Destination Anywhere & Everywhere

A Blog about travel & the crazy adventures of a wanderer

Archive for the tag “Tanning”

Destination: Black’s (Nude) Beach- San Diego, CA

If I never stepped foot on a nude beach again I could careless; I could even say that I would be relieved. I had my first nude beach experience at Black’s Beach in San Diego in June of 2011 before I left California as it was one of my must do bucket list items; and I’ll just say I had my fill to last me a lifetime.

If you’re anything like me and expect to see decent looking young bodies on the beach… you are wrong! No girls playfully kicking water at one another topless, no sexy guys with six packs and huge biceps throwing the football back and forth, no toned, tanned, naked bodies walking around laughing and having a good time, instead what you see is your grandpa completely naked with all his saggy wrinkly skin hanging out for all to see. And my feelings can be summarized in two words – Not Pretty!

I had wanted to check out a nude beach for quite sometime, the freedom of being able to layout and tan without getting harsh white lines was a dream come true for me. I had tried several times in my youth to eliminate those lines but each attempt ended unsuccessfully. The worst would have to be the time I was laying out topless in my backyard and my dad came home and saw me- yeah embarrassing. It ended with him screaming from inside the house ”Jesus Andrea, the neighbors can see you, what the hell are you thinking, get your top back on!”

Putting my past embarrassment behind me I decided that I would once again attempt to layout topless, but instead of in my backyard this time at a place that actually encouraged it- the nude beach. So one gloomy June day Devin and I jumped in the car and headed to San Diego from our place in Huntington Beach.

I will say this right now- Devin is always such a trooper, since none of my girlfriends were around that weekend he volunteered to come along with me so I didn’t have to go it alone. Not all guys would voluntarily go to the nude beach where there is nothing but gay men walking around naked, but Devin is something special. I’m sure that he thought he would see a few naked chicks down there and not just all men- boy was he wrong! Always down for the cause he allows me to pursue my dreams- not that the nude beach was a huge dream of mine, just something I wanted needed to do.

Black’s Beach is located in the La Jolla area of San Diego. The best way to get there is to follow directions like you are going to the Torrey Pines Gliderport.You park your car at the top of the bluff and then start your decent down the man-made stairway built into the cliff side. The steps are steep and hell, which is why the beach remains quite secluded- climbing up and down is not for amateurs. By the time we were at the bottom of the steps my knees were aching from the impact of climbing down, they had buckled underneath me and made me fall a few times, but I was still determined.

I should have know what to expect when I saw an old man wearing see-through mesh shorts walking up the stairs, but I still carried on. Devin and I found a place to lay out that was away from the other people down there, even at a nude beach a girl needs some privacy, and spread our towels out. First we were both apprehensive about removing our clothing, I was tanning my back so I untied my top strings but that was as far as I could go. I couldn’t bring myself to remove my bottoms especially after what I witnessed next.

There are two types of guys down on the beach- the older (50′s – 60′s) gay guy that is respectfully nude sitting in the sand doing his own thing, and then the younger (20′s – 30′s) creepy mexican guys that walk around with binoculars. I couldn’t help but think about my old coworker Juan Carlos who would be the creepy guy with binoculars and his partner Greg who would be the older guy on the beach- did they meet here? My guess would be yes! Anyway, the guys with the binoculars were really making me feel uncomfortable, I didn’t like the fact they were in the bushes fully clothed looking at everyone else on the beach. To add to the uncomfort as I mentioned earlier to get to Black’s you park at the gliderport and walk down the stairs, so there are people hovering in the air on these big kite things right over all the nudist laying out. I find it a bit ironic, jumping off the cliff to hover above the beautiful beach oh and the naked old men.

So you got the people hovering in the air above you, the guys with binoculars, and then a few of the older gentlemen strutting their stuff back and forth on the beach for someone to notice and call them over. I couldn’t help but feel that I was in one of those places that the guys go to meet each other and rendezvous in the bushes. Throw in a few surfers in the water (the waves are supposed to be really good here) and that is the scene at Blacks.

Needless to say, I don’t feel the need to go back; but then I figured if you can’t beat them then you gotta join them. The rest of the story can be left up to your imagination…

That’s my story….

Peace & Love

xoxo, andrea

Snowboarding and the Beach in the Same Day- Destination: California

Finally another drop in my bucket! With only one day left before Mountain High closed for the season Devin and I decided to cross off my desire to go snowboarding and to the beach within the same day.

This all started years ago while on a business trip in Connecticut. As I was sitting at the bar I struck up a conversation with a couple from Boston; eventually our conversation lead to a debate about where the better place to live was, Boston or California; and I eventually won by concluding, “Tell me where else in the world you can drive less than two hours to go snowboarding and to the beach within the same day,  and not your cold, no wave beach- but your Southern California girls in bikinis, guys riding the waves beach” as they dumbfoundedly looked towards one another for the answer, I smirked knowing once again I won. (ps- I never lose)

Like usual we were down to the wire, only one mountain was still open* for the spring season, and I say “open” meaning two lifts and  4 runs total. There was actually more dirt than snow on the mountain which was why it would be closing for the season the next day.

The status of Mountain High on April 23, 2011

The status of Mountain High on April 23, 2011

It had been about three years since the last time I laced up my snow boots and let me tell you this was not an easy feat. I don’t know if my boots had just been unbroken into- if that can even happen, or if my feet grew, but I could barely get my foot in. If that was my Cinderella moment, prince charming would have given up; I was totally the evil stepsister trying to squeeze my oversized foot into somewhere it didn’t belong.

It’s said  that  you never forget how to ride a bike, and while that may be true, you can forget how to ride a snowboard, or at least I did. At one time early in my “career” I had a season’s pass to the mountain and would go snowboarding on a weekly basis. I wasn’t the best, but I did once ride a box. This experience for me was by far one of my most embarrassing- well the time I ran into the ski instructor’s chair was worse, but at least that was my first time ever- this time I couldn’t ride toe side, so I spent the whole way down the mountain riding heel side zigzagging back and forth. I used to hate people who snowboarded like this, their unpredictable pattern down the mountain made it nearly impossible to pass, and when you tried to they would spastically fall right in front of you causing you to nearly fall also. Well today I was one of them, complete with the falling on my ass over and over again- and did I mention I was wearing jeans? As we were pulling out all of our gear the night before I noticed that my pants weren’t with everything else, with all the stores being closed I said F it I’ll be okay, I’m not going to fall… boy was I wrong!

Wearing my snazzy snow gear

Wearing my snazzy snow gear

After two runs I was exhausted and done snowboarding. I sat on a bench at the bottom of the mountain drinking a Coors Light sulking over my wet jeans, ache feet, and sore thighs. I couldn’t wait to get to the beach, but had to wait for Devin to go on a few more runs.

Ski Lifts at Mountain High

Devin Snowboarding

Andrea Snowboarding

Once Devin finally had his fill of snowboarding we threw our boards into the backseat of his car and headed towards the beach. Less than two hours later we laying in the sand listening to the seagulls crowing and children screaming as the cold waves crashed onto them (because the beach on a warm spring afternoon never has the peaceful waves crashing into the sand sound).

I have become somewhat of a wimp in my later years; the girl who used to bodyboard and hang in the water with all the guys was replaced by the girl who would rather lay out and bronze her body, and today was no exception. I really did want to try to surf with Devin to make my story more complete- snowboarding and surfing in the same day- but I couldn’t make it past dipping my feet into the cold water.

Andrea Beach

Devin Beach

Devin Surfing

As Devin swam out with his surfboard I sat in my chair reading the latest Nicholas Sparks novel still amused with the fact that only in Southern California could a person go to the snow and to the beach in the same day- and I was now someone who had done it.

Footprints in the Sand

That’s my story…

Peace & Love

xoxo, andrea

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