My Favourite Destination, It HAS to Be La Jolla.

I’ll let you into a secret. Yes I would love to travel across the world and I have a great big list of places that I would love to go to, but if you told me that I could only travel to one place for the rest of my life (like the film Groundhog Day) then I would choose it without a second thought.

I love La Jolla. My family live in Del Mar, and I love taking the drove down the coastal road to the town, with the sea to my right and Torrey Pines State Reserve ahead of me. Roof down, sun out, this is my place. So La Jolla would win, hands down.

All three of my cousins now attend La Jolla Country Day, and they study so close to the beach that my little green eyed monster comes out every now and again. I studied near a train track, but that was about it!

So La Jolla is the place that makes me happy. I think I could live there forever; just sitting on the cliffs and watching the world go by. Poking around in the rock pools and watching the children splash in the water; watching the pelicans in their formations as they glide through the air, so delicately. My uncle once told me that pelicans only travel in prime numbers, something I knew to be a fib by the look on his face, but nonetheless when I see them coming I always count them.

My favourite thing is to walk down to the sea wall and walk out to sea; the wall doubles back around on a little beach where seals lay and bask in the sun. Its mesmerising and I could watch them for hours. I might be easily pleased, but there is something so serene about the place and I feel relaxed when I know I am on my way. And I always cry when I have to leave California. Don’t get me wrong, I like London but if I could never sit on the cliffs again I think a piece of me would be lost.

My grandfather used to visit my Great Auntie in California before she died, and they would always make their ritual trip to the The Crab Catcher. It’s a fantastic restaurant that looks out over the bay, and they serve lots of delicious fresh seafood, caught that day. The soft shell crab is their speciality, and it’s well worth a visit. It’s delicious.

If you are in the area and stuck for something to do then you won’t regret making the trip to La Jolla. If you like to scuba the waters are often still enough, but if you are like me and just seek a little respite from a busy day then walk a while till you reach the cliff tops, take a seat and relax there. The heat will warm your bones and the lapping of the sea against the rocks is a sound that can so nothing but to calm you. It’s one of the most beautiful places in the world.