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It's time again for Westways Weekender. Every other Saturday, we feature content from the Automobile Club of Southern California's Westways magazine, exploring travel, food, and life in Southern California. Today, we are heading down the coast to Huntington Beach. Joining us live this morning is Westways editor and chief Jim Benning, to tell us all about it. And Jim, where are you coming from this morning? Yes, I am coming to you from the Hyatt Regency Resort and Spa right here in the heart of Huntington Beach. And as you can see behind me, the Spanish inspired resort looks out on a beautiful stretch of coastline with this amazing weather
this morning. Property has 519 guest rooms, 58 suites, a standout spa, and beautiful swimming pools, including one with a water slide for kids. You'll find dining options. This is a great place to just soak up the sun this summer and to use as a base for enjoying Huntington Beach. It looks like you're in Hawaii there. I feel like this is what I see on one of the islands. It's beautiful. How fun. All right, tell us about some of the fun things to do there because there's so much when it comes to Huntington. Absolutely. Well, of course, the main attraction is the coastline. Huntington is known as Surf City, USA, and the
waves here are legendary. You'll want to mark your calendars for July 25th. That's when the week-long US Open of Surfing kicks off near the pier. This is a major celebration of surfing and surf culture. But of course, you can enjoy the beaches anytime, and they're more accessible than ever now because the city has installed a number of moi mats. Um these are these spread out across the sand as you can see there. They accommodate wheelchairs, walkers, and strollers. Um so it's a very cool thing. There's so much when it comes to walkability in Huntington with what you can access and see and eat. Uh what else do you recommend there?
Yeah. Well, check out some live music on the beach this summer that you don't often see this in Southern California, but just um just down just up the coast in Boluch Chica State Beach um is Sea Legs. This is a really fun open air venue with performances on weekends. You'll find tables, chairs, and fire pits. You can order food and drinks. I was there last Saturday morning for an 80s brunch. I caught a band there playing covers by a flock of seagulls and other 80s groups. You can see them there. On Sundays, uh there's a Beatles cover band that plays in the morning and reggae in the later in the day. It's a lot of fun.
I saw recently too there was some country music stuff for outside as well with some line dancing and I was like perfect. Especially in Huntington. What a fun area to do that in. Any other activities you suggest we check out? Yes. Well, speaking of a flock of seagulls, bird watching. Stick with me here. Um, but just across Pacific Coast Highway from Sea Legs is a prime bird watching spot. I'm talking about the Bolsuch Chica Wetlands. This ecological preserve covers 1300 acres and has hundreds of bird species. I actually took a three-hour beginning workshop there, which they offer once a month.
Um, I learned all about the wetlands. I saw osprey, red tailed hawks, great blue herand, uh, corarins. You can see one there drying its wings. Um, I think I might be entering my bird watching era. I really enjoyed it. You hit that stage. I don't blame you though. They're beautiful. Uh, so neat. Okay, so finally, we know you love to eat. We all do here at CBSLA. What do you recommend? I know there's I don't even know how you can even place a top five when it comes to Huntington Beach. I mean, there are a lot of great places to eat down here. Um, I would say if you like breakfast burritos, and really, who doesn't? Um, consider starting your day at Board Riders Cafe. Uh their breakfast
burritos are really with fluffy scrambled eggs. They're delicious and this place has a really devoted local following and fun surf culture around. For dinner, check out Jolie. You can see it there. It opened on near the pier in 2024. Has incredible views of the Pacific and a really creative menu. I had the Thai curry sea bass which was amazing and ube cheesecake. Um lastly, that's Polar Playground right there. They make incredible cotton candy characters. Yeah, that's Alejandro there. He is an artist. He made me this Sully from Monsters, Inc. Um, yeah, it was so good. As you can see, these cotton candy creations are almost too beautiful to
eat. But I did have a few bites. I've never seen they're amazing. I've never seen anything like that before with cotton candy. How fun is that? How did you pick solely? Or was that just what he picked? That's actually what I picked. But um and you know, obviously kids love this place. It's it's it's a lot of fun. I want a Mike Wazowski. All right, Jim. Thank you so much. You can find all the information on each spot we highlight on our website, cbsla.com/seen ontv.
