Leucadia - A Beach Community Lost In Time

Leucadia is an eclectic little community on the Pacific Ocean. It once was a mecca for hippies and surfers - remnants of those 1960s days can be seen throughout this north San Diego community. Here you will find palm trees, wooden cigar store Indians, tie-dyed T-shirts and blue jeans, barefoot kids playing in the streets, funky lawn art and glowing beads.

Settled by English spiritualists in 1870, Leucadia was named after some Greek islands and its streets were named for mythological figures. You won't find a Home Depot, McDonald's or shopping mall in Leucadia, but you will still find some of the flower farms that made it the Poinsettia capitol of the world.

Leucadia is home to Italian restaurants, funky shops, yoga studios, palm readers and cool art galleries. Local hangouts include Pannikin Coffee & Tea, a former 1880s train station much favored by the arts crowd; world-famous Lou's Records housing an enormous collection of new and used CDs and records; and Karina's Taco Shop, home of the best Shrimp Burritos on earth.

Leucadia's residents say that the best thing that ever happened to Leucadia was that nothing ever happened to it. Leucadia's beaches are lost in the 1960s and are old neighborhood surf breaks where hundreds of Leucadian's have been surfing for thirty or more years. There are four especially popular surf beaches - Moonlight, Grandview, Beacon's and Stone Steps - all are hidden treasures.

Fitness enthusiasts can get a daily workout at Stone Steps Beach where a 97 step staircase lead down from the bluff top to the sandy beach; all along the workout you have phenomenal views of the ocean while you get fit. When it's high tide, the ocean comes right to the stairs - at low tide the beach is sandy and wide.

Surf lessons are given year around at Beacon's Beach from the world-famous Kahuna Bob - a champion surfer and highly popular celebrity in Leucadia. You can see Bottlenose Dolphins and Gray Whales from the high-bluff beach entrances at Stone Steps, Grandview and Beacon's Beaches. Look carefully to see the "green flash" (something most people have NEVER seen) as the sun dips behind the vast Pacific Ocean.

Leucadia's largest beach, Moonlight Beach, is often called "the beach with everything" because it has lifeguard towers, a big playground for children, roomy parking lots, safe play areas, fire-rings for use after sunset, clean restrooms and showers and a very wide, very sandy beach.

Article Source: TravelFreeGuides.com

About the Author

Carlos Hunefeld has traveled extensively throughout California on vacation and has discovered the most unique Bed and Breakfast in Encinitas, the Inn at Moonlight Beach, a small, 4-room boutique Inn just across the street from popular Moonlight Beach. Carlos prefers the inn over Encinitas hotels because it is more intimate and comfortable.

by: Carlos Hunnefeld

Total views: 14 Word Count: 423 Date: Sun, 12 Apr 2009 Time: 5:12 AM - 0 comments

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