Way back in 1969, the Adamson family gave Pepperdine University a gift of 138 prime ocean-view acres near the base of Malibu Canyon. The school had been outgrowing its downtown campus and, after the Watts riots officials were, well, determined to move. Donors added cash and additional acreage to the Adamson's gift and the building began. The site was graded, Malibu Canyon Road was re-routed and in 1971, the stoplight went in.

The place has been growing ever since.

Pepperdine isn't part of Malibu proper - the city limits gerrymander around the campus by mutual agreement. The university gets to develop its land to its heart's content under the less-stringent LA County building code, and Malibu city officials don't have to fret about an ever-changing student body mucking up their elections. The campus has a nice library, an art gallery, a performing arts space, a great swimming pool (the annual membership runs into four figures) and, when a bad accident at that aforementioned stoplight shuts down PCH, provides a much-needed shortcut.

Apparently Malibu can be a challenge to kids living far from home so the Graphic, Pepperdine's college paper, recently published this a handy little survival guide.

PCH may seem as odd as Oz must have seemed to Dorothy at times, but instead of Munchkinland, it’s an oceanic wasteland filled with unique restaurants and hangouts.

Malibu, like most places, offers an array of things to do minus the pedestrian paths.