May 25-26
Gidget had one. So did Frankie and Annette. Is there anything more quintessentially California than a bonfire on the beach?
“It’s definitely a cool thing to do,” said Jon Kincaid as he sat by his primed bonfire at Dockweiler Beach recently, with three grocery-store cords of wood standing at the ready. His date, Ashley Gomez, looked more cold than chill in the late-afternoon breeze.
The two just started dating a week ago, Gomez said, and she’d never had a bonfire at the beach, so Kincaid drove them from their homes in Glendale for an evening of cooking food on a stick over an open fire, with the cry of seagulls and ocean smells mingling with the thick aroma of lighter fluid. “It’s been fun,” she said somewhat grudgingly. “It’s a more relaxing date than normal.”
Nowadays it’s not so easy to arrange a bonfire date. Complaints from residents and environmental concerns have closed most of the opportunities in Los Angeles County. Cabrillo Beach in San Pedro has a few pits, but the biggest crowds come to Dockweiler, at the western end of Imperial Highway in Playa del Rey. People come from all over the county to stake out one of the 60-odd, no-reservation pits before they’re gone, said Nicole Mooradian, public information officer for the Los Angeles County Department of Beaches and Harbors.
“The pits are first come, first served,” she said. “I’ve heard of people hiring people through the TaskRabbit app to just go sit there in the morning to reserve their spot.”
Your best chance for a fire pit is to arrive before noon. Bring plenty of wood — Kincaid said his grocery store bundles last about 45 minutes — and a way to ignite your fire, such as lighter fluid, kindling or even paper plates. “You’d be amazed at the people I’ve seen here, trying to light their wood with a match,” he said. “I’m like, ‘Dude, that’s not going to work.’ ”
Don’t despair if you can’t arrive early. Bring wood anyway, Kincaid said, and then ask someone
June 15-16
Beneath the Hollywood sign, at the end of North Beachwood Drive, waits Sunset Ranch ,a throwback stable where you’ve probably been vowing to take a ride for years.
This is the day. Sign on for a one-hour tour ($50 each), a twohour tour ($75) or splurge on a two-hour Saturday afternoon tour followed by a catered barbecue dinner at the ranch ($125). If you’re splurging, you start at 4 p.m., which gives you a saddleback view of the city from near the top of Mount Hollywood during golden hour, just before sunset.
The ranch, whose stables house about 50 horses, goes back to 1929 — when the sign above still said HOLLYWOODLAND and had flashing lights. For many years, the ranch’s offerings also included a two-hour ride into the San Fernando Valley, dinner and margaritas in a Mexican restaurant, if they’re willing to share their bonfire. People underestimate how quickly their wood will burn, and they find themselves with a dwindling fire early in the evening, he said. “They’re going to have to leave anyway, so if you have wood, you have something valuable to offer.”
Info: Dockweiler State Beach, 12000 Vista del Mar, Playa del Rey, CA 90293, includes 118 RV hookups; fire pits outside the RV park are open to the public. beaches.lacounty.gov/ dockweiler-beach/ In Orange County, check out fire pits at Huntington Beach and San Clemente. followed by a ride back. But after years of struggling to coax customers back onto their horses after the dinner, the ranch folk came up with the current barbecues instead. They’re often accompanied by live music.
Info: Sunset Ranch, 3400 N. Beachwood Dr., L.A., (323) 469-5450; sunsetranchhollywood.com