Headlines

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The Surf City Foodie Award winners have been released. Did they get it right? Locals are dodging rattlesnakes left and right. It's autism month here in Huntington Beach. What's going on for that? This is Unlocking Huntington Beach. And we're back with another episode of Unlocking Huntington Beach. What's going on? My name is Lane Stone, and we have a good one for you today.

Rattlesnakes At Bolsa Chica

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Lots happening in and around Surf City. And you might have been hearing some of the posts or seeing the news that's made now that's made national headlines for Bolsa Chica rattlesnake warnings in the Bolsa Chica wetlands area. Locals are dodging rattlesnakes like crazy over there. There's been an increase in uh rattlesnake activity around the Bolsa Chica ecological reserve, and it's not just hidden away. People are finding them in plain sight. I think I saw one video of one swimming in the water. Uh so it they are very active around the area. So when you are going on your walks, when you are going on your hikes around the Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve, uh please be safe, please be mindful, wear your hardclosed shoes. But why is it happening right now? And why are we seeing more videos right now than normal? Well, a couple of things. Uh as temperatures warm up and we get into the spring season, and we actually had a pretty warm March, uh, that's when you start to see the rattlesnake activity increase there. Another reason why uh they have uh it's breeding season right now. The spring is uh peak breeding season for these rattlesnakes. And then we also, part of being a reserve, the Brussels Chico Ecological Reserve, uh, it's an undisturbed territory. So it's very easy for these rattlesnakes to thrive in an environment like that. And then we also on warm days have warm hardscapes. So when they're crawling on the gravel or the rocks, it is warm and they and they thrive in that warm

Staying Safe On Trails

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environment. So, what can you do to stay safe out there? Well, for one, you want to stay on the paths. Uh, you also want to watch your step, make sure your dogs are on a short leash. You want to wear closed-toed shoes, and then think about uh going on your walks or your hikes during the midday, as there tends to be higher activity of rattlesnakes over the dawn and dusk hours.

Pacific Airshow Returns

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Okay, moving on. We're gonna talk about the Pacific Air Show for 2026. And you know what, you would think it might be a little bit early to announce it, but hey, it's because it comes in October, end of September, early October. And it's not. It's like it's they're already selling tickets, so it's time for us to make that announcement. But the Pacific Air Show is officially coming back October 2nd through the 4th, and this year marks their 10-year anniversary. I can't believe it's already been 10 years. I remember on year one when I was taking a drive and I would see those jets out of the uh sunroof of my car, and I would think, oh my God, what's going on here? I didn't even know that we had the first annual uh air show, and I didn't even know it was going to be 10 years later, but here we are, 10-year anniversary. I can't believe time has flown by

Tickets And Best Viewing

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so much. Uh, they're already selling tickets, but uh, they're also pushing uh $10 kids' tickets, which is a kind of a new thing for them, I believe, this year. So if you've been before, you know that the city turns into a full-on event that weekend, but there's plenty of options to not have to buy tickets to see the show because they fly all over the city. Uh, but there the tickets are out there. And we welcome uh over a million people during this event. So it's it attracts a lot of visitors. It's probably good money for the hotels, the resorts, the restaurants, the parking. So it brings in a lot of money for the city uh from that standpoint. And I want to know like if if you guys have some sort of like spot that you enjoy watching, let me know. I've seen people pull up lawn chairs at uh Pacific City. I've seen people just go outside of the zones that there are uh sanctioned off for uh private uh tickets, but I've even seen people on the roofs of their homes watching it. And there's there's never really a bad opportunity to see these uh beautiful aircraft. And I think that there's a really good opportunity to have a hopefully a clear year. I say clear year because I feel like the last couple of years it's been gloomy. Uh it we haven't had uh great, great visibility. There was one year I think maybe they were able to see the the aircraft and the jets, maybe like only half of a Friday. And then Saturday, that's like two years ago, I think, and then Saturday and Sunday, you couldn't see anything. And then last year, I believe, was kind of a little bit of a letdown as well. So fingers are crossed. If we are going to be attracting this many people here to watch an incredible event, that the weather holds up. But if you're interested getting your tickets early, uh there's always usually good deals when you get your tickets early. Now is the time to

My Meter Utility Tool

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do it. Another big announcement for uh Huntington Beach, if you are a homeowner paying your utility bills, well, they just released something called My Meter, My Meter Utility Launch. It's a platform where you can pay your bill, track your usage, set up auto pay, and then even get alerts for leaks or unusual high bills. So instead of being surprised by your bill, you can actually see it coming. But why is this important? Well, water bills have been increasing steady over the last year years. I feel like every year it goes up. Um, but you can catch leaks early, and which will avoid major water damage and save you a lot of money. Uh, it protects your home value. Uh, you can flag irrigation waste. Uh, for example, like if you have a broken sprinkler head, sometimes water just pours out of there and you might not even realize it, but you might be able to catch it. And then obviously, we we already had an option to pay our utility bills on auto pay, but they do have the auto pay option there as well. So look out for my meter, the utility launch. I think it's great. The the biggest thing that I'm like looking forward to is being able to catch the leaks early. There's a lot of insurance companies out there that are actually requiring leak detection uh systems, be able to be before you can even get your insurance policy. So if this can help, and I don't think this sounds like it's going to be a full-blown leak detection system, like one of those moans that they have out there. But um I do think if it does help you uh be able to monitor your usage and see if there is a spike in usage and then give you an indication that, hey, there might be an issue there, I think that's great. And that's the one feature that I'm looking forward to the most with the my meter.

Autism Awareness Patch

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Okay, this month, uh the month of April is Autism Awareness Month. And April 2nd, which we already had, is Autism Awareness Day. But one thing that the Huntington Beach Police Department is doing, uh, they are releasing a special autism awareness patch to support individuals with autism and those who work with them every single day. You can pick one up for $10 at the Huntington Beach Police Police Department front counter and all proceeds go to local charity. It's a small thing, but it's one of those ways that the community can show up and give back. And we I feel like every when you ask somebody and you if you're in a crowded space, you say raise your hand if if you know somebody who has autism, or um, I feel like everybody raises their hand. And so it's something that's very common, but it's also really good to uh have for Huntington Beach and for the police department to have some s have some sort of program where you can buy a relatively inexpensive patch and it goes to a good local charity cause and just kind of promoting our autism awareness month.

Foodie Awards Winners

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Okay, now let's move on to our final topic here, and this is the Surf City USA Foodie Awards for 2026. They announced the winners. I want to know if you think they got him right. I have some thoughts and I'll explain to you my thoughts as well. But the list just dropped, and I'm gonna read you the list of who the winners are. They said best Asaibl, bonsai bowls. And now, before I continue the list, one thing I do want to mention is we will have links to all these places. So if you might not have heard of a place like this in Huntington Beach and you want to give them a try and see if they really are the best in town, uh, you'll have we'll have a link that you can go directly to their page and get their address and see a little bit more information on that. So check the show notes for those links. But best asaibo, bonsai bowls, best breakfast burrito. This one was a little bit of a surprise for me because I've only gone here uh four burgers, but it's called the Pocket Burger Shack. So I have not tried their breakfast burritos, but the fact that they made this list, I will try it because I don't have an opinion on it where I think they got that right or wrong. Uh so I am looking forward to uh checking this one out. Uh, best beer. They have rip beer co. Now we're very lucky in Huntington Beach to have several microbreweries here. Uh, you can think of Flashpoint, Four Suns, uh, you've got Rip to name a few. Uh, but they gave Rip Beerco Best Beer, Best Burger, back to the Pocket Burger. Pocket Burger Shack got Best Burger, uh, Best Brunch, Mama's on 39. I love their brunch. It gets really busy on the weekends, especially during football season, but they have because they have a good brunch, incredible Bloody Mary's, by the way. Um, and then Best Coffee, if you know, you know, Coffee Lab, Best Happy Hour, 25 degrees Huntington Beach, good happy hour, but I think they could have also been considered for the list of best burger as well. Uh, best pizza, ripped pizzeria, and that is my favorite pizza. So I think that is right on. Best sushi, they gave it to sushi on fire. That is a top spot for me, but it is not number one. Number one for me is airsai over on Magnolia and Adams. But that's okay. I mean, a lot of people like sushi on fire, and it it has a completely different vibe, by the way. But I think that uh for me, as far as sushi, I like airsai, but sushi on fire is still on my top for list. Best taco, tacos los cholos, best treats, handles homemade ice cream. Handles hasn't been here for that long, they're located there on PCH um near Main Street, but uh Handles has great ice cream. Uh Best View they gave to the bungalow in Huntington Beach. So, did they get that right? Now, if you're thinking, I love this list.

Host Picks And Guide

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Well, we created a list of our own, and we'll make sure we put that in the show notes as well. But we have a Huntington Beach and surrounding areas because not everything is in Huntington Beach. We have some stuff in Fountain Valley and Costa Mesa, but we did a guide for all sorts of things. And we not only have best beers on there, best burgers on there, best brunches, best breakfast, best coffee, best pizza, best sushi, best views. We also have best date night spots, we have uh best places uh for outdoors, we have best Huntington beach trails. So it's and it's not just regulated to number one. We have our top list of sometimes lists of two, three, up to 10 things per uh list. Because when I think of uh burgers, I do think that the pocket burger has a great burger, not number one on my list. I would have given it to 25 degrees. I would have given um, let's see, best brunch. I would have given it to mama's actually. Uh best sushi eras I already talked about that. Best tacos. I know tacos los cholos has great tacos. It's really hard for me because I personally don't eat that many tacos when I go to Mexican restaurants. But for me, I love Las Barcas. I love Fiesta Grill. Uh Best Views. I feel like you can go almost anywhere in Pacific City for a really good view, but like you also have Dukes on the beach, which is really great too. Uh, so there's really good opportunities for some good uh views, but make sure you check the show notes, and we will have not only these things on here, and a lot of these we already have listed on those things, but some of the ones that you might not even have heard of, that you might not have been to, some secret spots maybe that you wanted to look into. Uh, and we have an incredible list that you can look at in the show notes. So, do you agree

Wrap Up

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with that list or not? I want to hear it in the comments. But that is it for us this week uh for unlocking Huntington Beach. Now, make sure if you like this video and you want to see more content about the bel our beloved city of Surf City, USA in Huntington Beach, make sure you are liking this video. You're subscribed to the YouTube channel if you're watching on YouTube. If you are watching, if you're listening on your favorite podcast, make sure you are subscribed on this podcast channel. You can find us also on social media at unlockinghb. You can find myself personally at lane no c and every week I leave you with this, and I'll do the same for this one. Do good. Huntington Beach deserves it. I'll see you on the next one.