Tag: Orange County

California Fool’s Gold — Exploring Anaheim

~ Eric Brightwell ~ 39 Comments

FOREWORD For over a year now, Anaheim has topped the polls of communities to be the subject of an episode of California Fool's Gold. Until now I postponed my exploration for several reasons. For one, Anaheim is huge and contains so many points of interest that I suspected (quite rightly) that exploring it to my own satisfaction … Continue reading California Fool’s Gold — Exploring Anaheim

Nobody Drives in LA — Previewing Santa Ana’s SOMOS (Sunday On Main Open Streets)

~ Eric Brightwell ~ 3 Comments

With bicycles, buses, ferries, planes, rideshares, sidewalks, subways, taxis, and trains at Angelenos’ disposal, why would any sane person choose car-dependency? Nobody Drives in LA celebrates sense and sensibility in transportation. ***** A couple of weeks ago I visited Garden Grove to preview that city's upcoming open streets event, which I wrote would be the first of its kind in … Continue reading Nobody Drives in LA — Previewing Santa Ana’s SOMOS (Sunday On Main Open Streets)

California Fool’s Gold — Exploring Anaheim’s Little Arabia

~ Eric Brightwell ~ 14 Comments

Anaheim is a city widely recognized for being the home of Disneyland, one of the best-known and most visited tourist attractions in the world. The sprawling city, by area the second largest in Orange County, is also home to many other less-visited places, such as Little Arabia, a locally-beloved and highly visible concentration of Arab … Continue reading California Fool’s Gold — Exploring Anaheim’s Little Arabia

California Fool’s Gold — Exploring Little Seoul

~ Eric Brightwell ~ 19 Comments

INTRODUCTION TO LITTLE SEOUL  Drive down Garden Grove Boulevard with your windows up (paying proper attention to the road in front of you) and you might not notice that you're passing through Little Seoul. There are no banners, memorials, murals, monuments or that many fluttering South Korean flags. Pass through on a bus and maybe you'll notice … Continue reading California Fool’s Gold — Exploring Little Seoul

California Fool’s Gold — Visiting Little Saigon

~ Eric Brightwell ~ 24 Comments

VISITING LITTLE SAIGON -- HAPPY ASIAN-PACIFIC AMERICAN HERITAGE MONTH Southern California is home to several ethnic enclaves and since the region's largest and fastest-growing racial minority are Asian, perhaps it's not surprising that most of the recognized neighborhoods are specific to various Asian populations. In Los Angeles County there's Cambodia Town, Chinatown, Filipinotown, Koreatown, Little … Continue reading California Fool’s Gold — Visiting Little Saigon

California Fool’s Gold — San Clemente, The Spanish Village in Orange County

~ Eric Brightwell ~ 4 Comments

INTRODUCTION Until the visit that Una and I took to San Clemente this past weekend, I don’t think that I’d ever visited the place. I’m not entirely sure because nearly all of my trips south on the 5 have ended in Mexico and the stretch of freeway between South Orange County and San Diego County has blended … Continue reading California Fool’s Gold — San Clemente, The Spanish Village in Orange County

California Fool’s Gold — A South Orange County Primer

~ Eric Brightwell ~ 72 Comments

INTRODUCTION Most of us know the stereotypes and are familiar with the frequent characterizations of Orange County. It’s supposedly culture-less and even somehow history-less. Anyone who’s spent any time in Los Angeles has no doubt heard the same hollow, bafflingly ignorant observations made of about that richly cultured city yet sadly, many Angelenos (who ought … Continue reading California Fool’s Gold — A South Orange County Primer

California Fool’s Gold — Exploring Laguna Beach

~ Eric Brightwell ~ 4 Comments

A WEARY ROVER'S DREAM INTRODUCTION  Laguna Beach is a quirky, affluent community in South Orange County. The city is the third oldest in Orange County, after San Juan Capistrano and Anaheim. It is widely known for its vibrant arts scene and environmental treasures. It's long seemed to me that dated and inaccurate stereotypes of Los Angeles … Continue reading California Fool’s Gold — Exploring Laguna Beach

California Fool’s Gold — Exploring Irvine, Orange County’s City of Innovation

~ Eric Brightwell ~ 14 Comments

INTRODUCTION   Irvine skyline For a while now Irvine has shared the top spot on my poll (see the end of the post to vote) but I’ve put it off because of the time required to explore such a sprawling, distant city. There was also a time when most of my blog’s non-Los Angeles fans … Continue reading California Fool’s Gold — Exploring Irvine, Orange County’s City of Innovation

California Fool’s Gold — Exploring Huntington Beach

~ Eric Brightwell ~ 19 Comments

SHOOTING THE PIER -- HUNTINGTON BEACH This blog entry is about Huntington Beach, a beach city in North Orange County. To Huntington Beach's southwestern edge is the Pacific Ocean. To its north are Seal Beach and Westminster. To the east isFountain Valley. North and east is the Little Saigon area. To the southeast are the … Continue reading California Fool’s Gold — Exploring Huntington Beach