A Beach Legacy at Victoria Cove

Warning:  Journaling and family history post mixed with our trip.

On our way home from our Motley camping trip we stopped off (a mere few miles up PCH!) in Laguna...

one of my favorite places on earth!  A part of who I am!

This house was built by my Great Grandpa Ellis. 

Ellis and Dorothy Hunter.  She died before I was born so I only remember him. 

It's funny how some families call grandparents by first names and other families by last names.  Both of my parents called their grandparents by first names when referring to them other than just Grandma or Grandpa.  It has always been Grandma Mary, Grandma Bert (Alberta), Grandpa Tru, Grandma Lillie,

Grandma Dot or Grandpa Ellis. 

Anyhow, my Great Grandpa Ellis built this Beach house in 1954, the year my mom was born!

It is in an amazing spot.  One of the best beaches EVER, seriously!  It's just so special!

The walk up the ramp is steep...but not far.  I should have taken a picture...it's probably only about 30 yards down to the sand.  I remember how nervous I was when I was younger and we'd drive down the steep hill to the beach house in our family's two tone brown/tan stick shift Volkswagon Vanaggon...the front end was flat and if I was sitting in the passenger seat, I would usually move to the back seat because I was so nervous looking down the hill!  I even remember when I got brave enough to watch driving down!  (Ryan even asked while we were finding a parking spot..."how do the cars park on these roads and not roll away?"  Smart boy!  So I explained to him how you turn your wheels into the hill and put rocks behind tires for

extra security!) 

My mom was lucky enough to get to visit her grandparents every summer here in this very beach house.  When I was young, this was the first and really only beach we ever went to unless we were going to a ward Corn Roast at Corona Del Mar.  While I didn't get to spend as many nights in the beachhouse or continual days like my mom (I remember the orange gummy slices in a jar and I remember a back room with bunk beds and we were there with my mom's cousin's kids and visiting the lady across the street who was really old and remembered my mom and she gave us cookies.  We usually stayed in the basement apartment.  I remember going out to the beach at night and sitting on the Lifeguard stand with my mom watching the waves and talking.)...or knock on Ozzie and Harriet's door and ask if Ozzie could play (since he'd often play with kids on the beach)...
I still feel serious ownership over this beach.
My family lived in Irvine which is very close to Laguna and without traffic through the Canyon it would only take us about 20 minutes to get to the beach!!!  And with it in such close proximity we went quite often! 

I remember feeling lucky that we lived closer than our cousins and could go more than them(even though they ended up moving to a Townhome on the south end of Victoria after we moved to Virginia)...but LOVED it when we got to meet them there too!  Exploring tide pools, playing in the water, walking to Treasure Island and searching for shells and washing sandy feet with the hose at Grandpa's!  The best childhood memories! 

Knowing that my great grandpa built this house so long ago makes me feel like I somehow am part of the history of this beach.  As I pass people there on the street or beach I wonder who they are and why they are there...what is their connection to this beach and can any of them have the same kind of history here as I do?  Do they have the right to be here?  But then I wonder if any of them do have a legacy like us and if they wonder the same things about me.  I also wonder who the people are who live in the houses now and if they have been passed down through generations or if and when they bought them ~ and how they got their big money.  Are their families developing the same kind of legacy?  Will it or can it possibly provide the same kind of sanctuary to other families as it did for ours? 

I was ultra curious about the rather young very fit lady who got out of her SUV with her two big dogs and went into the house OJ Simpson used to own(I remember they had a dinner party once out on their balconies and my dad pointing out who he was and explaining who he was...this was pre-ford bronco chase scene.). 

Victoria Cove is a rather private beach.  Only accessible by the ramp and stairs...there are no restrooms ~ only beach houses.  Parking is limited to only a few curbs and you gotta get lucky to find one open. 

But man is it worth it! 

Oh the love.  The sand is so soft!  I remember holding onto my dad's hand and running towards the waves one day when the waves were big and crashing more on the sand...I was pretty small and he'd run and swing me around close to where the wave would crash.  In my mind it felt like I was running under the crest of the wave but I'm sure it wasn't really like that.  I remember eating cheese balls and oreo cookies and grapes on the beach.  I remember learning to and loving boogie boarding and body surfing right there!  And standing at the top of the sand cliffs and sliding down them!  We totally loved that!  I remember being in the ocean once when the set of waves got so big I was a bit nervous...which was a big deal because I don't remember being nervous of the water! 

And down at the end the bigger rock is Treasure Island...actually accessible by Laguna's fancy Montage Resort and Hotel which was built not too long ago on land that used to be the best Trailer Park in the country!  Now there is a beautiful public park and this luxurious hotel. At the base of treasure Island is the best place I know of in Southern California to find sea shells.  Shhhh!  Don't tell!  My mom has been treasure hunting for shells here all her life and has passed the same love for the shell hunt onto me.  I remember my mom's shin getting hit by a huge rock just as she spotted an amazing shell and despite hardly being able to stand, she got the shell.  She is the queen of finding good ones, but I must claim second best. 

My favorite shells to find are complete old sea urchin and these whole spiraly rust colored shells.  I've found some pretty great ones...the trick is finding them unbroken.  When the rust color is worn off, the pretty mother of pearl shines!  Just gorgeous!  The shells in the jar are my collection I've been finding for years.  My mom has soooo much more!  And some of her rusty spirally ones are totally huge!

(I only pulled out the ones on top for a bit of a better view.)

Looking this direction...there are often sand cliffs and if you get there early enough you can be the first one to stand at the edge and slide down.  We loved doing that! 

A quick snap of some of the houses that line the beach.  I remember some of them being built or remodeled.  Right behind the blue umbrella you can see the ramp...that's the ramp you take to our Beach House.

And the rocks!  The rocks are perfectly placed to create gorgeous splashes...And if you noticed above there are a few rocks along the main play area beach.  Just enough to be picturesque but not too many to get in the way of playing in the water!  This almost looks like a painting, no?

When you come down from the ramp ~ about three or four houses down is the cliff and tide pools!

Around the corner a bit is this tower or castle if you may.  It is an iconic Laguna landmark and has been photographed and painted a bunch.  Some genious encased their circular stairway up to their house atop the cliff in this gorgeous tower.  It adds so much character and beauty to an already stunning landscape!

Another view a bit further back.  This circular pool was built who knows how long ago to be a pool to play in...water would come in...but the idea never worked very well since it fills with sand and doesn't keep the water in...yet it is so Victoria.  Can't imagine it not being there!

The boys are standing here next to Devil's Bathtub.  This set of rocks is totally beautiful!

There used to be a more defined Bathtub section...where the water would come in with such force and fill it up and there was a blow hole that would spit up water...I remember when I was small I would get nervous to pass this section as there is only a small place to walk and I worried I might fall in!  Some of the rocks have erroded and this day it had a lot of sand and the waves weren't so big just here...so I didn't get any big splash pictures.  But I can remember some of the hugest splashes within this area! 

And the tide pools!  My feet know these rocks well!  I love tide pools!

They are filled will anemones, hermit crabs, muscles, crabs, bity fish, sea snails, a few star fish (used to be much more plentiful when my mom was young but have started making a comeback) and purple sea urchins!

I've always loved the tickly tacky feeling of the anemones!

Oh I was so excited to share this beach with my kids!

And they loved it too! Pure awesomeness!

They weren't nervous to touch at all, in fact could hardly be pried away from one pool to go explore another.

They loved exploring them and didn't want to leave!

What joy!  I so much loved sharing it with all my guys!  It was so fun!

Kyle found a purple one here!  He was so enthralled.  He kept telling us...a purple one!

(Purple things have excited him lately.)

And yes, I know the California coast has many areas like unto this...but this place is so special!

We found a bright turquoise anemone in a hard to reach spot so Scott got to go see it!

And I love how Scott gets our beach and it's awesomeness and how much we love it and why!

A lovely starfish...fun to see them making their comeback in this area!

We've always loved taking pictures of the splashes on the rocks here.  So neat to watch.

Heaven!

Memory Lane Photos:

Our first summer of dating...we went to Laguna and Yosemite...

My favorite place on earth and Scott's favorite place of earth!

Laguna and Yosemite...sounds like a match made in heaven to me!

December 2002 in town for Grandpa Lloyd's funeral.

2003 ~ My mom took Syd, me and baby Ryan to the beach after Ryan's blessing.  Fun trip!

We went to a fancy sea food restaurant us girls had always heard about but never got to go to...

the date night kind...and Ryan had a diaper issue! 

June 2007 in town for Aunt Dot's Funeral...the pier was destroyed in a storm in the 90s I think...

Nice beach hair girls! Probably 1992 ish?

1987 or 8ish?  I'm guessing with my hair and outfit!

19mid 80s...the pier is still there...but is already badly damaged.  I remember before this my parents going to the end and jumping off and swimming back.  I thought it was pretty cool! 

Another time my mom got hit by a huge rock on her shin and could barely walk afterwards...

but she got the shell she was after!  Go Mom!

Same day I think...this is at the base of Treasure Island looking towards the pier.

1960 ish...My Grandma Lee with my mom and her two brothers Fred and Craig. 

Grandpa Ellis and Grandma Dot hosting Thanksgiving at the Beach house in the 1960s.

My little mom and her brother Fred!

My Great Aunt Dot and her son Ross.  What a priceless picture!

What wonderful memories!  My heart flutters a little differently there. 

I am thankful for the Victoria Legacy I've inherited and was so glad to share it with my boys!

Let me explain...

Opps. I somehow misled you dear people who read my blog. Yes, Sean has woken up at 4:30 consistently - BUT he goes back to bed all the time. He does not stay awake. When I said usually, that meant it's usually really easy to just walk him back to his room. A few times he's tried to protest, but to no avail. What I find so strange is how he naturally wakes up at that time sooo frequently. Also, I don't think he falls asleep well afterwards because of his early real awakening around 6:30.


Sorry if you all thought Sean and I were hanging out after 4:30 am and not going back to sleep! My sleepless obsessions are in my own bed while I try to fall back asleep after escorting the boy back to his little bed.


As for Reese - it's a family name on my side.

Here's a little history of his namesake...like most of my blog - it's more my record keeping and if you'd care to read along, you are welcome to! But this might bore most of you:)



An old St. Marys Church in Dodleston, Westchestershire, England - maybe John's parents attended here...don't really know.



There are Reese's from Hope, Wales (6 greats back) then Westchestershire, England (5 greats back). John Reese who was born in Dodleston, Westchestershire joined the LDS Church in 1852, got married to Elizabeth Ellis and they sailed to America in 1853. They then traveled to Nauvoo to meet up with the early Saints. Even though Joseph Smith had been martyred about nine years prior to their coming to Nauvoo, they met up with Lucy Mack Smith and visited with her for a day. Afterwards they continued their journey to Utah in the Joseph W. Young Company of 1853. By 1858, they had become pretty successful as they built the first log house in Hyrum, UT of the Cache Valley and owned a horse and buggy. In 1866 John Reese was called by Brigham Young to help build the St. George Tabernacle and hauled the heavy timbers for it.

Later John and Elizabeth's daughter Elizabeth Reese (born in a wagon box after fleeing the Cache Valley to hide from Johnston's army) married James Mormon Craig the son of James Craig (Brigham Young's first company's bugler). John was very strict and Elizabeth and James courted mostly while trimming posts on the ranch. They lived in Beaver City, Utah. Shortly before their second child was born, James took his horse on a few days trip to get Elizabeth's mother. On his way, his horse was stolen and he was delayed. Therefore, Elizabeth was left to labor and have her second baby alone in her small and secluded home. Her first child was around but not mentioned in her account! Can you imagine having a baby with no one but a two year old present! Yikes. I think if it were me and my recounting of the story, I'd have included how I had a small child to "care" for while laboring (but my long stories are well known). Luckily, James Mormon Craig was somehow able to return three weeks after the baby was born. I imagine poor Elizabeth thought something horrible happened to him and she'd never see him again!

All I can say is, thank heaven for hospitals, telephones, CELL phones and cars! Our hospital 30 minutes away isn't so bad, eh?

Experience

We got spoiled last weekend! S was invited to a seminar for work at the Ritz-Carlton Half Moon Bay. It was just a one nighter and within driving distance and wives were invited. So we turned that into the whole family...and they even paid for our gas to and from! Staying there is just an experience! They are so super nice to you everywhere you turn! The little things they do makes you feel special and important! Everything from using your name(I've wanted to do this for a while...isn't it nice when someone uses your name? Often, we go through days without using others names...just because we are talking directly to them.), to chocolates and waters by your bed at night, COLD waters for when you get into your hot car and more! We loved it. It didn't hurt that there were the most amazing views and beach right at the hotel. It was so fun to get away as a little family and enjoy eachother and a fun outing. It reminded me how being extra nice to others is a great thing to be. Not that I'm a mean person, but I think we could probably all use a reminder every now and then that we can go the extra mile more often. Then Sunday I taught a lesson in Young Women about Love and Harmony in the Home. What a great reminder week!

I've thought several times lately that I don't know how or why I'm so lucky! Reading the life histories of my ancestors makes me wonder why I get to do so many great things! Ancestors who left their native country never to see relatives again...I'm so lucky to live in a time where coast to coast airplane travel is available! Ancestors who trekked across the wild wild western states, probably never experienced the vastness, beauty and fun of the ocean! Digital photography! What life changing technology! Modern medicine...to identify and take care of ails our bodies may encounter and help us through child birth (ancestor gave birth to a child with her two year old hanging around and husband lost his horse and was therefore absent...not retuning for 3 weeks).

We do have our challenges too...in 1952 at the age of 94, my very own great great great grandmother Elizabeth Reese (Craig) said, "Yes, I’ve pioneered in Arizona, but my mother was a pioneer before me – she came from Illinois to Utah with the first handcart company, and my husband’s father, James Craig, was a bugler for the pioneers of 1847 and crossed the Plains into Salt Lake City with Brigham Young… Yes, I suppose you’d say that pioneering in those early years was hard, but we were all trying to develop the country and build a better nation. No one was trying to destroy it or tear it down. Everybody worked together and tried to follow the teaching of one of the Apostles who said, ‘Stick to the good and work for the right.’

Of course we worked hard, but hard work is good for the souls of men. Hard work kept our children out of mischief and kept men from getting into trouble. If I had my life to live over, I believe I’d take the hardships of our times rather than the problems of today. We built the nation. A lot of people now are trying to tear it apart. No matter how hard, it is easier to build a country than to keep the enemies from destroying it afterwards.

There’s a tremendous job of pioneering for our young people today—pioneering in a wilderness of unrest, selfishness, intolerance, greed, and dishonor. True courses must be charted through this wilderness just as we broke trails through nature’s wilderness sixty-nine years ago.”

Wow! Can't wait to get to know her someday(by the way...same lady that went through childbirth ALONE). So through all the wonderful experiences I get to have that she and others didn't, my goal is to tackle the wilderness that my family will face with her wisdom, faith, and good old fashion family values.

May we all enjoy and appreciate the experiences we are so fortunate to have!