Lighthouse Lovers, Stroll Point Fermin by Moonlight

A beautiful lighthouse admired by moonlight?

Instantly imagining the cover of a spray-swept novel after hearing just those few words is an easy thing to do. For few other buildings, and few other sources of illumination, pair so enchantingly well together in both art and real life.

Novelists know it, and movie makers, too, but how to experience an authentic lighthouse, one from not the last century but the one before that, as it stands awash in moonbeams?

Simply make a reservation for a Point Fermin Moonlight Tour, which is happening on Saturday, Jan. 6. The times are 5 p.m., then 6, then 7, and while the walks are filling up, as you might expect, "(w)alk-ins without reservations will be welcomed so long as space is available."

The requested amount to take the tour of the built-in-1874 San Pedro landmark? Ten dollars.

The people leading the inside peek? Moonbeams are clearly magical, for "lighthouse keepers from the past" will play the role of the evening's docents.

How these lighthouse keepers traveled to the future in time for the tour must remain a mystery, but we can all be grateful they made the long and epic journey.

When you're roaming an old lighthouse with a long-gone keeper from the distant past as your guide, you'll need sustenance and fortification; good thing that a "hot beverage and snacks" will be provided before your tour.

The long, short, and tall of it? It's a rather wonderful opportunity, to be able to get up in Point Fermin after dark, as it is typically open for daytime tours, but shuttered when the sun does its whole sinking-into-the-Pacific thing.

Lighthouse lovers, miss not this one, if ye olde sea stories do bewitch your heart. Be not too bewitched, though: Reservations are required, so be ye calling 310-241-0684 forthwith.