California Beaches Blog

By Chris MacDonald, HB Local News columnist, photographer, blogger
In Orange County where “monarch” is most often associated with Monarch Beach, a bright orange butterfly with wings that look like stained glass patterns, also is celebrated. Many volunteers are trying to help the winged creature thrive and find a home in Orange County where the butterfly [...]

You are what you …. wear.  Or in Palo Alto, California, “Vestis virum reddit”….  clothes make the man (woman).
In the annual art show, STYLE 2010: The Wearable Art Show, artisan-made clothing, jewelry, and accessories often featured on models, allow the public to meet the talented artists and purchase great designer, one-of-a-kind apparel.
Palo Alto’s spectacular [...]

California beach goers passions for bonfires come into clearer focus with an event in Berkeley for “Chahrshanbeh Souri”. Shaking off the darkness of winter and welcoming the lightness of spring, a Persian ritual passed down since ancient Zoroastrian times involved jumping over a bonfire as the sun sets.  The Persian New Year Festival is called [...]

For those who don’t fish, you can’t escape the passion of fishing as you find yourself surrounded by fish sportsmen and women no matter whether you live, be it Missouri, Minnesota or California. In California there are opportunities to learn how to fish free on one the many public piers.
I grew up in Missouri listening [...]

What are you going to do after you watch Stage 6 of the Amgen Tour of California bike race that passes through Big Bear Lake on March 21, 2010? Why not hop on a bike and participate in a race that includes some of the same areas that the pros ride on? Big Bear Cycling’s [...]

Tucked in the hills of Aliso Viejo in South Orange County is a beautiful campus for Soka University. You hardly can believe such a nice place exists, and that it is a college. The entry to the campus and grounds greet visitors with huge water fountain treatments that create a setting for expensive looking flagstone [...]