The rest of the days will be spent south of Santa Monica, except for today’s unpredictable exploration in Malibu. Leaving your fancy belongings and shopping mentality behind when visiting the ever-famous celeb-favoring beach town of Malibu may seem unnatural, but natural is exactly what it is.
After applying adequate sunblock and double-checking your camera batteries, pull on a swimsuit and top it off with active shorts, a tank top, and hiking/tennis shoes. Start the day off with a BIG breakfast to last until late afternoon, and pack a few snacks to eat once at your first location. Head north, up arguably the most beautiful highway in the states, highway 1. Let yourself fall into a slow pace to soak in all the beautiful beaches and cliff scenery around you. Drive until you come to 27200 Winding Way, Malibu, CA 90265; you will see a small parking lot on the right side of the road. This modest entry is the gateway to my favorite hiking place in Southern California; it beats Runyon based on the lack of traffic and distance from LA in my book. This whimsical place is Escondido Falls, or "Malibu waterfall hike," as everyone likes to call it.
While the beginning of this trail is the pristine example of a nature hike, it quickly becomes an adventurous and thrilling hike full of obstacles and moments of “Is it worth it to try to make it up that rock?” Growing up in the country, I would put myself on most people's more adventurous and risk-taking side. This hike allows those with a more daring side to scale a cliff face, clinging to boulders, and reach for vines to pull themselves out of a natural pool. There is a “road most followed” that most people can manage if they would rather not risk it. As for its nik-name sake, the joy at the end of your efforts is a gorgeous waterfall. Through my travels, I have seen incredible waterfalls in Bavaria, Canada, and Yosemite. Still, there is something special about seeing a hidden fall, at least three stories high, up close and personal. Not only is the primary fall draped with greenery and breathtaking, but there are two other falls you can visit on this trail. I would spend the entire morning and most of the afternoon here. There are endless adventures to be found for every type of traveler, from watching others climb and cling along the waterfall edge to wading in the fall’s pool or sticking to the lower trails and taking in all the fauna. As you can image this is paradise for larger dogs with a need for adventure, my aussie/blue healer mix loved scaling the rocks.
Izzi expressing her dislike for being excluded from the picture.
When your stomach starts to demand that you leave this Utopia, head back south along Highway 1. Late lunch, luninner, super, whatever you want to call this eating timetable could not be spent at a more perfect location than Paradise Cove Beach Café. This is the only restaurant in Malibu on the water, but the best part is the sweet little cove and private beach for your enjoyment. Eat great seafood, watch for whales and dolphins jumping out of the water, and head to the beach when you are full and feeling lazy. Instead of visiting a shopping center, you have seen a hundred times duplicated worldwide, soak in the sun and experience the actual Malibu.
If you are not a natural person and would like to stay indoors, I cannot give a museum higher marks than the Getty Villa, located close to Malibu. The vast array of Greek, Roman, and seasonal exhibits is fantastic, and the building itself is a replica of a Roman Villa. This gives you a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to walk through a structure that resembles a true Roman Villa, down to the lavish tile floors, gold-leafed details, and open courtyards filled with statues and fountains. But, the similarities do not stop there; even the Mediterranean Climate and view of the Pacific Ocean from a high vantage point give you an idea of what it would have been like to live in a Villa overlooking the Mediterranean Sea during the height of the Roman Empire.
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