Malibu, CA: Weird and Wonderful
Malibu is a wonderful place. Pristine beaches, glorious sunsets, rolling hills, celebrity mansions, delicious food. You often find yourself feeling like you live on a movie set (which, in a way, you do). However, sometimes that movie set becomes one from a comedy film when you begin to stumble upon all sorts of weird, and often unexplainable, things around you.
Besides being our home, Malibu is also a popular destination for tourists and dreamers - people trying to make a name for themselves. Being photographed outside a cavern on El Matador Beach is a rite of passage; every time you go there, you can expect to see a new production in the works. This might look like a woman dressed in a big, fluffy blue gown that trails 20 feet behind her into the ocean and a long, white wig on top of her head. Who she is, it’s hard to say, but she is most definitely singing opera music, which doesn’t quite make sense because the cameraman is most definitely snapping photos, not recording videos (as evident by the rapid clicking and various angles he bounces to every few seconds).
Or, perhaps you’ll find yourself at Point Dume, sitting in the sand waiting for your turn to climb the cliff. All of a sudden, you’re approached by a young man who asks (very kindly) if you could videotape him doing backflips off of a jagged boulder next to the water’s edge. He is an aspiring stuntman and needs some new content for his 56 Instagram followers, who are all eagerly awaiting his next dramatic feat. Of course, you help him out, certain that someday (when he’s rich and famous and has recovered from many broken limbs), he’ll repay you for kick-starting his career. Or not.
Malibu’s 21 miles of scenic beauty may not stretch all the way through the canyon, but the strange findings definitely do. If you haven’t yet taken a trip down Mulholland Hwy, your time will come. Its iconic twists and turns are things of legend, captured forever in the lyrics of John Mayer, Tom Petty, Vampire Weekend, and others. Yet, even these artists failed to capture the true complexity of Mulholland. Try going for an 8 mile run along the hilly road towards Westlake Blvd and you will notice things you’d otherwise miss… such as not one, but two farms that are home to multiple camels. Other very obviously native wildlife in the area includes a giraffe named Stanley, some zebra, and water buffalo.
Interested in seeing some live music? Most afternoons, and many weekends as well, you can find an impressive musician offering free entertainment at the top of Kanan Road in Agoura. He likes to spend hours at a time with his complete drum set on one of the pull-offs, in his own little rock and roll world. After you pass him, you can also support the local economy at a later pull-off by purchasing a bonsai tree from another kind soul with years of experience cultivating these exquisite plants.
This is surely no ordinary college town; try explaining to your friends and family at home that you live at a 5-star resort and wedding venue, where you get to spend your meal points on a $60 cut of steak. Or, try explaining that you have an indoor lap pool connected to your kitchen, which you have to enter via a staircase coming down from the upstairs bathroom. It simply can’t be understood by outsiders; the inexplicable magic of Malibu is something truly unique. I hope that in your time here you will seek out and embrace the weirdness, or better yet, join in on it and let us know how it goes.