CLIPBOARD : DISCOVERY : PARQUE DEL MAR

“This is just a painting, its foreground is the sea and its background is the hills. We believe beauty to be an asset . . . and we will preserve for all time these hills from structures which so often destroy the beauty of our cities.”-- Ole Hanson, founder of San Clemente, as quoted in the early 1920s.

Imagine stepping from a train depot, feet sinking into soft sand, the jade-colored surf breaking along an outstretched shoreline of the white-cliffed beach . . . fantasizing of the French Riviera? Pining for Portugal? No, this is the reality of San Clemente.

During the past 66 years, Ole Hanson’s “Spanish Village by the Sea” has remained an unspoiled gem in a trove of Orange County’s seaside treasures. However, unlike other heavily developed beachfront cities, San Clemente maintains a quiet village atmosphere and an Amtrak train station at the foot of the city’s 1,200-foot pier, built in 1928.

Just northwest of the pier, where Avenida Del Mar curls closest to the sea, a grass-sloped half-acre is dotted with picnic tables and shaded by palm trees. The Parque Del Mar, one of San Clemente’s many cliff-side overlooks, offers the foot weary a view of the southern end of San Clemente City Beach and the San Clemente Municipal Pier. The panorama also encompasses San Clemente Island and, to the north, the seashore up to Dana Point.

For visitors wanting to take in a day at the beach without a shoe full of sand, Parque Del Mar is the perfect location. Diminished crowds and warm fall afternoons are an attractive combination for a relaxing day. Locals wander to the park with towels, books and tanning lotion in hand. For the road warriors, an ample number of metered parking spots next to the park make for easy unloading of beach gear. Train passengers disembark, straw beach bags in hand, at a shed-depot next to the pier.

Long-time Nevada resident Red McKowen, and his wife of 48 years, Elizabeth, have taken the train to San Clemente for the past 25 years. For the retired couple, the park holds fond remembrances of days long past.

“We married young,” said Red McKowen, “so when our youngest left the coop, we were young too. To celebrate, we decided to take a vacation on the train, just the two of us. One of the stops was right here in San Clemente. It was so beautiful, well, we always came back.”

The Amtrak train pauses for four stops daily in San Clemente. The earliest train pulls into the pier-side station from Santa Ana at 7:44 a.m. and the last train leaves for Santa Ana at 4:30 in the afternoon. All told, the trip takes about a half hour and round-trip excursion passes cost only $10 each.

Today, the recently retired McKowens spend their winters with one of their children, an Orange resident. But the urge to ride the rails is still in their blood, so they hop on the train every few weeks to wander the beach or shop in the village.

“Where else can you sit in the sun with such a marvelous view?” McKowen said, perched on picnic tabletop. “I drove a truck for 40 years, so I do what I can to stay out from behind the wheel. I tell my son to take the train down here for the day. Take a day to remember what life is all about.”

Hours: Open daily, until 10 p.m.

Address: Avenida Del Mar at San Clemente Municipal Pier

Miscellaneous Information: Picnic tables available.