Zuma Beach in Malibu, One of the Largest and Most Popular Beaches in Los Angeles County

Zuma Beach is located at 30000 Pacific Coast Highway.. At four miles long, Zuma is one of the largest and most popular beaches in Los Angeles County,

Zuma is known for its long, wide sands and excellent surf, as well as plenty of facilities, including several food stands, restrooms, showers and volleyball. The Zuma boardwalk is well over a mile and a great place to take a walk.

There are over 2,000 parking spaces in the massive parking lot. Parking varies but ranges from $8 to $15 (summer weekends).

Visit beaches.lacounty.gov/zuma-beach for more information.

NOTE: Fires, including BBQs, are not allowed on any beach in Malibu; the exception is that fires may be allowed in designated spots at some state beaches. Dogs are not allowed on state beaches.

Zuma Beach boardwalk is great for walking.

Seabirds like it here too.

Fire Velo Cyclists Riding through Malibu This Morning on Fire Service Cancer Awareness Bicycle Ride

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A post shared by Conejo Valley Guide (@conejovalleyguide) on Aug 24, 2019 at 11:44am PDT

I was in the right place at the right time to catch this group of Fire Velo riders on the final 50 mile stage of their 7-day, 500+ mile 2019 Fire Service Cancer Awareness Bicycle Ride from San Francisco to the Santa Monica Pier. This footage on southbound PCH was taken at 9:30am just north of Zuma Beach. They were escorted once again by Malibu Fire Station #99, the westernmost fire station in Los Angeles County.

Fire Velo is a fire service based cycling club with a focus on cancer awareness within the fire service and raises funds for various firefighter cancer support organizations. More info at www.firevelo.com.

A Flock of Pelicans Performing in Malibu Last Weekend

I could watch this all day...flocks of pelicans hovering together above the waves in Malibu. These particular pelicans were flying at El Pescador and La Piedra State Beaches, which, along with El Matador, form a triage of "pocket beaches" along the west end of Malibu that constitute Robert H. Meyer Memorial State Beach.

More on these and other beaches in Malibu, stretching to Oxnard, at THIS LINK.

Scenes Near the Corner of Thousand Oaks Boulevard and Rancho Road in 1970

Conejo Valley Days Parade 1970 with auto promoting Sizzler.

Some of you may remember the Sizzler restaurant on Moorpark Road that is now a Hooter's. Well, before that, there was a Sizzler at 1259 East Thousand Oaks Boulevard, in a space that today (thanks to a generous donation from Thousand Oaks Storage) is the home of affordable housing non-profit Many Mansions.

Thousand Oaks Sizzler on Thousand Oaks Boulevard, just east of Rancho Road, in 1970

Many Mansions moved in Spring 2015 at the long ago former home of the first Sizzler restaurant in Thousand Oaks.

Sizzler was directly east of the Enco gas station at the corner of Thousand Oaks Boulevard and Rancho Road.

Enco was a short-lived brand name from the Humble Oil Company, which is now part of ExxonMobil. Apparently it translated into "stalled car" in Japanese.

Conejo Valley Days Parade 1970 at intersection of Thousand Oaks Blvd and Rancho Road.

Notice the Shell gas station across Rancho Road in the above photo. Today of course a different kind of fuel is served there at the first Thousand Oaks Drive-Thru Starbucks. I also notice the gas price at that time was 28 9/10th cents a gallon.

Today, there is a Chevron station located at this former home of Enco. It is the exact same building shown above! But instead of "Happy Motoring!" there's a sign on the building that says "Food Mart."

This Chevron station is the former home of the Enco station pictured above.

And this last photo shows a 23 North sign west of Rancho Road. Partially hidden behind that sign is a Chicken Delight that was located at 1165 E. Thousand Oaks Boulevard. Today, the closest Chicken Delight is in Winnepeg, Canada. 

Special Needs Screenings at Studio Movie Grill on Designated Saturday Mornings

Studio Movie Grill, including our local Simi Valley location at the Simi Valley Town Center, offers Special Needs Screenings on designated Saturdays at 11am.

Special Needs Screenings are shown with the lights on and volume lowered. Children are free to move around, talk, even dance in the aisles during the movie.

These special sensory friendly screenings are free of charge for children with special needs, as well as their siblings. Accompanying parents pay the “before-noon” price.

For upcoming shows, visit studiomoviegrill.com/movie/film-series/special-needs-screenings.

Nicholas Canyon County Beach in Malibu, East of Leo Carrillo State Beach

Nicholas Canyon County Beach is 1 mile east of Leo Carrillo State Beach at 33850 Pacific Coast Highway, Malibu. This is a nice beach where you can hang out, fish, picnic, surf and go for a great walk in about 25 acres. There's a decent sized parking lot with 150 spaces available, as well as parking on PCH. Parking costs range from $3 to $10 (as of July 2019), depending on time of the year. There are also portable restrooms on hand as well as showers and picnic benches. More information at beaches.lacounty.gov/nicholas-canyon-beach.

LA County beach rules at https://beaches.lacounty.gov/la-county-beach-rules/ - as an fyi, animals (including dogs), alcohol, smoking, fires/BBQ and amplified music are allowed.

View from the top of hte staircase near the parking lot.

Bench yourself for some nice views of the Pacific Ocean.

View looking northwest towards Leo Carrillo.

INFORMATION ABOUT DOZENS OF LOCAL AREA BEACHES AT THIS LINK

Conejo Valley Guide Facebook Followers Name Their Favorite Family Eateries in the Conejo Valley

In a recent drawing on the CVG Facebook Page, we asked followers to name off their favorite family restaurant in the Conejo Valley. There were over 300 responses in the two day drawing and of course we would love to share them with you here, in alphabetical order. Some of these eateries are not technically in the Conejo Valley, but hey, that’s ok.

Listed below are the restaurants noted, and the number of times they were noted. The most mentioned eateries were Lure Fish House, Stonefire Grill, Toppers Pizza Place and Country Harvest.

• Agoura’s Famous Deli

• Ali Baba’s Kitchen 3

• All About the Burgers Simi Valley

• Alpine Deli

• Ameci Pizza

• Bad Ass Tacos 2

• Bangkok Avenue 2

• Bandits BBQ 9

• Brent’s Deli

• Cactus Patch in Moorpark

• California Pizza Kitchen

• Carrara Pastries in Moorpark 2

• Casa Nostra Ristorante

• The Cheesecake Factory 5

• Chi Chi’s Pizza Simi Valley 2

• Chili’s

• Cici’s Cafe 2

• Cho Cho San 2

• Cisco’s 2

• Country Harvest 9

• Cronies

• Dave & Buster’s

• Don Cuco Simi Valley 2

• Draughts

• Eggs N Things 3

• Eloong Dumplings

• Figueroa Mountain Brewing

• Fusion Grill 5

• Habanero Mexican Grill

• Holdren’s

• Islands 4

• Janchi Korean BBQ

• Jinky’s Cafe

• Junkyard Cafe Simi Valley

• Lakeview Garden Chinese Restaurant

• Latigo Kid

• Lazy Dog Cafe 5

• Little Calf Creamery and Cafe 5

• Los Dos Amigos 2

• Love Pho Cafe

• Love Sushi

• Lure Fish House 11

• Made in Italy

• Marmalade Cafe 2

• Mandarin Bistro

• Marcello Ristorante 2

• Mendocino Farms

• Mika Sushi

• Minato Sushi

• Mission Burrito

• Mouthful Eatery

• Natural Cafe

• Nonna

• Nori Japanese Grill

• Olive Garden 2

• P&L Burgers

• Plata Taqueria in Agoura Hills 2

• Poke U and Me in Camarillo

• Pokeland

• Pookie’s Thai

• Ranch Hand BBQ 2

• Red Robin 4

• Roma Deli

• Sake 2 Me Sushi Simi Valley

• Sesame Inn

• Sharky’s 6

• Side Street Cafe

• Snapper Jack’s

• Social Monk

• Soom Soom

• Stacked 6

• Stella’s II

• Stonefire Grill 10

• Sumo Sushi 3

• Sushi Oaks

• Taqueria El Tapatio in Moorpark

• Taqueria Jalisco Mexican Food in Moorpark

• Tavern 101

• The Habit Burger

• The Original Pizza Cookery 5

• Thousand Oaks Fish and Chips

• Thousand Wok

• Toppers Pizza Place 9

• Vegan Thyme

• Wood Ranch BBQ 6