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Taking the kids to the real Newport Beach, California to live like the rich teen stars of Fox TV's legendary hit show, The O.C.

Whether real or fictitious, "Peyton Place" or "90210," "The Blue Lagoon" or "8 Mile," the geography of popular culture has long appealed to travelers. Does seeing the real Middle Earth, the West Wing or The O.C. excite your otherwise slacker teens? If so, their interest may be enough to put New Zealand, Washington DC or, in our case, southern California, on the short list for the next family expedition.

If you didn't know that The O.C. was Fox Broadcasting's wildly popular youth-oriented soap opera set in Orange County, either

1) you still think O.C. stands for "Orange Curtain," the political line drawn around this bastion of Republicanism or

2) you are sooooo not with it.

What was America's youth watching each Thursday at 8 pm? Imagine boyish Peter Gallagher from "Sex, Lies and Videotape" playing Sandy Cohen, an environmental lawyer/mensch raising his smart only teen, Seth (Adam Brody) with his blonde, maybe Botoxed lawyer wife, Kirsten Nichols (Kelly Rowan). She's the wealthy WASP daughter of a real estate tycoon who dates all her divorced girlfriends. The Cohen's ocean-view mansion opens its gates to a juvenile offender from LA, the eager-to-please Ryan Atwood (played by Benjamin McKenzie) who responds to their generosity and the immense change in lifestyle by dating the troubled beauty next door, Marissa (Mischa Barton). From fender benders in their Range Rovers to tussles at the high school dance, shoplifting at the mall and spending New Year's at the Four Seasons, these teens are, as Fitzergerald so famously said, "different from you and me."

The O.C.'s episodes which followed the sarcastic 16-year-old Seth Cohen and his confused passions for Magic Cards, sailing and the buxom Summer (Rachel Bilson) were the stuff of breakfast conversation in households across North America.

The Reel Deal

Unfortunately, after some of the major stars suffered one too many screen dramas, the show went off the air. And even worse for The O.C., the producer took over the popular New York-based "Gossip Girls" book franchise and now produces a teen drama in New York City. But it doesn't mean that The O.C. has lost its magical allure for young travelers.  So, where to start?

The real Orange County comprises 34 cities in 782 heavily developed square-miles between the Santa Ana Mountains and the Pacific, and between Los Angeles and San Diego. From the opening credits--a sweeping aerial view over the Pacific Ocean to cliff-topping mansions and gold sand beaches--we learned the Cohens live in Newport Beach. According to Fox TV, it is "an idyllic paradise: a wealthy, harbor front community where everything and everyone appears to be perfect." Never mind that most of the filming is done within a 30-mile radius of Los Angeles, the unions' "Report To Zone" where producers avoid paying travel time, or that the cast's movie star good looks and designer fashions are totally over-the-top compared to what really surrounds John Wayne Airport--that's what made watching The O.C. so much fun.

Don't believe us?  Turn on the "Housewives of Orange County" instead! First time visitors will find Newport Beach's identity as a vacation destination is much more apparent than its appeal as a movie location.  But we did uncover some secrets and lies--read on.