Del Mar, Del Mar, CA

Most mornings in Del Mar start on foot, with a walk down a side street to the sand and back up to Camino del Mar for coffee. The town covers less than two square miles of the North County coast in San Diego County, wedged between two lagoons, and most of daily life fits inside that small frame. Homes run from beach cottages a few steps off the sand to custom houses on the bluffs and winding hillside streets above the village. Some cottages from the 1910s still stand and are treated as local landmarks. Lots are snug near the water and get leafier up the hill, and a handful of oceanfront condos round out Del Mar housing. The beach is the main park. Powerhouse Park and Seagrove Park share the lawns over the surf at 15th Street, and Powerhouse has a dog-free playground meant for bare feet. North Beach, better known as Dog Beach, runs from 29th Street toward the Solana Beach line, where the San Dieguito River reaches the ocean. On the inland side, the restored San Dieguito Lagoon has a trail and plenty of shorebirds, and Crest Canyon, just across the city line in San Diego, offers a quieter walk. Little Joy Coffee Bar grew out of a coffee cart that parked across the street for about five years, and it now pours cortados in small glasses next to a tiny wine shop facing the sea. Jake's Del Mar has served seafood right on the sand on Coast Boulevard for more than thirty years. Over by the lagoon on San Dieguito Drive, Viewpoint Brewing pairs house beers with pub plates and fire tables, looking across the water at the fairgrounds. A certified farmers market fills the Civic Center lot on Camino del Mar every Saturday afternoon. For a full grocery run, people head up the hill to the Vons on Del Mar Heights Road or to the stores along Via de la Valle. Interstate 5 runs along the east side of town, and the nearest Coaster and Amtrak station is in Solana Beach. The county fair and the racing seasons bring big crowds, and parking near the beach gets scarce while they run. Between those weeks the side streets settle down, and a towel under one arm is about all the planning a beach afternoon takes.