The free tour everyone should take

Thankfully, Janelle Naess hates the gym.

It was about four years ago when she was lamenting her dilemma. She enjoyed exercising but not while smelling sweaty guys.

“I just can’t stand going to the gym to exercise inside, so Laguna Beach is like the perfect place to walk and jog and just be outside,” she said. “There are these incredible public works of art, the landscaping, the ocean views, everything.”

And then, after seeing a city publication on all of the public art locations, she had an “aha” moment.

“I live in north Laguna and I’ve never seen half of these things, so I started on a mission to go find where all these public art pieces were,” she said.

That’s when she started Laguna Beach Walks (lagunabeachwalks.com), which involves taking tourists around town and showing them the sights and the sites — the art, architecture and quirky locations of Laguna.

But after a few years of frequent tours, the busy mother of three decided to focus more on family and her healthcare career.

Which is all good for us because she has put her custom maps, assorted pictures and notes online so that anyone can download the self-guided tours — for free.

“People can go whenever it works in their schedule, and they can see all these incredible sites,” she said. “I just love everything about Laguna Beach and everything you can see if you just get out of your car and start walking.”

But why provide all of this work for free? Besides her love of being a Laguna ambassador, the 17-year resident is committed to helping people improve their health.

“We have a health crisis in the United States,” she said. “Everyone has such a sedentary lifestyle with overeating and not exercising. We’re trying to keep patients healthy on the front side, so we’re not treating their diabetes on the back side.”

She hopes to evolve the walks to include restaurant advertising and coupons, plus try to spearhead a weekly community walk.

In the meantime, she said her experience in giving personal tours of the city was rewarding.

Almost always, the participants were out-of-town tourists — international and domestic. Once in a while, there would be a local resident just wanting to learn more about the town.

“One time I got a tour bus and got on that microphone,” she said, chuckling. “It was an older crowd that couldn’t walk too much, so I just kind of modified my tour.”

Invariably, the most common questions involved real estate.

“One of the questions I always got asked was, ‘What do people do here for work?’ Because it’s such a high cost of living, they couldn’t understand how people could live here,” she said.

With that came the inevitable Hollywood follow-up question.

“They did ask what kind of stars have you seen here,” Naess recalled. “What celebrities used to live here or live here now. So whatever celebrity gossip of the day was, I would spell that out, like, I just heard Justin Bieber bought a house in Ebay [Emerald Bay], and he’s at the Mar Bar singing. Bette Davis had a house in South Laguna. Or I just saw Russell Brand; he was here with his new girlfriend. Whatever it was, I would incorporate it.”

For Naess, though, it wasn’t about the gossip or having to hype Laguna. The city stands on its own with enough culture to pack a two-hour tour.

“I was exhausted by the end,” she said. “I have such a passion for Laguna Beach and the history and the architecture and the art and everything that there is here, so I was just excited to tell people about it and showcase our unique community.”

Out of all the tours she gave, out of all the sites around town — the art, the buildings, the beauty — what is her favorite?

“If I had to pick one place on all my tours, I would say it’s Monument Point in Heisler Park, because on that point, if you look north, you see all the north coast. If you look south, you see all the coves and Main Beach and the shoreline,” Naess said. “It’s got the million-dollar view. It’s the most beautiful park in the world, I think.

“Plus, you have the monument, you have the time capsule inside there. Right behind that, you have the 9/11 memorial, which I love. And then right behind that is the lawn bowling club, which not too many places have a lawn bowling club.”

One spot, many views. One city, unlimited surprises.

And now it’s mapped out for you, free of charge, because one person cares.

DAVID HANSEN is a writer and Laguna Beach resident. He can be reached at hansen.dave@gmail.com.