The Romantic Pacific Coast

Redondo Beach Didn't Make the List.

In a recent Travel + Leisure story about the World's Most Romantic Cities, two of the port cities on the Love Boat's Pacific Coast cruise made the list (which is linked above).

You've heard the songs, but have you ever discovered for yourself why Tony Bennett left his heart in San Francisco?

If not, maybe it's time you do.

And if you have, isn't it time for a return trip?

On my first trip as an adult to San Francisco, I visited my friend Pete, who was stationed at the Presidio.

The song I remember playing on his stereo the most often was Joe Walsh's "Rocky Mountain Way," if that gives you any idea of how unromantic that trip was.

I've since returned with Julie, however, and found San Francisco to be romantic as charged.

Surprisingly, a lot of Los Angelenos haven't even ventured up the coast to nearby Santa Barbara, the city Jack Johnson has made increasingly relevant for newer generations.

As with San Francisco, I went up to Santa Barbara in the mid-1970s as a single, in that case to see a Grateful Dead concert that went on about four or five hours, as I recall.  And then they started the second set.

When Julie and I first went together to Santa Barbara in the mid-1980s, we enjoyed a romantic weekend during which we commissioned a lighthouse painting to match our living room furniture from a local artist selling paintings at a beachside park for something like $350, which was a big chunk of change back then.

It forced us to return a few weeks later to pick the painting up, just as hoped.  That original art now hangs in our bedroom.

San Diego didn't make the list, but I dare say you will love that city too, whether you go to the Gaslamp Quarter, Coronado Island, Balboa Park or Mission Bay.

Then there are Ensenada's surprisingly lovely wineries, and of course, cruising roundtrip from San Pedro means you can enjoy our greater Los Angeles beaches.

When do you want to go?