Some of my favorite memories, growing up, are from the simple seaside vacations at my grandparents’ duplex about an hour’s drive north of our home in Sydney, Australia (an early Airbnb!).

Winter break was suddenly on us here in Southern California, so I found a last minute beachfront vacation rental in Sunset Beach, just north of Huntington. It was a cozy cottage that we could bring our darling dog, Blu to.

There wasn’t much to do. Walks along the shore on sunny, blustery days. Reading a novel on the deck which nestled right into a sand dune. We played board games when it rained and watched old movies – Ghost (1990) and Ghost Town (2008)…sense a theme here? And yes,these are classified by our kids as ‘old’ movies!

We did venture across to Huntington Harbour and rented kayaks one afternoon. We paddled along canals lined with grand homes and luxury boats. We found some cute local spots for breakfast and went to bed early.

It was lovely, and really reminded me of a time when sliding down a hill on a piece of cardboard, digging a hole for the waves to fill, and a game of Mousetrap were more than enough to make me happy as a clam.