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Encinitas – California’s Sleepy Beach Town

November 4th, 2009 Leave a comment Go to comments

Encinitas has a different vibe than any of the beach towns north of San Diego – but what is it that makes it so captivating, so special? Many feel its because Encinitas is still lost in time back in the 1960s when California was a much simpler place with small roadside motels along Highway 101. Encinitas hotels didn’t exist back in the 60s, nor were there any Encinitas Bed and Breakfasts or hotels in Del Mar or the Cardiff Lodge.

Encinitas is home to romantic bed and breakfasts, Stone Steps Beach, The Roxy Restaurant where you can buy a glass of rum and an ice cream cone, cute boutiques, funky old hotels on the historic Pacific Coast Highway, Moonlight beach, the La Paloma theater (still featuring weekly surf movies) and romantic Encinitas bed and breakfasts. Encinitas is so laid back that it is often referred to as “San Diego’s Sleepy Surf Town.”

Students, tourists and surfers jam Karina’s Mexican Restaurant for lunch and dinner. The wide sidewalks along the old historic Pacific Coast Highway through “downtown” Encinitas are lined with outdoor restaurants, a seaside “bazaar” and boutique shops. No other beach town in the San Diego area has such a great selection of restaurants – from Mexican take-out to fine Italian dining. If you come to visit, make a reservation at an Encinitas B&B or Carlsbad Bed and Breakfast and bring your appetite!

Moonlight Beach is one of the top five San Diego beaches and is only a block from downtown Encinitas, an easy walk from the Inn At Moonlight Beach Bed and Breakfast Inn. You won’t find a better beach to work on your tan, go boogie-boarding, enjoy a picnic or play a pick-up game of volleyball. Or, you may like to try your hand at surfing or body surfing, people-watch, work on reading that novel or simply relax. There is lots of parking, clean bathrooms and showers, a great children’s playground and cute little lunch shop.

Ann Dunham is the hostess of the romantic Encinitas B&B (Bed and Breakfast) called the Inn At Moonlight Beach. This lovely boutique inn is far more intimate than a Del Mar B&B or Encinitas hotel. The inn is situated on a hillside overlooking the Pacific Ocean and Moonlight Beach and is often called the San Diego Beach Bed and Breakfast, said to be more romantic than Del Mar Hotels and more lovely than the Carlsbad Bed and Breakfasts.

The four suites at the Inn At Moonlight Beach are decorated like the rooms you’d find in a French Seaside hotel or inn along the Mediterranean. Each suite has a private bath and refrigerator. What makes Ann’s Encinitas bed & breakfast really special is that she bakes delicious home-made, warm-from-the-oven pastries for breakfasts every morning.

Terry Hunefeld retired as CEO of a San Diego coaching company to follow his love of exploring the ocean to study seabirds and marine animals. Hunefeld and his wife Ann Dunham own the Inn At Moonlight Beach in Encinitas near Del Mar and San Diego. For more information visit: Solana Beach Bed and Breakfasts or Carlsbad Bed and Breakfasts.

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