Wedged Between Armageddon and L.A. - Seal Beach, California

When those temperatures soar well over 100 degrees, Southern Californians head to the beach, often en masse. 

We usually wait until school starts back up so we can avoid the crowds but, when we do head to the beach, we usually head to the closest one to our house which is either Seal Beach or Long Beach.

These days, it's Seal Beach that wins the tug of war most of the time.

Originally called Anaheim Landing, the city incorporated a little over a century ago. In 1916, a popular trolley park called The Joy Zone opened on the beach with roller coasters and other attractions served by the region's red cars of the Pacific Electric line.

A few of the stores along Main Street...running from Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) to the pier...have old pictures of the amusement park hanging on their walls.

An old red car serves as a museum in a city park located on Electric Avenue...the former right-of-way for the railroad.

Strawberry farmers gather their crops next to bunkers that may or may not hold nuclear weapons (the Navy's not saying one way or the other). It's part of the massive Seal Beach Naval Weapons Station, the primary loading depot for arming Navy ships on the West Coast. 

The massive Navy base stretches from the other side of the 405 freeway to the ocean, where the big Navy ships can just fit into the dock to load up on munitions.

Adjacent to the Navy base on Seal Beach Boulevard are the massive buildings where the second stage of the Saturn V rocket was built before pushing astronauts towards the Moon.

The San Gabriel River, on the other side of town, serves as a boundary between Seal Beach and it's neighbor, Long Beach. It's also the dividing line between Los Angeles and Orange Counties.

For us, it's a 35 mile drive down the length of the 605 freeway to get there. On the rare days when there's good traffic, we can make it from our driveway to parking spot in 40 minutes. Most days, it's a little over an hour.

There's no real good public transportation to Seal Beach anymore...even after the trolley's were destroyed, we could take an RTD bus down Rosemead/Lakewood Boulevard to get here cheap...but if you were dedicated, you could take Metro's Blue Line light rail line to downtown Long Beach, transfer to the water taxi, which would take you to the county line in Alamitos Bay, then you could walk across a short bridge to the city.

It's better to drive and, if you have a handicapped placard, there are two spots in front of the pier, several more in the beachfront parking lots, and a couple on the street at City Hall, two blocks inland from the pier.

We don't spend a lot of time on the sand anymore but you can easily park next to it or take a ramp down from the pier to set up your temporary beach empire. It's not far to get to the water if you'd like to take a dip (call the lifeguard office at (562) 430-2613 if you'd like to arrange a free beach wheelchair). 

If you like to watch the surfers, though, you might want to head out on the pier for a better look. Seal Beach has long been known as a beach for beginners to learn the sport, if you want to see more expert surfers, you might want to head south to the next pier at Huntington Beach to watch.

It's a pleasant walk out to the end of the pier. There used to be a Ruby's Diner here but that burned down a few years ago. Now, it's just a place to take in the ocean sights, see the skyscrapers of Long Beach to the north, chat with the fishermen (or drop a line yourself, no license required on California's piers), and sometimes see the oil workers board their boat to take them to the oil rigs you see offshore.

After taking in the sights and smells of the sea, we'll retreat along Main Street to get something to eat or maybe drink. There are four Irish pubs along this short stretch of downtown...The Irisher, Clancy's, O'Malleys, and Hennesey's. I'm told (but have no official confirmation) that the Irish influence is because of all the Irish smugglers that used to use the beach as a way to get contraband alcohol onshore during Prohibition.

We find that we usually end up at O'Malleys, which serves solid food in a happy Irish atmosphere. 

The best time is in winter on a chilly day when you can set up in front of their warm and cozy fireplace.

After dinner, we'll head across the street and a half block towards the ocean to cap it off with one of the delicious desserts of Sweet Jill's Bakery. Their specialty is fresh from the oven cinnamon rolls which they'll ice with glaze to your specifications on the spot.

Fresh air, ocean breezes, and the feeling that comes over you from spending the day at the beach. It's all good and after satiating our hunger, it's time to go back to the reality of the heavy 605 traffic to make our way home.

Darryl Musick
Copyright 2018 - All Rights Reserved

The Cocktail Hour: Seal Beach, California, Mini Pub Crawl

It was hot yesterday, last weekend was the first weekend of summer and this weekend was the first one with excessive heat.

112 degrees.

Watch the Video!

Time to find something cool.

Fortunately, a cool beach is waiting half and hour away. We loaded up the van and went to the closest one...Seal Beach, just over the Orange County line from Long Beach.

This is one of the smallest beach towns in Southern California but it's Main Street and pier pack a pretty good wallop as far as beach fun, shops, restaurants, and bars are concerned.

In addition to enjoying the cool, ocean air, we went to one of our favorite pubs, O'Malley's on Main, and also tried a new one, The Abbey, just up the street.

Come along on the video as we do out little mini pub crawl in one of the area's less heralded beaches.

Cheers!

Darryl

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA'S BEST BEACHES - As Selected by Us

We live in beach country. No, we don’t live on the water or even particularly close but a half hour drive down the freeway and there we are.

So what are our favorite beaches in Southern California? Not too many that tourists come to see. Santa Monica is OK, Venice is a bit too weird for us, Malibu’s just too hard to get to…especially in a wheelchair.

Watch the Video!

Some of you are scratching your heads and wondering just what’s left. Plenty.  Read on, watch the video above, and you’ll find our choices for the best beaches in Southern California.

Starting at the south end of Orange County, one very well-known and popular beach starts us off. Laguna Beach is an artsy town full of coves popular with snorkelers and scuba divers. The main beach is a people watcher’s paradise.

Nearby, artist Robert Wyland…the famous painter of whale murals around the world…lives on the waterfront. On the lower floor of the house is his office, a shop, and a hallway leading out to his terrace on the sand. You’re welcome to spend some time relaxing there, looking through his telescope, and just drinking in the view.

As with most area beaches, parking is tough but you should be able to find something.

Up the coast is ritzy Newport Beach. Waterfront mansions abut expensive shopping malls and high end restaurants. In the middle of all this is Balboa Peninsula which protects Newport’s harbor.

In from the peninsula is tiny Balboa Island reachable by bridge from Pacific Coast Highway. That’s the boring way. Instead we launch from the Fun Zone amusement park on the little Balboa Island Auto Ferry, a barge-like boat that has been floating cars…three at a time…across the channel for almost a century.

Huntington Beach, incorporated in 1909, struck oil…literally.  Pumps are sprinkled through the town, which has now grown into a city with a population approaching 200,000. World renowned for its surf, it is not uncommon for major surfing championships to draw over 100,000 spectators.

The wheelchair friendly concrete pier allows good, close-up views of the local surfers tackling the swells.

Beginning surfers find the gentler swells and small town atmosphere of Seal Beach more welcoming than its big neighbor to the south. We like it for the number of great restaurants and laid-back ambiance. A winter’s night dinner by the fireplace at O’Malley’s Pub on Main Street, followed by an evening stroll to the pier is about as good as it gets.

Across the county line from Seal Beach, Long Beach is the largest waterfront city in California except for San Francisco. It’s also the 7^th largest city in the state, just ahead of Oakland and just behind Sacramento with around half a million people living there.

There truly is a long beach here but the port’s breakwater kills any ideas of waves. While not popular with the surf culture, families with kids flock here for uncrowded beaches with safe waters. At the sailing center in Alamitos Bay, the sand on the beach is packed hard enough for wheelchairs to roll on.

We like to take in a dinner in Belmont Shore or Naples Island and stroll along the waterfront mansions nearby.

Palos Verdes Peninsula is one of the last wild stretches of coastline here.  From San Pedro to Torrance, the road hugs the coastal cliffs as it winds through cove after cove. In the middle, the Point Vicente visitor’s center provides a nice place to whale watch, have a picnic, and even access to a small beach nearby.

The views of Catalina and the neighboring lighthouse are spectacular on clear days.

Our tour ends just to the north at Tim’s favorite beach, Redondo. Along with a nice stretch of sand, we like it for the pier which is loaded with shops, restaurants, bars, and attractions.

After buying Letty a pearl at the oyster shop, we’ll have dinner at one of our favorite restaurants…either Kincaid’s on the pier or Gambrinus in the neighboring marina. Our food is digested with a lingering stroll around the pier before going home.

Next time you’re in the area, take some time to explore one of these great ocean side destinations away from the usual tourist trail…maybe we’ll see you there.

Darryl

Copyright 2011 – Darryl Musick

All Rights Reserved