Best of 2003: Best Meeting Spot For Spies

Bayside Trail, Cabrillo National Monument
1800 Cabrillo Memorial Drive, Point Loma
619-557-5450

There's something Hitchcockian about this trail as it descends some 300 feet through dense and silent coastal scrub. The trail's two-mile round-trip no doubt discourages tourists. So it's just you -- and whomever you've planned to meet -- crunching down the path. You pass derelict searchlight bunkers. You start at the sound of lizards slithering through sage. Of course, the best thing about this trail is that its layout makes it impossible for someone to watch you without your knowing it. And, besides, Cabrillo Monument is so isolated that the chances of any busybody following you all the way out there are very slim indeed.