From Psychics to Hikes to Chili, Beach Is Very Cool

Beach blanket bingo? What a bore. With these options, you’ve got a much better summer forecast in store.

Reading Between

the Lines

The Venice Psychic

1101 Ocean Front Walk

Amid all the wacky street performers, greasy food, cheap sunglasses and half-naked Rollerbladers in Venice Beach may lie the key to your future ... or at least your summer. The area is packed with fortunetellers, Tarot readers, palm readers, handwriting analysts and even people who can tell if there is “good or evil around you” from your facial structure. Each promises all the answers for 10 to 20 bucks. But who’s the best? The old guy in the sailor hat with a tattered Tarot deck or the robust-looking Gypsy with the crystal ball?

“It’s about finding someone you’re comfortable with,” says the waterfront fave who calls herself the “Venice Psychic.” Unlike most readers, who come in from all over and set up tables, V.P. lives right off the walkway and offers guidance in her beachfront home. At just $5 for a shockingly accurate quickie palm reading, she’s the best bargain on the boardwalk.

Lina Lecaro

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Remote Possibilities

Palos Verdes Peninsula Land Conservancy’s Forrestal Property

Accessible from Ladera Linda Community Center

32201 Forrestal Drive,

Rancho Palos Verdes

Map available at www.pvplc.org

(310) 541-7613

The Palos Verdes Peninsula was one of the Channel Islands about 10 million years ago, and “the hill” is still famously remote. Get in touch with its spectacular wild coastal sage scrub habitat by taking a moderate hike on the Forrestal Property, a 160-acre parcel preserved by the Palos Verdes Peninsula Land Conservancy. Old quarries expose the fascinating geology above the coastal area of Portuguese Bend, site of the largest and oldest active landslide in the continental U.S. It’s not uncommon at Forrestal to find sharks’ teeth and other seabed fossils, as well as wildflowers like mariposa lilies and California bush sunflower. Oh yeah, and rattlesnakes. Call the conservancy for docent tours. Hikers with kids may also want to check out the George F. Canyon Nature Center on the way, (310) 547-0862.

Dean Kuipers

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Beach Blanket Barbecue

Calamigos Ranch

Calamigos Road (at Kanan-Dume Road and Mulholland Highway)

First Sunday of every month. Reservations required.

(818) 889-6280

www.calamigos.com

Hankering for that rustic campfire experience but don’t care for the tent and outhouse portions of the program? Then check out the monthly Restaurant Night at this 102-acre ranch in the outer reaches of Malibu. The $21.95 price tag ($15.95 for children under 13) includes all-you-can-eat barbecue, optional tractor-pulled hayride and, if there’s enough interest on a given night, line dancing. The ‘cue itself is decent enough. It wouldn’t win any awards, but there’s something satisfying about eating messy ribs at a picnic table under an oak tree. Must be the inner cowboy. Alas, no s’mores.

Leslee Komaiko

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Ice, Ice, Baby

Flavored Ices at DiDo’s

1305 Montana Ave., Santa Monica

(310) 393-2788

Cool, refreshing and guilt-free, these homemade Italian ices will quench your thirst while satisfying your aching sweet tooth. You amble down trendy Montana Avenue as you crunch on one of their sublime seasonal flavors, including peach, cantaloupe, honeydew, mango and strawberry, or, for the purists, deep, rich chocolate and clean, fresh vanilla. This water-based treat is so hydrating that folks fill their thermal containers with Dido’s ices before hitting the beach. If you’re longing for something a little more decadent, try the strawberry with a dollop of frozen vanilla yogurt on top. Water may be free, but an ice will cost $2 to $4, or $7 for a quart.

Jessica Strand

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Spice Boys

World-Famous Long Beach Chili Cook-Off

Long Beach Marina Green

(across from Long Beach Convention Center), Long Beach

$15, one day; $25, weekend pass

(562) 773-1395

www.longbeachchilicookoff.com

The daring-tongued have a chance to sear their taste buds twice in one weekend. The Salsa Challenge and the inaugural Buffalo Wing Contest arrive June 8, and the 21st annual Chili Cook-Off hits June 9. Reservoirs of beer and water are available to douse the flames, but outside drinks aren’t permitted. Adding to the heat, live rock, blues, reggae and acid jazz could prove as spicy as the food. Acts include Soul Asylum, Booker T. & the MG’s, Bob Mould, the Mother Hips and Black Uhuru’s Don Carlos. Tickets are available through the cook-off Web site and at several Long Beach-area businesses.

Blake Hennon