Rick Wallace
Along the PCH
Aquarius, Lindbrook, Scooby-Do, The Gentleman-charter fishing boat names from Malibu’s past.
The General Deve-
lopment Plan for Point Dume, circa March 1, 1939, called for a golf course, polo field, tennis courts, horse facilities located all around the Point, and a large hotel site with its main structure located, well, exactly where the late Johnny Carson’s home just sold for $38 million.
I became fed up with summer traffic this year as of June 22. Damn that Cross Creek light.
Trailers first began settling in Paradise Cove in the late 1940s.
Have you made any effort recently to check out the Point Dume Headlands Park, ascend the flat top, and walk down to the incredible beach below? How about Charmlee, with its huge meadows? It is a beautiful park you can go to any time. The trails of Bluffs Park are more visible since the January fire, meanwhile. Great place
to stroll!
I like this new system (the flashing traffic speed signs) better. Saves the energy of having to glance at the speedometer.
It’s been about eight years since ocean-facing Webb Way traffic got a left turn arrow. But for outsiders using Webb Way, toward the mountains, the full privileges of your green light are still not fully displayed.
I read that Cross Creek Plaza is being sold. I have always wondered why those businesses face the parking lot. Shouldn’t they face the creek and greenbelt, with a pleasant pedestrian boardwalk taking advantage of the beautiful creek views? The lack of opportunity to view and walk along our creek is a shame. I bet it won’t be that way 20 years from now.
There was a large party in Malibu in 1910, according to Marian Hall in her colorful book, “Malibu-California’s Most Famous Seaside Community.” About 1,500 visitors from an auto club came for a giant barbecue from Los Angeles, with a huge orchestra and games throughout the day, apparently held near the Rindge Ranch in Serra Retreat.
According to reports from Malibu condo homeowners associations, this last year was one of the worst in a long time for Pepperdine student behavior off campus.
Richard Dana was a lawyer who joined a sailing crew in 1834 for a voyage from the East Coast around Cape Horn to California. He wrote a book called “Two Years Before The Mast” from notes on the voyage. In the book, he noted a brush fire in the Malibu area in 1835, the first one ever recorded here.
Those who drive along the PCH during morning rush hour know that east of Las Flores, a serious hazard awaits that one day may cause a fiery fatal accident. The Waste Management trash trucks take up one full PCH lane and, around corners, offer little warning to fast-speeding motorists. Daily, there are near accidents. Granted, their trash pick-up is essential and one full lane is necessary too, but during highway traffic before 9 a.m.? It is way
too dangerous.
The highest point in the Santa Monica Mountains is a place called Sandstone Peak, near the Ventura County Line, that is at 3,111 feet elevation; slightly higher than Castro Peak near Latigo or Saddle Peak.
The Getty Villa first opened as a museum in 1971. The road below was paved not long before the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics and was used for bicycling events during those summer competitions. The large home below the Getty Villa, with some debris on the hillside, is called Villa Leon,
a 35-room residence
built in 1928.
Next spring will bring the end to one of the most productive periods of Malibu political history. Jeff Jennings and Ken Kearsley will be termed out of their City Council seats. Since entering office in 2000, both have overseen a peaceful period where, while development of any kind was minimal, the city gained closer working relationships with essential county and state bureaus, and the blueprint for the Civic Center area was established, including Legacy Park.
Why do we have a John Tyler Drive? Is it named after our 10th president who, the back end of the slogan “Tippecanoe (William Henry Harrison) and Tyler Too,” ascended to the White House in 1841 only because Harrison died of pneumonia a month into his term, and later faced an impeachment attempt brought by his own Whig party when he refused to sign banking and tariff legislation?
No. Our John Tyler founded Farmers Insurance and was a benefactor to Pepperdine, donating millions of dollars to help build the undergraduate Seaver College campus in the early 1970s, where the main campus center building is also named after him.
There are times, when I psyche up, I can still drive through Malibu and feel like it is my first time, even after 32 years of familiarity. How does a first-time visitor view Malibu? What’s it like not knowing what is ahead in the next mile and seeing the homes, businesses and physical beauty in first impression detail?
I suspect driving from Topanga to Carbon Beach, knowing Malibu as only a few miles of highway, beach homes and a mountain, it is less than impressive. Arriving at the pier, Surfrider Beach and then the Civic Center, the sensation must be “Oh, so this is Malibu! Nice city. So this is where the stars hang out.” At that point, Malibu must seem appealing-and completed. But it is after Pepperdine and the first gorgeous view of Point Dume at Puerco Canyon, that Malibu’s backyard must really impress a tourist. The 20-minute drive from Corral Beach to the county line is where it becomes breathtaking, where most of Malibu really lives, and particularly inspired by Zuma Beach the outsider fully understands.