Carbon Beach at the Malibu Beach Inn

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From the desert and mountains of Palm Springs we drove due West and up the PCH to Malibu.  Driving into town, you can't see much because the houses overlooking the cliffs take up much of the view. So my first real shot of Malibu was sitting down to lunch at the Carbon Beach Restaurant at the Malibu Beach Inn. The moment instantly called for a glass of wine to celebrate the beauty and warm sun. I tried a delicuously buttery Chardonnay from a Malibu winery called Dolin. This picture is just perfection. 

The food options were mostly light traditional American lunch fare - salads and sandwiches. Of course we had to go a little outside the box. I ordered the fish tacos, which, instead of standard tilapia or other white fish, came with seared ahi tuna. 

I was impressed with the generous portion of the fish, and was happy to spread California avocados all over my tacos. They were light and refreshing with good quality ingredients. 

Martie picked an even more unusual option - tuna tartare with Indian spices. Again, it was a very generous portion of tuna. She raved about the combination of fresh fish and Indian spices and used the crunch buttery pappadum cracker on top to scoop up the fish. 

But more than the food, we were awed by the view. Basking in the sun with the waves lapping against the rocks was pure bliss. 

After brunch we drove deeper into Malibu to go on a hike along the cliffs on the coast. California, with its range of landscapes is stunningly beautiful and Malibu is no exception. Just to make my snow covered East Coast readers a little jealous, I wanted to share a few pictures from our hike along the cliffs, down to an isolated rocky beach, and ultimately back up for sunset. 

Certainly beats the snow piles back in DC! 

Liz