Me + My Maliboo — (blog)abel

Who has listened to Malibu by Miley Cyrus and thought to themselves, I'd like to listen to Malibu while in Malibu? It makes perfect sense, right? Let's backtrack a little first...

After leaving Venice Beach, Connor and I set off to stay with my dear friend Danica for the final stretch of our trip. Upon settling in and acquainting ourselves with her animals, we did some wellness shots, sampled tons of Jenni's ice cream, and visited the Glossier store on Melrose which featured a Grand Canyon-esque light and sound exhibit. We went out to dinner at Ysabel, a location that I had been meticulously tracking on Instagram for its aesthetic, outdoor seating, and beautifully arranged staircase adorned with succulent planters. Danica ordered the most incredible summer truffle tagliatelle that I still think about from time to time. Then, she brought us to Griffith Park Observatory for a magical view of Los Angeles. As this was also the setting for a scene in La La Land, it was only fitting that we went home and watched the movie before calling it a night.

The next morning (and our final full day in California) was the moment that I had been anticipating for a long time: the hour-long drive up the Pacific Coast Highway to Malibu. Beyond a winding road lies this picture-perfect sanctuary for the celebrity, the tourist, and the surfer dude alike. In Malibu, everything is clean and eco-friendly and blue, just how I like it.

Our first stop was at a nursery that nurtured hundreds and hundreds of succulents. There were varieties that I had never seen before, some that were even flowering, and best of all, not one of them looked sickly. It was truly incredible. By the end, we had collectively picked 16 beautiful plant babies to load up, and two enamel glazed pots to serve as a new home with the rationale that I could condense my luggage and carry a pot on the plane.*

After our little shopping spree, we finally made it to Point Dume, a quiet beach further up Malibu where Danica executed a very impressive parallel parking job. Armed with a cooler full of cheeses, baguette, a rainbow of tomatoes, pesto, and drinks, we descended down a precarious wooden staircase into a gem of a coastline. The shore was covered in tidepools that we were able to explore in, and it was teeming with life! We saw mussels, snails, a variety of crabs, a bright green sea anemone, and the evidence that lobsters were nearby. Further down the beach was silky smooth sand, ideal for swimming in. Being the Pacific, the waves were quite strong, but what really scared me away was when I almost made contact with a venomous sea snake. Unfortunately, the warmer waters are bringing these snakes closer to California's coast.

We originally intended to get kbbq in Koreatown, but decided to make the most of where we were (and also, we severely needed to pee) and ended up at Malibu Seafood. It's exactly what you would imagine as your classic oceanside joint- picnic benches, a cool beach breeze, and loads of fried seafood. What impressed me the most was the fried scallops in the seafood combination order, and the grilled red snapper that was topped with some sort of garlic-cilantro sauce. And as if this day wasn't on-brand enough, we drove to Zuma Beach for the sunset- the perfect location because all the beaches before it had the side of the mountain obscuring the view of the horizon. Malibu definitely deserves the reputation that it has with its natural beauty, and you'd have to bathe in its sunlight and smell the fresh air to believe it. Malibu, please never ever change.

*Side note: It worked! We acquired a UV grow light and they are flourishing in Boston!