Colorful South Coast cities include artistic Laguna Beach, historic San Juan Capistrano and nautical Dana Point.
The temperate climate along the southern coast of Orange County seems to infuse its inhabitants with a sunny disposition, and the recent influx of luxury homes and resorts in and around Laguna Beach makes it seem sunnier still.
South County's spirit of place is historically documented: Father Junipero Serra, the Spanish missionary who founded one of California's earliest missions on the site in 1776, commented on the friendly nature of the natives living in what is now San Juan Capistrano.
The gentle light and scenic vistas attracted artists more than a century later, and an artist colony was established in Laguna Beach in 1917. Artists painted the coastline, cliffs and flowering hillsides; the style they worked in came to be known as California Impressionism.
Hit hard by the Depression, the artists hung their paintings from trees by the side of the road in hopes of finding buyers among passersby. In 1932, they founded the Festival of Arts, a summertime event that continues to attract art aficionados from around the world. The festival offers works by more than 150 artists displayed in outdoor booths.
Festival organizers soon added the Pageant of the Masters, in which live models are used to re-create famous paintings and sculptures. The annual pageant is accompanied by live narration and a full orchestra. The show has gotten even more sophisticated of late.
Today, the Festival of Arts is one of several huge summer events. Arts-and-crafts enthu-siasts may prefer the Sawdust Art Festival, whose artisans tend to be more alternative. There's more art still at Art-A-Fair.
The Laguna Playhouse, adjacent to the Festival of Arts, excels in both comedic and more profound fare.
The heart of Laguna Beach, commonly referred to as the Village, is best experienced on foot. Laguna Canyon Road becomes Broadway as it approaches the coast. Galleries and distinctive shops line the streets south of Broadway. Broadway ends at Main Beach, where visitors and locals devote themselves to bodyboarding, basketball and people-watching.
Just up the hill to the north, at Cliff Drive and Coast Highway, is the Laguna Art Museum. The museum's permanent collections focus on art of California. Fine commercial galleries can be found nearby along Coast Highway.
The neighborhoods just above Coast Highway are dotted with historic cottages. A few blocks east, on a steep hillside overlooking Boat Canyon, something's almost always in bloom at Hortense Miller Garden (by appointment, 22511 Allview Terrace, 949.497.3311, ext. 426).
The friendly disposition of residents is exemplified by the Laguna Beach greeters. The first greeter, active during the 1880s, was Old Joe Lucas. The best known was Eiler Larsen, named "Official Greeter and Goodwill Ambassador" in 1963. Larsen stood by the road for four decades, waving and shouting "Hellooo!" to visitors; a statue of him can be seen in front of the Greeter's Corner Restaurant. The most recent greeter, "Number One," stopped waving last year.
Dana Point
Richard Henry Dana, author of the classic Two Years Before the Mast, liked the area that bears his name for the vantage of its headlands. A cliff-top gazebo and plaque at Overview Park (at the end of the Street of the Blue Lantern) mark a spot high above a cove where, in 1818, Argentine pirate Hipólito Bouchard anchored his fleet while raiding Mission San Juan Capistrano. Today there's one tall ship anchored below—the Pilgrim, docked at the Ocean Institute—and thousands of shorter sail and power vessels moored in neat rows to the south.
For a modicum of exercise, about a quarter-mile's worth, hit Bluff Top Trail, between the south ends of Amber Lantern and Violet Lantern streets (949.496.4251). You'll get a taste of the area's Cape Cod architecture and see a life-size sculpture, The Hide Drogher, depicting one of the 19th-century sailors who tossed local cowhides from the cliffs to trade for goods from the ships below.
The Ocean Institute hosts activities aboard the tall ship Pilgrim and educational Killer Dana cruises aboard the vessel Sea Explorer.
Dana Wharf Sportfishing offers whale-watching expeditions through April, when the whales migrate between feeding waters in the Bering Sea and breeding lagoons off Baja California. Forty to 50 California gray whales typically pass by each day. Shops and restaurants line the area on and around the wharf.
Doheny State Beach is the county's most popular spot for beach camping. Campsites are at beach level and feature showers, barbecues and picnic tables. An interpretive center focuses on the marine life of the underwater Doheny State Marine Life Refuge; there's also a hands-on, 400-gallon tide-pool tank.
Many main streets in Dana Point are named for colors of lanterns—Violet Lantern, Amber Lantern, Ruby Lantern and so on. In the city's earliest days, these streets were lighted with ships' lanterns of colored glass. Fifteen of the original lanterns are hung in La Plaza Park at Pacific Coast Highway and La Plaza Street.
San Juan Capistrano
Those intrigued by the lore of early explorers and settlers find much that is fascinating at the "jewel of the missions," Mission San Juan Capistrano, near the Ortega Highway exit off the 5 freeway. The mission, seventh in California's mission chain, is the best-preserved structure of its kind in the U.S.
The 10-acre site is filled with walkways, gardens, fountains and exhibits about early mission life.
Mission San Juan Capistrano may be best known for the fabled return of the swallows. Legend says that the swallows would fly to Jerusalem for the winter, using twigs carried in their beaks to rest upon in the ocean. In fact, until recently the swallows returned to the mission each spring en route from wintering grounds in Argentina to their homes in the north. Alas, no longer. A Swallows Day Festival is staged each March.
The mission's Great Stone Church was completed in 1806, then destroyed by an earthquake in 1812 and never rebuilt. The ruins, not long ago listed among the world's 100 most endangered historical sites, recently underwent extensive preservation.
Priests still celebrate Mass in the Serra Chapel, where Father Junipero Serra once presided. The original adobe walls shelter a magnificent Baroque altarpiece that is 22 feet high, crafted of Spanish cherry wood, decorated with 52 carved gold-leaf angels, and more than 350 years old.
Another impressive structure in the area is Harmony Hall, an 1883 terra-cotta brick building with a pillared veranda. Impressive in an entirely different way is the San Juan Capistrano Regional Library (31495 El Camino Real, 949.493.1752), a postmodern edifice designed by architect Michael Graves. Shopping possibilities include Zia Jewelry (31761 Camino Capistrano, 949.493.1322). Among dining options, La Fondue is a mix-'n'-matchers feast set amid wildly divergent décor. For more than a dollop of local color, check out the Swallow's Inn, a bar and neighborhood institution (31786 Camino Capistrano, 949.493.3188).
The Los Rios Historic District is in walking distance of the mission and adjacent to the Capistrano Depot. The district contains 31 homes, the earliest built in 1794. The O'Neill Museum (31831 Los Rios St., 949.493.8444) was built in the 1870s. The Ramos House Café, in an 1881 board-and-battan house, offers one of the county's best breakfasts.
Heading east on Ortega Highway about eight miles brings you to Ronald W. Caspers Wilderness Park (949.923.2210), the crown jewel of the county's regional park system.
San Clemente
Oil entrepreneur Ole Hanson dreamed of a Spanish city by the sea—and in 1925 he founded San Clemente, which at the time was nothing but a stretch of coast along the Amtrak route between Los Angeles and San Diego. The train still runs right along the beach and is an excellent way to get to and from the county's southern-most outpost.
San Clemente juxtaposes beach-casual and elegant: You can find upscale wine-country cuisine at Vine, s'mores on the menu at Beachfire. Avenida del Mar is lined with antique stores and galleries and leads down toward San Clemente Pier. You can still glimpse the ocean three miles inland at Talega Golf Club, a public course designed with input from Masters champion Fred Couples.
The gentle light and scenic vistas attracted artists more than a century later, and an artist colony was established in Laguna Beach in 1917. Artists painted the coastline, cliffs and flowering hillsides; the style they worked in came to be known as California Impressionism. 
The Laguna Playhouse, adjacent to the Festival of Arts, excels in both comedic and more profound fare. 
