postcard

I wrote this short essay for Wildsam Magazine to serve as an introduction to a feature on roadtripping through California’s surf towns. I have spent some time in such places, as you all know. They are a whole vibe, though each has its own flavor.

Exit West. Gas. Food. Lodging. An archipelago of towns runs the length of the California coast, connected by a tangle of freeways and yet, existing a world apart from them. Start in San Diego and follow the Pacific Coast Highway north. White sand and easy turns wild and rugged. Palm trees give way to cypress, pines, and redwoods. Each town has its own personality, but all along the way, the ocean is ever-present in all its shifting moods. Life dances to the rhythm of the tides.

In the early 20th century, Duke Kahanamoku brought surfing to California, but it remained for films like the 1959 classic Gidget to rocket surfing into the mainstream. Once there, it never left. Board maker Hobie Alter opened California’s first surf shop in Dana Point in 1954, and before long, just about every town on the coast had its own shop and local board label. With their boards tucked under their arms, Californians headed to the beach and a whole way of life evolved around their newfound obsession.

When the waves turn on, the rhythm changes. Before sunrise, the line runs around the block at the coffee shop and blocks the sidewalk outside the tacqueria that’s serving up breakfast burritos. Traffic crawls along the PCH. Heads hang out car windows, staring at the waves and searching for that elusive parking spot. Boards slide out of cars, wetsuits tug into place. Hurry, gotta get out there. Swell lines stretch to the horizon, and surfers jostle for the best waves like a pack of hungry seagulls on a bag of chips.

All too soon, the wind comes up and the tide drains out. Sandy toes slide hastily into shoes and socks, and head off to the day job. Whatever it takes to stay right here and live this life.
When the sun sinks toward the horizon and transforms the salt spray to golden haze, it all feels like a dream.

And maybe it is.