Crystal Cove Cottages

An LA Weekend Getaway (if you can actually book one)

When we first moved to LA, one of my favorite things to do was to visit locations of movies I grew up watching. We went to see Ali and Daniel’s homes from The Karate Kid (also the dojo and Golf n Stuff)¹, the party house² from Some Kind of Wonderful, and of course, the iconic Brady Bunch home.

2013, at the Cabazon Dinosaurs from Pee Wee’s Big Adventure

Sometimes we venture outside the city too (see above) but it’s been a few years since we did a movie destination trip. Maybe after so many years in the business I lost interest in film locations, or maybe I got tired of doing the research. But when we stumbled upon the vacation cottage from the movie Beaches, that old familiar wave of nostalgia/excitement hit me.

I KNOW THIS PLACE!! It’s famous!!!

It must have been cold there in my shadow…

To never have sunlight on your face...

Crystal Cove State Park has these century-old cottages you can rent, right on the beach, starting at $75/night. I first stumbled upon them on a dog walk over a decade ago and immediately looked into renting one. (FYI dogs aren’t allowed in the cottages.)

It was nearly impossible. They’re always booked, and the reservation system is not very intuitive or user-friendly. So I gave up. Until beginning of this year, when I decided I was going to make it happen.

And finally, after eleven months, I did!

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