What stunned us, however, were the towering skyscrapers marking the entrance to the port.

The oil fields pumping oil day and night like mechanical grasshoppers have long been part of the Southern California landscape.

Danielle and I took our time to peruse the aisles and savor samples of chocolate truffles, fresh Mexican salsa and creamy camembert. My car turned almost automatically off Pacific Coast Highway onto Avocado Avenue and the entrance to this market to the stars. For two foodies like us, however, nearby Bristol Farms market, a gastronomic nirvana, beckoned. Danielle and I took a short break to amble among the nursery's themed gardens, fragrant with culinary herbs. The elegant planned community is home to the designer-packed Fashion Island shopping mall, as well as one of my favorite nurseries, Roger's Gardens. Wide boulevards lined with rows of tall office buildings greeted as we approached Newport's business district. Cliff-hanging homes jut from among modest beach cottages, mirroring those of wealthier Newport Beach, a few miles ahead. Open of Surfing and houses one of the many surf museums in the state. Huntington Beach, aka Surf City USA, brought to mind the Beach Boys' hymn to surfing, 'Surfin' USA.' The sport is the lifeblood of this community, which hosts the U.S. For a while we felt like extras in a Beach Boys movie. We set out from Oceanside along what is known as Pacific Coast Highway, the picturesque road that hugs the beaches of Orange County along the way. This past January, before the pandemic took hold, my friend Danielle and I took off on a drive along Southern California's iconic Highway 1 to Long Beach and the Queen Mary.

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