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California Travel Tip

Last Days of Summer

September 12, 2016 by Cornelia 2 Comments

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Last Days of Summer – Enjoy them before they’r gone…

Summertime, and the livin’ is easy… Gershwin’s silvery song from his opera Porgy and Bess rings in my ears while my husband and I lounge in pool chairs watching our children having fun in the pool right on the beach. “A pool on the beach?” you might say, “What’s so cool about that?”

Well, it’s a special pool. In fact it’s a historic pool! And it’s not somewhere at a fancy resort or so. No, it’s right here in Los Angeles and open to all!

One of the well guarded insider secrets of L.A. is the Annenberg Community Beach House in Santa Monica. We love coming here! Every time we are in Los Angeles either going to the Getty, LACMA, hanging out at the Grand Central Market or just visiting the German Consulate, we make it a point to come here to pay this historic pool by the beach a visit before heading back home.

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Built on 5 acres of beach property the Annenberg Beach House features a pool, a splash pad for the little ones, a fun playground and 6 beach volley ball courts right next to the Beach House. But it is also a community center that offers yoga classes, swim lessons and cultural programs and events like poetry readings and much more. You can rent out paddle boards for the day or book a surfing class. Do I need to say more…?

Even if you just come here for a few hours, it’s totally worth the parking fee of $3/hour or $12/day.  The kids can cool off in the water while you relax with a novel in a beach chair or just kick back after a busy day. If you are getting bored by the pool and crave some real ocean water, no problem! Just cross over the bike path along the beach and dive into the waves.

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Beautiful Sunsets for Dinner

Oh, and lets not forget about the Back On The Beach Cafe with the most beautiful sunsets ‘for’ dinner! My suggestion is, make it a day at the Annenberg and stay for dinner. You will not regret it!

We love ending a day in L.A. here at this Beach House Cafe. Looking out onto the ocean, the pristine white beach in front us we dig our toes into the warm sand and unwind with a glass of wine. While we are waiting for our dinner to arrive, the kids hang out on the playground next to us, … and the most spectacular sunset is just happening right in front of our eyes!

A perfect day turned into a beautiful memory!

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From Private Hollywood Estate to a Community Beach House for All

This beautiful site along Pacific Coast Highway was originally developed during the Gold Coast era of the 1920s by William Hearst, the publishing magnate who also built California’s Hearst Castle. The big estate was a gift to his mistress, actress Marion Davies, and hosted many of Hollywood’s celebrities like “Charlie Chaplin, Louis B. Mayer, Samuel Goldwyn, Greta Garbo, Clark Gable and other stars of the day”. After 1947 the property was converted into “America’s Most Beautiful Hotel” and housed the Sand & Sea Club before it was sold to the State of California in 1959.

A $27.5 million grant by the Annenberg Foundation paved the way for the transformation into today’s Annenberg Community Beach House a year-round public beach facility open to all. It opened to the public in 2009.

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Today parts of the original historic Marion Davies Estate have been restored and are part of the new Beach House: the original Marion Davies Guest House, which serves as a museum telling the rich history of the Beach House and the historic Beach House Pool, which “features marble around the deck and beautiful tiles that were restored by hand.”

The Annenberg Community Beach House is usually open daily from 8:30am. Summer hours differ from fall hours so check before planning a visit. The pool schedule is seasonal and from October to May special Pop Up Pool Days are offered.

Address:
Annenberg Community Beach House
415 Pacific Coast Highway *
Santa Monica, CA, 90402

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Images: ©CaliforniaGermans

Resource: annenbergbeachhouse.com


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Filed Under: Editorial, Life in California, LifeStyle Tagged With: Annenberg Community Beach House, Beach Cafe, Beach House, California beaches, California Travel Tip, Hollywood, Randolph Hearst, Santa Monica, sunsets, Travel

Adventures of a German Au Pair in the United States – Secret CA Travel Tip

April 27, 2016 by Anne-Kathrin Leave a Comment

2016April-KathrinDesert Sunset

Dumont Sand Dunes – One of Many Hidden Travel Gems in California

One of the things I love living in the state of California is all the beautiful travel options this state has to offer.  There is San Francisco, a very diverse city full of life with amazing charming cities such as Monterrey or Carmel close by.  Down here in Southern California, we are blessed to have San Diego close by, as well as getaway spots such as Palm Springs or Temecula.  But then there are these retreats that might not be advertised as much as the above mentioned hotspots, but which are definitely worth experiencing.  Today, I would like to share one of my top vacation gems that I can recommend to anyone who likes adventure and a unique getaway.

I probably would have never done one of these vacations if it hadn’t been for my local friends.  Yes, certain travel recommendation guides and websites point out the must-sees, but I prefer experiencing the kind of vacation you won’t necessarily find in one of those guides.  One of these getaways included a trip to the desert, which I undertook with a couple local friends back in February 2013. My friend David was having an upcoming vacation to the desert with his family.  It was something they were doing every year at that particular time and this year David extended the invitation to some of his closest friends. I was beyond thrilled when he told me about this opportunity.  I have never traveled to the dunes before, and the thought of riding quads and hanging out in the middle of nowhere for an extended weekend with a group of fun friends was very appealing to me.

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So, on this particular Friday night in February of 2013, a group of eight friends rented two RVs for a 72-hour trip to Dumont Sand Dunes, a place located about 30 miles north of Baker, CA.  The ride took us about 4-5 hours without any heavy traffic since we left late that night from Huntington Beach.  We arrived in the desert at about midnight, and people were still out having BBQs in the sand.  I instantly loved the atmosphere; it was very chill and laid-back.  There wasn’t much more for us to do the first night, so we went to bed with the plan to get up early and join in the fun.

The next day was full of adventures, some more unplanned than others.  A couple of my guy friends took one of the Jeeps out for a ride along the sand.  Still, this was so unbelievable for me:  We were in the middle of literally nowhere, surrounded by huge sand dunes people used as their playground for a weekend.  I was fascinated and loved it, especially since it wasn’t your average vacation.  Those are the events that count for some of the best memories, at least in my opinion.  Once the guys got back, it finally was my girlfriend’s and my turn to take a ride with the Jeep.  My friend Derrick was driving and he didn’t go easy on us, but in a good way.  We sped off from our little camp, bumping on the sand along those giant dunes.  We were having a blast until…, yes, until the car got stuck!  Of course this had to happen when Derrick was with us girls only who couldn’t help much but try to get a gazillion-pound car out of a bunch of sand.  Thanks to it being a holiday weekend, many friendly people were around at the same time, and as they saw us struggling with our situation, we got approached by many helpful hands that offered us assistance.  In a matter of probably 15 minutes, the Jeep was free, but something was still not right with it.  It suffered some damage that needed to be fixed by a mechanic; so unfortunately, the vehicle was out for the rest of the trip.

That didn’t stop us though from having the time of our lives.  We rode the dune buggies and dirt bikes, enjoyed some really great BBQ around our nightly campfires, played cornhole and card games… All in all it was a great time.  On our second day we got the opportunity to witness a dune buggy race in which David’s dad partook in.  The disciplines seemed super crazy to me.  Contestants raced up a very steep sand hill (and with very steep I mean very steep, almost a 90 degree angle), and whoever did it the fastest, won.  It was really amazing to watch, but I concluded that never in a million years would I be sitting in that thing racing up the hills.  I’d rather leave that to the boys.  

That same afternoon, my good girlfriend Bea and I decided that it was time to be at least a little bit girly during this trip.  So we drove to a little market in the middle of the desert which was really just a couple stands where you could buy clothing and fun things, in the middle of nowhere.  I kept laughing about this absurd but oh so awesome scenery.  So off we went, shopping our way through the desert, ending up buying clothing and food.  What can I say; it made this trip even more special than it already was.  

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On our last day, some of the guys decided to go sand boarding.  They had been planning this all along and had brought their snowboards all the way from Orange County with them.  We onlookers were staying at the bottom of the giant sand dune, while David’s dad dropped the crazy sand boarders off on top of the hill with the dune buggy.  The scenery was just hilarious, watching the guys coming down the sand mountain with snowboards.  It was such a fun experience, even though I didn’t end up doing it myself due to being way too clumsy to even attempt such an ordeal.  

The next morning, we left during sunrise to make our way back to Orange County.  Seeing the sun climbing up through the sand dunes towards the sky made the scenery look beyond gorgeous.  I am not going to lie, leaving was bittersweet, but I was also ready to wash all the sand off that I brought home with me from the trip.  If anyone ever has the opportunity to experience going to the dunes, I can highly recommend it.  If you plan on doing so, I would recommend going early or late in the year since it can get really hot during spring and summer.  We went at the perfect time, and I would definitely do it again… Anytime!

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This story concludes the “Adventures of a German Au Pair in the United States” Series.
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Images: ©Anne-Kathrin Schulte
Disclaimer: Names in the story may have been changed to protect people’s privacy
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Anne-KathrinAnne-Kathrin Schulte, is a contributor for CaliforniaGermans.com. She writes on her personal experience of the American Dream as well as on working as an au pair in CA. She was born and grew up in Düsseldorf, Germany, where she completed her degree as a state-approved Kindergarten teacher. After her au pair engagement in the US and a quick return to Germany she decided to attend university in California and moved back to the United States. She lives in Southern California since 2011.

If you would like to contact Anne-Kathrin, please send an email to californiagermans(at)gmail.com and place her name in the subject line.

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Filed Under: "Sprechen Sie Deutsch" - California Neighbors, Expat Stories Tagged With: Anne-Kathrin Schulte, Au Pair, California Travel Tip, desert, Dumont Sand Dunes, Expat

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