Hermosa Beach

Ryan Doherty's head soars 7 feet 1 inch above the earth and sits about 10 inches below the peak of a beach volleyball net. And when he leaps and extends his 7-foot-4 wingspan, his forearms easily stretch to the other side. These physical measurements come in handy for Doherty, who's competing in the Hermosa Beach Open this weekend with his partner, Casey Patterson. The No. 9-seeded duo out of 32 men's teams opens play during Saturday's main draw, which begins at 9 a.m. Doherty and Patterson have won two straight Jose Cuervo Pro Beach Volleyball Series events and three overall events this year, but for all his success in the sport, Doherty is new to it: He calls this his first full year as a pro. He's been a pro before, just at something else: Baseball.

The Jose Cuervo Pro Beach Volleyball Series hits the South Bay this weekend, when 32 men's and 32 women's teams will be vying for a piece of the $100,000 purse in the Hermosa Beach Open, Friday through Sunday. None of the 2012 Olympic qualifiers will be competing, as they've been overseas since June, but several notable players will be present. On the women's side, Jenny Kropp and partner Whitney Pavlik, runners-up in Hermosa last year, have won the first three Cuervo tournaments this year in dominating fashion.

Now what are you going to do with the rest of your summer? The Carp-O-Rama Family Fishing Event scheduled for July 14 at Lake Maloney State Recreation Area south of North Platte, Neb., has been canceled because of a recent carp die-off . . . . On a lighter note, you can't kill salsa. The annual Oxnard Salsa Festival is still a go, July 28-29 in downtown Oxnard. Parking and admission are free, but the Salsa Tasting Tent costs $5. Still, a great bargain for a traditional fun weekend.

With summer in full swing, it's time to hit the beach — for sunning, yes, but also for shopping. There's a new level of sophistication in shopping along the coast. Locally owned boutiques with a curated point of view are changing the flavor of beach towns from beer-soaked spring break haunts to chic retail and dining destinations. The style renaissance is fueled in part by the success of Venice's Abbot Kinney Boulevard, which this spring was dubbed by GQ magazine the chic-est street in America.

It didn't take long for the Los Angeles Kings to take the Stanley Cup to their favorite bar. Just hours after the team claimed its first-ever championship with a 6-1 victory over the New Jersey Devils on Monday night, the celebration was on at the North End Bar & Grill in Hermosa Beach. Owner John Courts said the entire team, the players' families and some Kings employees gathered for a private celebration - and brought their trophy with them. "The Stanley Cup was on the bar," Courts said.

As the Los Angeles Kings push closer to a Stanley Cup championship, sports bars across Southern California are suddenly enamored with the team and getting a crash course in the culture and rules of the game. But not at the North End Bar and Grill in Hermosa Beach. Here, the Kings are the hometown team. Many of the players drink there, call patrons their neighbors and mingle freely at community events. Last week, as the Kings were on the road to their first Cup victory, North End patron Jennifer Henriksen proudly pulled out her iPhone and showed off images of players celebrating at the bar a few weeks earlier.

First published on Aug. 28, 2011. Revised and expanded in early 2012. We'll call the movie "Three Beaches and an Airport. " It'll star Hugh Grant as a buttoned-up business traveler who is separated from his job, money and luggage at LAX, then befriended by a team of wise-cracking Olympic volleyballers who introduce him to the sun-baked, wave-splashed piers and brew pubs of L.A.'s South Bay. In no time, he soars to entrepreneurial success, leading...

Last year brought a dose of real estate reality to San Marino, which alone among Los Angeles County's wealthy areas had managed to avoid the housing bust. The San Gabriel Valley town endured a 7.2% decline in its median home price, erasing gains of the previous two years. Overall, 2011 turned into a battle of the beach cities. Hermosa Beach was the big winner where home price gains were concerned and Malibu the biggest loser among ZIP Codes with medians above $1 million where at least 50 existing single-family homes were sold, according to statistics from San Diego-based DataQuick.

Hugging the sand south of Hermosa Beach Pier, this three-story contemporary evokes a glass-clad lifeguard tower angled toward the water. The main living areas, the master bedroom and the office with balcony take in the ocean views. The dining room opens to a patio along the bike path and the beach. The details Location: 718 The Strand, Hermosa Beach 90254 Asking price: $6.5 million Architect: Dean Nota Year built: 1999 House size: Three bedrooms, four bathrooms, 3,100 square feet Lot size: 2,397 square feet Features: Granite kitchen counter, stainless appliances, master bathroom with double showers, a steam room and a tub About the area: Last year, 98 single-family homes sold in the 90254 ZIP Code at a median price of $1,100,000, according to DataQuick.