About this beach picture: This photo was taken on a sunny afternoon in September in Huntington Beach. It was a weekend holiday coming up...Labor Day, which is a U.S. holiday. The air temperature was 75 degrees.

It occurs that last weekend in August and first week in Sept. normally. In California, most the kids go to school on a 9-month schedule (September through mid-June). So Labor Day is the last big weekend before the beach goes from packed to empty. The irony is that the warmest, sunniest weather of the year occurs after the kids go back. The most predictable sun and heat come in September, October and sometimes November. The Southern California fires that burned massive amounts of land in Fall 2007, were fueled by an annual condition of hot Santa Ana winds, normally created from a local air flow in which heat from the desert is swept backward toward the west, heating up the beaches. That fire and wind had not happened yet when this picture was taken. The weather was still summer calm, summer cool (around 75 degrees) and none had any notion that there'd be the devastation, smoke, and heat upcoming, just weeks away.

So what you see above is a typical Labor Day Weekend scene at Huntington Beach. Moms, dads, grandmothers, grandfathers, babies in prams, strollers and blankets all stay covered from the sun, which can burn you within 15 minutes at the beach. Why? The sand and ocean both act as reflectors.

This image was taken next to the Huntington Beach Pier. A lifeguard in his uniform, red trunks, stands up in his tower, watching the beach. On the pier in the background are flags sold at the Kite Connection store.

Huntington Beach Travel Guide: Huntington Beach is one of a handful of beach cities spanning 40 some miles of coast in Orange County, California. Los Angeles beaches are to the north, and San Diego beaches to the south. Accessible from major freeways and airports, Orange County Airport is approx. 12 miles away, Long Beach Airport 15 miles, and Los Angeles International Airport is approx. 35 miles away. You can make flight reservation or hotel reservations to Huntington Beach.

If you're thinking about beach hotels and find the city's offerings are fully booked, try Sunset Beach or Newport Beach for additional choices.