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THROWS IN THE TOWEL AFTER 41 YEARS
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11/13/2006, Santa Cruz, CA Its a tough job overseeing a nude beach, and after 41 years, the owner of
Red, White and Blue Beach says it's time to throw in the towel and sell his property.
Ralph Edwards, 83, and his wife Kathleen raised their five children in the white two-story house that sits on
170 acres above the beach off Highway 1, six miles north of Santa Cruz.
The clothing-optional beach has been host to visitors from all over the world who come to bronze in the
sun, camp overnight and fire up a barbecue pit.
"You can go any way you want, it's clothing-optional," Edwards said while walking his dog, Spike, on the deserted beach.
But Edwards, who says he isn't a nudist, is ready to go his own way. "It's too much work for me," he said.
He purchased the land from the Scaroni family in 1965 without a plan but with a bunch of ideas, from building condominiums to opening a mobile home park. He teased about running a nudist operation. It turns out a nude beach was the only plan taken seriously by the county. "I couldn't get permits for anything else," he said.
He said his wife, who is living with Alzheimer's disease in a care facility in the city of Santa Cruz, at first didn't care much for the idea of a nude beach. But it grew into a family business that has attracted 60,000 people a year, mostly tourists from San Jose and the San Francisco Bay Area.
The pristine beach gets plenty of attention through nudist publications and the Internet. It's on the Travel
Channel's top 10 list of best nude beaches in the world the only such beach in California to be revealed.
Santa Cruz resident Toby Gray, a frequent visitor to the Red, White and Blue, said he and his wife have
been enjoying the beach for many years. They've always gone back because of the family-friendly
atmosphere, he said, and to hear bands play around the campfire. "The whole campground would fill up,"
he said.
A few hard-core nudists would bare it all, he said, but most people in the camping areas wore a wrap or
sarong. Down on the beach, most people laying out don't cover up.
"It's always been very safe and friendly there," he said.
The private setting is a big reason people feel comfortable at the beach, Edwards said.
"I was real lucky to have something like this," he said.
While refusing to name a price for the property, saying he prefers to sell it privately, Edwards said the next
property owner can live the life of a movie star, and make it their own private estate, as he has since 1965.
"Except I got these naked people coming into my backyard," he said. "Yes, it's funny when you think about
it."
Directions:
On CA 1 between mileposts 24.9 and 25.0
Comments:
Red White and Blue Beach was more like a nudist campground, with camping, barbecue pits and volleyball courts. Operated for over 30 years. |