Our goal was to go wine (ing) on the Pacific Coast Highway: wine tasting through the California Winery Region, however no wine for us. Let me explain because I'm sure you were expecting a lovely article about the California Wine Trail and picturesque ocean scenes; so were we. It didn't happen.

It's a round-up of my favorite SoCal Beach Piers because Labor Day weekend marks the end of summer...unless you are in Southern California and can hit those beaches all year long. SoCal beach piers are those iconic structures you find on postcards and t-shirts. They are an immediate way to identify which beach it is, and each beach comes with its own look and personality.

There is such a sense of pride, community, and patriotism as soon as you step on deck.  Guests are greeted as they arrive, and asked if they have ever served in the US Military.  If Veterans arrivals are announced across the loudspeakers of their position, rank, and service dates.

Along one of the turns, we saw a crashed van pulling a boat on the side of the road where yellow caution tape was up. We all had our theories about what possibly could have happened. Did the van get too close to the edge? Did foul play happen because it looked like gunshots in the windows? We’ll never know. We pulled over by the lake for a picnic lunch and enjoyed the serene views. When we got to the dam, we stopped and marveled at the history of all that this land holds and tried to imagine riding this trail via stagecoach. It was an adventure even by car.

If you had told me ten years ago that M & I would be...