On the Saturday of Labor Day weekend, Bob woke up super early and pronounced that he wanted to go to the beach. Having previously decided that we would do a ‘low-key’ weekend (his words, not mine), I was very surprised and super happy that he wanted to make the jaunt up to Malibu. He had filmed Point Dume back in May and kept telling me about how much I would love it, even though we never found the time to visit.
It was quickly decided that we should jump out of bed, even on a lazy Saturday, put on our bathing suits and go to beat the traffic.
And traffic did we beat. We arrived in Malibu in no time, with only a few other cars on the road (the only way to actually enough the drive to Malibu, if you ask me). We turned off the main drag and squirreled around the coast until we found a shaded spot of free parking.
Walking about ten minutes to the beach and arriving at the cliffs, I had no idea what to expect. Was there a way down? Is this just an overlook? Am I going on a hike in a polka dot bikini?
Well, yes, there was a way down. Yes, it was an overlook and yes, I’d be hiking down the mountain side in a black and white polka dot bikini that got many a second glance and often a smile.
I’m not sure why I didn’t take any photos of the hike down and the old rusty staircase down to the beach. It might have been that the staircase looked like it could fall apart at any moment and I was gripping onto the sides pretty intently. While the beach is beautiful and the staircase often used, this isn’t the beach for everyone as there is no easy way down. (If you have a family or have knee problems, this wouldn’t be the beach to try to go to.)
After you jump off the last step, there is about 20 yards of slimy rocks to walk over before you hit rock free sand.
I know I’m not painting the most beautiful picture with my words- but look at the photos. Even though it takes a little bit of time to sit your stuff down and spread out your beach towel, this spot is gorgeous. There were far, far less people here than over the hill at Zuma. You could spread out and have a piece of the beach all to yourself.
The hike down actually reminded me of some spots on the trails in Cinque Terre- which, of course, made me all giddy inside to relive our Italy trip.
After we laid on the beach for about an hour (almost all we could handle, the sun was so bright), we picked up our things, made the hike back to the top of the cliff and hiked up to the top of the lookout and over to see Zuma Beach. From the lookout we could hear sea lions on a small rock below us and a few kayakers were down near them taking photos. Looking out into the endless ocean, I felt like we were explorers and this land was our land. (You know how emotional I get about feeling isolated and free) In that moment, all we were thinking about was where we were and who we were with- we talked about traveling and the ocean and how one day soon we’d love to live closer by the beach. We talked about children and love and what we want our life to be like. There, on the top of our world, it felt like we were going to have it all.
This was the perfect beach day. It was low-key like Bob wanted and made me feel more in love with him than I already am. It’s not like something big happened, it was just so special discovering something new and experiencing it with the person you hold most dear.
When was your last perfect day?
