the California coast where you can find a hotel right on the sand. The Beach & Tennis Club, a five-minute drive north of the center of town, is a reliable resort that's been in operation since the 1930s. But on a previous stay, we found our room a little cramped, even for two. This time, even in the off-season, a suite to accommodate the whole family would have cost more than $300 a night.
Instead we chose the resort's sister hotel immediately to the north, the Sea Lodge on La Jolla Shores Beach. The hotel had the same oceanfront location. A "coastal view" room — looking across a public park and up the beach toward Scripps Pier — ran a much more reasonable $189 a night plus tax, with buffet breakfast for two thrown in.
The Spanish-style Sea Lodge has two large courtyard patios outfitted with a modest pool, a small hot tub and a couple of pingpong tables. The hotel feels less exclusive than the Beach & Tennis Club. It's one address closer to the public beach and lacks the sand grooming and lounge chairs of its sister property.
But our second-floor room was comfortable enough. Its wooden deck faces up the coast. The décor might have been a little faded, but we didn't plan to spend much time indoors.
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