Beauty and The Wedge
Corona del Mar at Newport Beach. By Robin Tierney
Previous Ecovore: Ice Dunes for a winter’s Hike
When huddling beneath a blanket and watching “Treasure Island” or “Gilligan’s Island,” have you ever wondered where they were filmed? These, and several other seaside cinematic favorites weren’t made on an island, but at Newport Beach in southern California. Balancing the beauty is the beastly rock-pounding super-surf of the town’s infamous Wedge.
Rather than schlep to the tropics, movie producers choose this low-key town for its lush foliage, colorful blooms, romantic cliffs, immaculate beaches and secluded, glittering harbor. Newport Beach’s allure also draws visitors with its old-timey oceanfront amusement park and pier, $1 auto-and-pedestrian ferry crossing to quirky-quaint Balboa Island, and the vast Back Bay saved by residents from becoming a mega-marina
Balboa Island bayfront walk. By Robin Tierney
“Nearly everything grows here: eucalyptus from Australia, coral trees from South Africa, imported palms,” says Newport At Your Feet tour guide Carolyn Clark. Add that to the visually exhilarating terrain and you know why the town has attracted filmmakers for nearly a century. She points to bluffs seen in Theda Bara’s silent picture “Cleopatra,” shores of “Sands of Iwo Jima” and John Wayne’s waterfront home. Thatched huts and cabanas left by film crews were turned into beachfront housing by “industrious squatters.”
Clark’s favorite “hidden gem” is the Upper Newport Bay Ecological Reserve (“Back Bay”), where you can hike, bike and canoe around habitat for endangered birds, fish and bobcats.
Back Bay Trail Newport Bay Ecological Reserve birds only sign. By Robin Tierney
Migratory birds and other animals have this refuge thanks to Back Bay neighbors who years ago successfully fought plans to replace fragile habitat with a huge marina. Surrounding the reserve are bicycle and walking trails. The dramatic bluffs — which have served as the backdrop for many Hollywood movies — were forced up from the ocean floor by earthquakes 10,000 years ago.
I thoroughly enjoyed the eco reserve’s terrific little nature center that’s built into an earth berm.
Upper Newport Bay Ecological Reserve hidden hillside nature center by Robin Tierney
Lacking a bike, I did nearly all of my touring on foot. Jogging an hour here, an hour there — in a place this scenic, it’s easy to take the heat.
Corona Del Mar cliffside house. By Robin Tierney
At the south end in Corona del Mar, I passed cactus and rose gardens, fern grottoes, sailboats and rocky reefs for snorkeling. “It’s our outdoor gym,” Clark told me later. Which explains all of the resident joggers and personal trainers bootcamping their clients along the cliffside path and three staircases descending down the rocky drop-off to the beach.
Irvine Terrace cliffside flora off Bayside Drive. By Robin Tierney
Jogging a couple miles further south, I find Crystal Cove, where fragrant coastal sage, fennel and wildflowers lure passersby to the shores of a unique underwater state park.
Back in town, near the amusement park, a local contact treated me to a Segway tour, which provides up-close views of whimsical mansions, island movie coves and “the Wedge,” where daredevils surf occasional 30-foot waves spawned off Newport Harbor’s rock jetty. Scary? You be the judge: check this video.
To zip around the waters of Newport Beach, you can rent a kayak, canoe or a cool local eco-minded invention, the Duffy electric boat.
Newport Beach harbor sailboat off West Jetty Park. By Robin Tierney
Ecovore sleeps and eats: The man-made oasis of the Island Hotel offers winter packages to make eco-elegance fairly affordable. After its recent propertywide renovation, the hotel has won awards and a place on world’s top-100 hotel lists with its tranquil courtyard of towering plants, modern-luxe guestrooms and gracious service. “It’s a social hub,” says master sommelier Edmund Browning III. Locals come for “staycations” and meals at Palm TerraceRestaurant, beloved for chef Bill Bracken’s team’s upscale-homemade creations based on bounty from local farms. Tip: let them know your dietary preferences ahead of time; the chef’s team members love creating plant-based cuisine. My delicious small plates included quinoa with English beans, fava beans in house-made tomato sauce, micro basil with hearts of palm salad, garlic-free hummus, and kale-corn minestrone. The dessert’s artfully cut fruits were too pretty to eat. But, yep, I ate them.
Island Hotel Palm Terrace small plate. By Robin Tierney
Whether you crave lemon grass or chocolate mousse, wildlife preserves, dramatic cliffs, quiet beaches or The Wedge, Newport Beach is the place.
Corona Del Mar wildflowers. By Robin Tierney
[...] Previous Ecovore: Beauty and the Wedge [...]
[...] Previous Ecovore: Beauty and the Wedge [...]