Wow! Thanks for all of that great info!
If you can think of any more great tips, please pass them along. I am flying blind here!
Also, if anyone has ideas for San Diego for a "off day" (no parks etc), please let me know.
Thanks!
You are very welcome.
There's a link on the Crystal Cove website that has a map and such of the South OC area. You'll probably want to do the Mapquest thing and such before you leave, but the part about getting off I-5 in Capistrano Beach and heading up the coast on Route 1 is really very easy.
As you are driving north on I-5 and you leave Camp Pendleton and pass over the Orange County line you will hit a town called San Clemente (Where Richard Nixon had his "Western White House" during his terms in office). About five miles after entering San Clemente there is a huge freeway sign directing you to Route 1 that is labeled "BEACH CITIES", which is a two lane offramp that merges you right on to Route 1, the Pacific Coast Highway. You head north past a beach town called Capistrano Beach, up the bluff to Dana Point, and then some truly lovely scenery just naturally unfolds. Canyons and tall hills to your right, and cliffs and the ocean to your left. This all starts about one hour driving time north from San Diego, so it's a nice break after the freeway.
Crystal Cove is located just north of Laguna Beach, and the parking lot and park entrance is actually located on the right side of the highway as you are driving north, away from the ocean. You park your car and walk down a trail that leads through a tunnel that passes under the highway and travels down a ravine to the beach. It's about a ten minute walk, and you can usually spot little lizards sunning and scampering along the trail which usually equates to high drama for boys under age 12. Once you get near the beach you walk through a community of bungalows built in the 1930's. They've mostly been renovated and are rented by the park service. It's a very quaint and old-fashioned look at Orange County beach culture before the theme parks and freeways took over. The beach is wide and long, and the best tide pools are located south of the bungalows. Watch the boys to make sure they don't venture too far out onto the rocks however, as the tide can creep up on you quickly.
Approaching the state park on Coast Highway, you first pass a trailer park attached to the state park, but you'll keep driving north up to the top of the bluff where you will see the main sign and parking lot on your right. I think they still charge for parking in October, and there will be a ranger station at the parking lot entrance.
Just south of Laguna Beach on Coast Highway is a Johnny Rockets. If you are near a mealtime, this is a great spot for a quick family meal. It's at 188 South Coast Highway, and they have some 1950's cars parked out front. You can't miss it.
http://www.johnnyrockets.com/index2.php
As for San Diego.... a nice non-theme park day can be had at another type of park, San Diego's wonderful and sprawling Balboa Park.
Balboa Park was the sight of the 1915 Panama-Pacific World's Fair, and another World's Fair in 1935. Some of the original fair buildings are still there, and the ones from 1915 in particular are gorgeous. The buildings now house a range of over a dozen museums, some of which the boys might enjoy as well. There is a fun Model Railroad Museum there amongst the museums, and the San Diego Air & Space Museum is also fun with lots of planes and rockets on display.
Balboa Park is also home to the world famous San Diego Zoo, which easily takes at least six hours just to see the highlights there.
http://www.sandiegozoo.org/
Balboa Park also has traditional art museums, history museums, a great Science Museum with an IMAX theater, a Japanese Garden, botanic gardens, and a large outdoor organ amphitheater where they hold organ concerts on weekends. It's fun just to stroll around the grounds of the central museum area, and the central tower has a carillon that performs hourly. The museums are all independently operated non-profit organizations, so their admission prices vary by venue. None of them are more than 10 dollars per person however, and a full afternoon at Balboa Park can be done for a bargain compared to theme parks or other entertainment.
http://www.balboapark.org/
While the boys might not be chomping at the bit to see it, you would probably enjoy visiting the Hotel Del Coronado. It's across the bay from downtown on charming Coronado Island (which is actually a peninsula). You can just stroll the grounds and take in the sights and realize where the Imagineers got their inspiration for the Grand Floridian Hotel. There is a nifty 1910's cage elevator in the lobby that the boys might find fun however.
http://www.hoteldel.com/ You get to Coronado by driving over the mod 1960's Coronado Toll Bridge, which spans the entrance to the San Diego Naval Base. The bridge was specially designed so that if it were ever attacked and it collapsed, the fallen bridge sections would all float and could be pushed out of the way quickly to allow the Navy ships to leave the harbor in defense of the country. A nifty fact to entertain the boys if you do drive over to Coronado.
Another San Diego option might be the SEAL tour bus. It's an open top bus that drives around downtown San Diego and the big Navy base pointing out the sights and the Navy vessels, but then drives onto the beach and crashes into the waves to become a tour
boat. I haven't done this tour, but I've seen it driving around and had friends who have taken their kids on it who enjoyed it. It's a pretty unique way to see the sights, and the kids would like it I'm sure.
http://www.sealtours.com/
Is that the type of San Diego stuff you had in mind? Were you going to do the San Diego Zoo at all? That's always a favorite, although it might approach a theme park type experience with their bus tours and skyride across the canyons and such.
San Diego is one of America's most pleasant cities, and it really gets ignored too often by tourists heading to Los Angeles, Disneyland and San Francisco on their "California" trip. Good for you for including it in your SoCal itinerary!
