I was pretty amazed last week at the reader response to the story we wrote last week about the state shutting down Trail 6 down at San Onofre - a small, secluded stretch of beach where naturists are allowed to hang out naked. 

The state said it will start its  education effort today by telling beachgoers along the 1,000 foot stretch of sand that they will soon not be allowed to shed their clothes. But the area will remain open through the summer, with citations not coming until Labor Day.

I wanted to share some of what readers said about the issue. All together, we had 1,599 people vote on the poll (a pretty large amount in my experience with the blog), and about 175 people submit comments on the original story and the blog combined.  Click here if you want to join the conversation, or vote on the poll.

And to the many inquiries on whether or not I did the interviews at this beach naked – I did not! Get your minds out of the gutter! Although it definitely was a first for me, having to jot down notes while the person I was interviewing had their junk just chillin. The things I’ll do for this job…

When it came to the poll (which remember, is very unscientific), the majority at 1,210 said they were going to head down to the beach to take their clothes off, while only 210 said the state should shut it down.

Here’s what some of the comments read:

tomcat7 wrote:
State run beaches are for everyone to enjoy. Unless nudity is allowed at all beaches they should comply by covering up or find another less exclusive location. My hope is that once enforcement of this issue starts with citations, the popularity of this area will decline and the parking lot will have plenty of spaces avaliable for those of us who enjoy the place for what it is, a surfer’s paradise.
Too all you kooks who sit and sunburn: go home!
 
nakationsdotcom wrote:
This is America. Where is the freedom?
 
thinkerbee wrote:
First it’s the stoners, now it’s the nudies. It gets more and more disturbing every day how far the government thinks it can regulate our lives. They’re not hurting anybody or forcing anyone to do as they do, so leave the freakin hippies alone!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  Read the rest of this entry »