Highway to Heaven

Huntington Beach is cut from a different cloth. Along Beach Boulevard, you can investigate the Shroud of Turin, possibly the most studied object in history, then check in at Strouds The Linen Experts. Contemplate the rich fabric of life over Italian fare at Baci.

AFTERNOON 1

The history--or legend, depending on whom you ask--of the Shroud of Turin begins when St. Jude purportedly carried the burial cloth of Jesus Christ from the tomb to the ailing king of Turkey. Fast-forwarding through the Crusades and centuries of ownership by the kings of Italy, it passed into the hands of the Catholic Church in 1983. The Shroud Center of Southern California, the only such facility west of the Rockies, opened last year.

Millions believe that the sheets are imprinted with the image of Christ, complete with bloodstains from wounds that would have resulted from the Crucifixion. One remarkable facet of the story is that so many skeptics seeking to disprove its authenticity have ended up among its most ardent believers. Numerous peer-reviewed studies have been devoted to the mysteries of the shroud; an article in National Geographic termed it “one of the most perplexing enigmas of modern times.”

Count among converted naysayers August Accetta, a gynecologist associated with Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian in Newport Beach and founder and director of the nonprofit Shroud Center. Suggested donations of $7 fund research by some of his colleagues at Hoag and scientists at UC Irvine.

Accetta said the actual Shroud will be put on display next spring for one of a very few times this century. A private visit to the local Shroud Center circumvents the throngs expected in Turin. (More than 3 million pilgrims showed up there to see the shroud in 1978 during a public appearance.)

The center’s exhibits include six life-size Shroud replicas in color positive and negative transparencies and prints, displays showing results of studies and testimonial videos from forensics experts.

Shroud believers, including the volunteers who lead two-hour center tours, cite “irrefutable” evidence of its veracity. The textile used, and pollens found in its fibers, seem to point to the Holy Land and to great antiquity. Photography was not invented until 1839; in 1898 the first photo of the ancient shroud revealed its remarkable negative image.

A 1988 carbon-dating analysis that initially seemed to debunk the shroud’s authenticity has itself come under fire. A peer-review study of that analysis presented at an international symposium last May in France indicates the test actually measured smoke from a 16th century fire the shroud survived. NASA’s VP-8 Image analyzer, usually used for planet fly-bys, shows its 3-D component. Tests find no applied pigments or elements, but rather suggest a “substance-less” nature. (The image resembles a sepia-toned X-ray.)

The tour is pretty darned interesting--believer or not!

LATE AFTERNOON 2 3

Head past Good Shepherd Cemetery and Moda Italia (a furniture store) en route to Talking Book World, which carries more than 5,000 books on tape for sale, rent ($1 per day tops) and trade.

Intersection of science and religion on your mind? Alongside best-selling fiction and mysteries is Frank Tipler’s four-cassette “The Physics of Immortality” ($24.95), which claims that “science has found God,” and that he was found “in exactly the same way physicists calculate the properties of the electron.” Prefer politics and religion? Tony Campolo’s book on tape ($15.99) poses the question, “Is Jesus a Republican or a Democrat?”

You’d think questions of the cloth could be settled at Strouds The Linen Experts, but the store deals only with contemporary examples. The closest it comes to Turin are (without crossing borders) Venetian-style bed ensembles and (as the crow flies) a St. Tropez pillow “generously plumped” with white goose down.

DINNER 4

More food for thought at Baci. The exterior resembles a Venetian villa; the interior offers trompe l’oeil Italian vistas and cherub sculptures. A tureen of minestrone soup is $3.50. Hot appetizers include gamberetti fra diavola (large prawns sauteed in olive oil, garlic and a spicy tomato sauce worthy of its name--”from the devil”--at $7.95) and melanzane paradiso (baked eggplant stuffed with ricotta and spinach in marinara, $6.25).

Among pastas is fettuccine angelo (with chicken and sun-dried tomatoes in light cream sauce, $11.50). A Times review recently deemed Baci’s zuppe Inglese, a liqueur-soaked pound cake with custard and bitter chocolate, “the best Italian dessert in the county, hands down.”

Heavenly, to be sure.

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1) Shroud Center of Southern California

18351 Beach Blvd., Suite B, (714) 375-5723.

2-5 p.m. Monday-Friday and by appointment other days and hours.

2) Talking Book World

16775 Beach Blvd., (714) 843-9222.

8 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday.

3) Strouds the Linen Experts

16672 Beach Blvd., (714) 842-4112.

10 a.m.-8 p.m. Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Sunday.

4) Baci Italian Restaurant

18748 Beach Blvd., (714) 965-1194.

11:30 a.m.-2 p.m. Monday-Friday; dinner 5-10:15 nightly.

Parking: There is free parking in lots at each location.

Buses: OCTA Bus No. 29 runs north and south along Beach Boulevard with stops at Terry Drive (Itinerary points 2 and 3) and Ellis Avenue (1 and 4). There are even closer stops at Taylor Drive (1) and Graziado Drive (4).