Nine steps to enjoying a cheap weekday using only a few city blocks of Oceanside

1. Take an Amtrak train to the Oceanside Train Station. From Fullerton, the ticket is $15 and the trip takes roughly 90 minutes. While on board, you can buy several refreshments, such as chips, sandwiches and the world's worst pre-packaged pizza. They also offer several beers - from domestic classics like Budweiser to imported mainstays like Corona and Heineken, and even Arrogant Bastard Ale if you feel like making a statement - and small bottles of wine, to make the prospect of no-responsibility travel just that much more appealing.

2. From there, it's a short walk to the ocean.



Swim, surf, bodyboard, make a sand castle or enjoy the sun destroying your skin. It's the edge of the world, and on weekdays, it's practically all yours!

3. Feeling hungry, but don't want to indulge in the multitude of seafood restaurants? Take a walk to the edge of the pier, where you'll find a Ruby's Diner waiting for you.



Enjoy a huge-ass mound of beef and a chocolate coke while listening to the hits of yesteryear.

4. Walk back to shore. If you keep walking straight, you'll end up in downtown Oceanside, on Pier View Way. Enjoy all that this surfer town has to offer, from a beautiful complex housing their Public Library and City Hall to the California Surf Museum to the Star Theater (currently holding auditions for their production of "Beauty and the Beast").

5. Head South on Coast Hwy and enter Inner World Gifts, between Pier View Way and Mission Ave. There, you can buy witty bumper stickers (such as "Keep Honking, I'm Reloading"), buy a t-shirt for your favorite alternative band or cult image or simply skip all of that and marvel at their fantastic collection of punk CD's. And who knows, you may find some rare gem, such as Tom Waits's "Blood Money" on vinyl.

6. Stop off at T-Shirt Mart (on the corner of Coast Hwy and Mission Ave.), where you can buy four cheaply made, slightly amusing t-shirts for $10.99 (or $3.50 each).




7. Make sure to stop by Little Louie's Souvenir Shop, for all of the Oceanside-themed goodies you could possibly want. Postcards, snowglobes, lighters, Christmas ornaments, onesies, bottle openers, magnets, bottle-opening magnets, they've got everything that you'd want that says "Oceanside" on it.



8. Finally, it's time to head back home. Take a walk back to the Oceanside Amtrak Station and enjoy some Burger King while you wait for your train.

9. Congratulate yourself. You'll have spent around $100, including train ticket, and you'll have only walked a few miles, which is a great workout without qualifying you for Hippie Wanderer status. In the meantime, you'll have been witness to beach bums having their vodka bottles dumped out by the police, and you'll find handmade jewelry being sold next door to an army supply shop. If you go on the right night, you might find an Orange County Register theater reviewer hosting a night of ragtime piano. And in the end, you'll have experienced a fun, relaxing day in this unique hybrid of a town, where surfers, tourists and the military all convene.