According to this article in the Orange County Register, the San Clemente City Council approved a plan to build a 2,100-foot-long connection linking the Forster Ranch Ridgeline Trail to a recently-built trail in San Juan Capistrano.  This connection will allows San Clemente residents easy access to the variety of trails throughout San Juan Capistrano and into Cleveland National Forest.  As one of the interviewees in the article happily stated, “It’s going to be the Mountains to the Sea Trail.”  The City Council is allocating $20,000 to pay for the connection, and a completion timeframe has yet to be determined.

One of the primary assets to living in San Clemente is being in the middle of a beautiful natural setting, and outdoor junkies have a nice pick of hiking, biking and walking trails throughout San Clemente.  This move by the City Council is great news for outdoor enthusiasts and San Clemente residents, as they will now have easier access to the many trails of San Juan Capistrano along with a path to Cleveland National Forest.  The San Clemente City Council rightfully recognizes the amount of interest outdoor activities garner from its residents and consistently seek to improve the options, from building new parks to its support of the Coastal Trail in North Beach and this new trail connection.  If you have any interest in outdoor activities, you will find fewer places in Southern California to match the scope of all that South Orange County, including San Clemente and San Juan Capistrano, has to offer.

Today is the day for San Clemente residents to let their voices be heard in one of the most important and historic general elections in U.S. history.  Today’s article in the OC Register outlines the measures San Clemente will be voting on, Measures V and W, both of which concern San Clemente real estate development.  Measure V would change city codes to require voter approval anytime a landowner wants to rezone open space for development not allowed in the open-space zone; Measure W concerns the proposed development of a retail/restaurant center on 2.74 acres of city-owned land in North Beach.  Along with these two measures, San Clemente residents will vote for two new City Council members out of nine candidates.

For more information on polling places and hours, please visit OC Registrar of Voters website. 

The San Clemente Chamber of Commerce will be hosting the 17th annual “Taste of San Clemente” at the Courtside Restaurant in the Rancho San Clemente Tennis & Fitness Club.  The event will host over 20 local restaurants serving a variety of foods, along with drinks provided by 16 premium wineries from throughout California, a variety of microbrews and other assorted cocktails.  There will be live music provided by the Baytown Band.  This is a great event for adults every year held in a beautiful setting, and the wide assortment of foods and drinks will satisfy every palette.  Some of the restaurants include Blue Danube, The Melting Pot, Taka-O Japanese Restaurant, Cafe Mimosa and many more.

The event begins at 6:00 pm and concludes at 10:30 pm.  Tickets are $75.00 per person (price includes food, drinks, valet parking and a complimentary commemorative wine glass or beer mug), and “Taste of San Clemente” is limited to 250 people, so buy your tickets soon.  For detailed information about the event, please visit the San Clemente Chamber of Commerce website.

This Sunday, October 5th, the non-profit organization Family Assistance Ministries is holding their 23rd annual South County Hunger Walk in San Clemente.  According to this article in the OC Register, the Hunger Walk will begin at the downtown Community Center (registration begins at 1:00pm) and will parade through downtown San Clemente to Max Berg Plaza Park and back.  Last year, more than 300 walkers raised $46,000 for FAM in their biggest fundraiser of the year, and FAM hopes to have 500 walkers donating around $75,000 this year.

In these difficult economic times, families more than ever are looking to non-profit groups like FAM for help.  Through July, FAM reported more aid requests in 2008 than all of 2007, making a good showing at this fundraiser highly important for these struggling families.  You may choose to walk in the event and have sponsors donate to your cause, or you can simply donate to FAM - any little bit will help this wonderful organization to raise the funds necessary to feed these families.

For more information on Sunday’s Hunger Walk, please call (949) 492-8477 or visit the Family Assistance Ministries’ website. 

Starting today, September 29th, a new law goes into effect that bans smoking on all San Clemente municipal trails.  According to this article in the OC Register, the law bans smoking on the heavily-used San Clemente Coastal Trail and all inland trails.  The City Council originally pushed to have smoking banned on the Coastal Trail because of the number of people who frequent the trail but decided to extend the law to inland trails because of fize hazards and the connectivity of some trails to San Clemente park trails that have already banned smoking.

The various hiking, walking and bicycle trails in San Clemente are one of the amenities that makes this coastal community such a great place to live.  San Clemente is a community that encourages outdoor activities for adults and children by consistently maintaining and improving its parks and trails.  By banning smoking on the municipal trails in San Clemente, the City Council has again shown its willingness to protect the beautiful environment found here.  The move to ban smoking on the San Clemente Coastal Trail was entirely expected.  The trail, which runs from North Beach to Calafia, is the most heavily-populated trail by adults and children alike and serves as a crossing point to the various San Clemente beaches.  Keeping the trail free of cigarette butts and smoke in the air will ensure that the quality of the popular Coastal Trail and our beaches remains intact (and I’m sure the people who exercise on the trail will not be too upset about breathing fresh air).  I applaud the City Council for extending the ban to inland trails; as the canyons of San Clemente are filled with wild brush, this will only help to curb potentially devastating fires in the area (as we’ve seen in Irvine and San Diego during the past couple of hot summers).

For more information on the San Clemente City Council’s smoking ban on municipal trails, please visit their website.

On September 16th, the City Council of San Clemente voted unanimously (5-0) to implement a door-to-door universal waste collection service.  According to an article in the San Clemente Times, the program with go into effect sometime in October and will include single-family and multi-family residential properties. Pickups will occur on the same day as regular trash pickup days; however, residents will have to call CR&R in advance and provide a detailed list of the items being placed for collection.

San Clemente is a community that is very conscious of the environment and “going green” standards.  This is yet another effort by the city to promote safe environmental standards by creating a safer method of disposing universal waste.  Not only is properly disposing of universal waste better for the environment, but it is a necessary human safety measure as well.  For more information on items that qualify as universal waste, please check out this fact sheet published by the California Dept. of Toxic Substances Control.  For more information on San Clemente’s new program to deal with universal waste disposal, please visit the City of San Clemente’s website.

Beachfire Grill, located a few blocks from the San Clemente Pier at 204 Avenida Del Mar, brings an eclectic flair to its dining room while providing an excellent variety of food.  Open since 2002, Beachfire Grill has a full menu ranging from a wide variety of appetizers and salads (side and entree) to fresh fish selections and great steaks.  Beachfire Grill is open 7 days a week for lunch and dinner and provides a nice breakfast/brunch menu on weekends from 10:30am - 1pm. 

I was drawn to Beachfire Grill by the large outdoor patio behind the restauarant and the fun vibe the place exuded, and it did not disappoint.  After ordering a couple of drinks, my wife and I spent 10 minutes deciding on our appetizer, finally settling on a “light choice” of Grilled Asparagus.  As someone who prides himself on grilling vegetables, I have to say that the dish was excellent.  The asparagus were lightly seasoned, topped with grated parmesan cheese and served with a basil and chipotle aioli that was great for dipping.  My wife ordered the Panko Crusted Halibut for her entree, while I chose the Clam Chowder and appetizer portion of the Sticky Ribs.  The halibut was outstanding - nice and flaky with a mild taste that was perfectly complimented by the panko (like a tempura crust) and excellent roasted mashed potatoes.  The clam chowder was very tasty, and the ribs had a very unique teriyaki-flavored BBQ sauce that was quite flavorful (unless you’re starving, the appetizer portion is more than enough as you still receive a half-rack of ribs with fries).

Besides the food, the two things that really stood out to make this a fun dining experience was the service and decor.  Our server Kelly was amazing - she was very attentive, stopping by frequently to make sure the food was good or just to chat.  The decor is what really makes Beachfire Grill a unique place to eat - every inch of the walls is covered with works from local artists, all with a distinctive San Clemente flair for the beach, lifestyle and beautiful San Clemente sunsets.  Some of the employees (past and current) even had works on the walls, with Chris the manager taking up an entire section for himself.  The outdoor patio is a nice place to eat, but make reservations because it fills up quickly.  There is live entertainment nightly and drink/food specials Monday thru Friday. 

Overall, San Clemente Coastal Living highly recommends Beachfire Grill to anyone looking for a good meal and a great night out.  For more information on the menu and nightly entertainment, please visit Beachfire Grill’s website.

With 63 days left until Election Day on November 4, residents of San Clemente must make their final decisions on which two candidates they will elect to the San Clemente City Council along with a City Treasurer and City Clerk.  In Monday’s Orange County Register article, each candidate offers a brief summary of their positions and what they will do as City Council members.  At San Clemente Coastal Living, the welfare and vitality of the community is very important to us, so we hope that San Clemente residents will take the time to educate themselves on the different candidates so that we may elect the most qualified individuals.

For more information on Election Day in San Clemente, please visit the City of San Clemente’s website.

At San Clemente Coastal Living, we specialize in San Clemente real estate, but we also have a deep fondness for the community of San Clemente. We chose to work exclusively in the San Clemente real estate market because it is such a unique coastal city, and we want our clients to understand everything San Clemente has to offer before deciding on a real estate purchase. With that in mind, we will periodically post reviews of San Clemente businesses, be it restaurants, coffee shops, beaches, etc. For the first in this series, I wanted to write about one of my favorite joints in San Clemente: OC Tavern. OC Tavern is a neighborhood restaurant and bar located off El Camino Real in Southeast San Clemente that boasts a large ocean view patio and a concert hall featuring live acts and excellent DJs. OC Tavern serves breakfast, lunch and dinner and is open daily until 2:00am. Being a big football fan, I frequent OC tavern on weekends during football season and can watch any game I want on the 22 plasma screen TVs surrounding the inside. There are also pool tables and video games along with a full bar and a smaller side patio with a firepit.

While OC Tavern is a great bar, they also serve excellent food.  They have a wide assortment of appetizers, including excellent chicken wings and surprisingly good seared Ahi Sashimi (I lived in Hawaii for a few years, so as an ahi connoisseur, I can tell you that OC Tavern’s version does not disappoint). I like to try new things when I frequent dining establishments, but I always have a tough time passing on the Tavern Burger - trust me, the cooks here know how to make an excellent burger; it is always cooked the way you want it, and it doesn’t fall apart in your hands. Make sure to try the Sweet Potato Fries on the side. Besides the typical bar fare, OC Tavern also features sandwiches, salads, pizzas and pastas (my wife loves the Ahi Tropical salad). Try to get seating on the front patio if possible (it is always packed around dinnertime); you get a very nice view of the San Clemente coastline from all of the tables.

For more information on OC Tavern, you may visit their website.  For more information on the San Clemente real estate market or San Clemente lifestyle, please contact us.

San Clemente State Park, located in Southeast San Clemente, has recently upgraded its visitor’s center providing a much better glimpse of San Clemente’s history according to this article in the Orange County Register.  Visitors and locals, both adults and children, can learn more about the surfing, wildlife, American Indians, and other aspects of the state park and San Clemente. 

For those unfamiliar with San Clemente state park, it is located just south of downtown San Clemente on the coastal side of Interstate 5 off the Calafia exit.  The state park has campsites with beach access to some of the most prestine and beautiful beaches in all of Southern California.  For more information, including maps and reservations, please visit the state park website.