Nadines Travel Blog

San Clemente, California is a quaint little surfer town/city on the Pacific Ocean, just south of LA.  It is the exact opposite of Los Angeles.  When you leave the traffic, smog and general craziness of LA and drive into San Clemente, it is like another planet, in a good way.  The beach views are gorgeous especially in the morning when it is a bit misty. Grab a San Clemente monthly magazine available for free to help plan your trip.  There were several magazine stands up and down the streets with the shops. There is a San Clemente Trolley that is free for passengers.  It goes up and down and around the beach drive.  The roads have a very steep incline from the beach so older people would need a trolley.  Walking around all of the shops and stores in San Clemente would definitely firm up your hamstrings and tush. Strangely enough, there is a Metrolink Train that links to LA or San Diego that you can pick up near the San Clemente Pier.  Personally, this would have been a good way to get o

After visiting the Missions of San Juan Capistrano we were hungry and went to the Dana Point Harbor.  We were told that Jon's Fish Market was a good informal place to eat seafood. The seafood was extremely fresh and tasty but oh so expensive.  I was not prepared to pay such a high price for such an informal dining affair.  They only had California wines by the glass and I've really never met a California wine that I liked, with the exception of a $100 USD bottle of Berringer Reserve Cab Sav-  that my husband purchased for me for my birthday when I turned 50 in Kauai -Hawaii Five-0, baby.   I did order a glass of Pino and I am going to emphasize the glass because it was served in a plastic glass.  I decided not to be too snooty and drink from the said plastic glass and I wish I had not.   Needless to say, I had a hard time drinking that glass of red down.  The only reason I did was I was a bit chilly eating outside and I thought the red would warm me up and it usually does.  Jon

To get to this hike we had about a 10-minute drive from San Clemente Cove Resort to the parking area of William T Steed Memorial Park hiking trails.  Parking was free and easy to find.  The trailhead however was not easy to find and it was to the left of the public washrooms.   The trail begins at about 100% incline which HELLO was steep and gets your blood pumping right away.  From there the trail did not get that much easier.    We had a limited amount of time so we actually chose more of a Mountain Bike trail, which loops through a Bike Park that is in the midst of being created.  The sun sets earlier in California and we did not want to be caught in the dark, fumbling and tripping our way back to our resort. The trail we chose also took us right past the animal shelter, which broke my heart listening to all the dogs barking and howling.  If I was loaded, I would gather all dogs at pounds that were not placed yet in loving homes and open up a Dog Ranch. The first bird that I saw on

  This trail was extremely convenient for us because we were staying across the street.  It is 4.6 miles long and a good hike for water and beach scenery.     This trail is well-utilized and well-maintained by the town.  No matter what time you are on it there are people walking their dogs, jogging or just out and about.   You can walk onto the San Clemente Pier which splits the Beach Trail in half. You can look for sea life, whales, dolphins etc.  We were lucky enough to see a pod of dolphins swimming and playing. On this hike, you will quickly ascertain that there is an erosion problem here.  The hills are supposed to be composed of sandstone, but they appear to be made out of dirt only.  They have placed boulders and rocks in certain areas to protect against further erosion of the beach. You can view some nice homes along the Beach Trail Hike.

The Missions of San Juan Capistrano is a California Landmark and dates back to the 1700s.  There are lovely gardens that range from beautiful variegated roses to sedum to cacti.  The gardens are weaved throughout the Mission.    If you're into history this is a great place to visit which takes roughly about 2+ hours to completely go through.  You are given a complimentary audio device that allows you to push numbers which correspond to the historical information of the Missions. Original kitchens I found the ruins of the original church the most interesting.  It was destroyed by an earthquake in the very early 1800s.  The gorgeous old original fountain that had the perfect sound. The extremely small doorways to the church and the Missions continue to crack me up.  We as humans have evolved with better nutrition medicine etc. There is an abundance of gorgeous wood doors in the Missions, please see below.    The Mission of San Juan Capistrano is located downtown in Capistrano, Califo