(Sunset) -- Yes, I admit this wasn't the first time I'd forgotten an important event. Let's not get hung up on that. What's important is that I quickly and admirably redeemed myself.





For a refreshing walk, try a sliver of the Laguna Beach coastline, about 50 miles south of Los Angeles.





Once the florist came to deliver the white dendrobium (I collect orchids) and I read the note -- "Happy Anniversary. Love, J" -- I immediately jumped into action: In less than an hour, I'm driving my wife, Jan, to Laguna Beach, our favorite seaside village. It is a place blessedly stocked with eateries where a guy can get noteworthy huevos rancheros while his beloved browses chic shops along Ocean and Forest Avenues for bejeweled sandals during winter sales.





Laguna Beach also happens to be where we spent a few days on our honeymoon years ago, so I have that going for me.





Short of hiring a helicopter, there are only two ways to get to this gallery-filled artist colony, either along Orange County's Coast Highway or down eucalyptus-laden Laguna Canyon Road, which curves like a riverbed, flowing down to the sea from the base of steep hills dotted with aerie bright-white homes that look like seagulls perched on precipices.





As we roll into town just before sunset, we feel like we're dropping into a box canyon with the Pacific Ocean as its only outlet, making the village feel cozy and isolated, particularly in the fall and winter months when the crowds thin out. A chilly breeze brings the faint smell of menthol (the canyon's eucalyptus trees) and something sweet, like saltwater taffy, perhaps from one of the candy stores. Long sheets of purplish orange clouds scatter like flaming blankets across the sky, suffusing the ocean, the sky, even Jan's face with a fireside glow.





"This is such a special treat," she says. "I can't believe you thought of it. By the way, where are we staying?"





Fortunately, I'm prepared for this question. I've been turning it over in my head from the moment we left home. I was thinking we could try to get a room at the hotel where we'd spent three nights on our honeymoon, even though it wasn't that great. But then my spousal guilt kicks in, so I decide to bite the bullet and go all out at Montage Laguna Beach resort and spa: California Craftsman architecture. Plein air art lining lobby walls. Feather-top beds. Soaking tubs for two. Views of Laguna's beaches. Jaw-dropping room rates. That sort of thing.





Beach romance





When we get up the next morning, the sun warming up the room, Jan and I both notice the quiet. With doors open wide to the Pacific, we hear the chest-thumping crash of the waves, the raspy bark of sea lions, the singsongy entreaty of a distant jogger calling his dog back from a run on the beach. I say we love the quiet, then I talk about the sounds. But it's different. In summer, beach sounds can be cacophonous. In fall and winter, there's mostly the wind and waves and sea life.





We love the communal feel of the town at this time of year, when locals, who seem to hibernate during the hot months, suddenly reappear to reclaim their favorite eateries and bars.





One morning we laze about Zinc Cafe on boutique-lined Ocean Avenue, reading the paper while digging into massive bowls of oatmeal mixed with dried cherries and nuts and surreptitiously listening to the breezy conversation around us -- like that of the young woman at the next table who's trying to convince a friend to join her in a laughter-yoga workshop on the beach.





"At first you just feel really stupid going hee-hee-hee, haw-haw-haw, but then you really do start laughing and it ... it's such a release," she says.





"What the heck is laughter yoga?" I lean over
When do crowds thin out in Laguna Beach? what is 50 miles south of LA When does crowds thin out in Laguna Beach? What thins out in fall and winter What is about 50 miles south of Los Angeles?
fall Laguna Beach coastline, fall and winter months the crowds Laguna Beach coastline,
question: When do crowds thin out in Laguna Beach?, answer: fall | question: what is 50 miles south of LA, answer: Laguna Beach coastline, | question: When does crowds thin out in Laguna Beach?, answer: fall and winter months | question: What thins out in fall and winter, answer: the crowds | question: What is about 50 miles south of Los Angeles?, answer: Laguna Beach coastline,