Yeah, this place is gorgeous.
When you’re injured, or broken off, there’s something about a stay at a nice resort that can help one feel, well, not so broken off. When I stayed at The Ranch this summer with my favorite person (my significant other who also needed a break), I got some serious R&R, and then some.
The Ranch, as its name implies, is a gorgeous hotel with an equally eye-catching nine-hole golf course situated below the canyon rim of the Laguna foothills upstream from Aliso Creek Beach.
At the same time, I got to dream about getting back in the water after being one-armed all summer (more on that in a minute). You see, The Ranch created this ingenious program where someone like me can stay, enjoy an incredibly scenic golf course ( I’m not kidding, for an executive course, it’s stunning), and meet up with the legends behind the modern Hobie brand to actually shape your own surfboard. Like seriously get in the shaper’s head, work with him in the shaping room and create a little magic. So that’s exactly what I did with Hobie’s Gary Larson, a longtime shaper, surfer, and generally good dude.
Gary Larson, making magic. Photo: JC
First, a little about being broken off. Not to bore you with the details but in early June I suffered one of the worst injuries of my life, mountain biking deep in the woods. I only really mountain bike to stay fit for surfing so it’s been a bummer of a summer. I was just about done with the ride when I went screaming over the handlebars, catching myself with my right wrist and breaking a bone called the scaphoid. Little did I know what was coming. The doctor tried to pin it, the pin became infected, and four surgeries and three bones removed later, I haven’t been in the water – which keeps me grounded – or done anything resembling athletic movement in weeks.
That’s why The Ranch was such a great escape. The rooms have all been updated – incredibly comfy with queen or double beds, walk-in closets, huge showers and bathrooms, and each unit has its own patio just steps away from a pool worthy of an afternoon siesta or libation.
The best part for the surfer in me was my time with Gary, Hobie’s go-to shaper. We met on a Saturday to talk about what I liked in boards, what he liked in boards, how I like to surf – and then BS-ed about our industry connections and mutual friends. All over beers and tacos in downtown Dana Point. Then we headed over to the Hobie shaping bay, where he skillfully helped me saw away at a piece of foam he had ready to create my stick. I opted for something easy to paddle, but that I could use in a plethora of conditions. Slightly pulled in nose ( ever so slightly), width at the chest (about 21” wide) with a round tail for control in the pocket. And then what I feel is the ultimate to help a board like this sing: a five box so I can run it as a quad. At 6’4”, I didn’t want a full-on mid-length, so this was just my little version with the ultimate in Hobie craftsmanship. White with black outline. Simple. Gary obliged.
The view from the Harvest restaurant ain’t bad.
The board came out amazing. I’ll get on it as soon as I can move my arm. But the stay at The Ranch is what I needed. Just what anyone needs really, even if you’re not broken. A quick escape close to home (like us). Or maybe somebody reading this in Michigan wants the same experience: to get away, to forget about work, eat good food, and get a crash course in surfboard building. Kind of an unexpected combination – it was perfect.
The real kicker was a Saturday night meal with my wife at Harvest, The Ranch’s signature restaurant. Harvest serves up one of the best burgers I’ve ever had (the Dry-Aged). Juicy angus patty, all the fixings, carefully prepared sauce, homemade fries and veggies from The Ranch’s “Harvest Garden” (yeah, you gotta take a tour of the garden where chickens provide eggs for the breakfast omelets and veggies for the salads, directly from ground to the table). My martini hit the spot, and that burger put me in the right space. My wife and I laughed about the fact she’d been my nurse maid all summer, oohed and ahhed at the hand-made cocktails, and cried at the fact our kids are growing up so fast (even though we were glad they weren’t with us at that moment). The Harvest is so good it’s worth a night out on its own.
Somewhere out there, you can use your own magic creation.
There’s plenty to do when you’re not on The Ranch property, of course. The surf is nearby, it’s easy to sample the happenings of Laguna Beach minutes away, or Dana Point, and even San Clemente four miles south.
One could drive by The Ranch and not even know this little oasis exists along Aliso Creek, just below what mountain bikers and hikers call the Top of the World. That’s because those beautiful canyon walls keep this place hidden in its own little ecosphere. Seriously, go find it. Enjoy yourself. And maybe shape yourself a magic board while you’re at it.
Find out more about The Ranch shaping experience with Hobie, here.
