Surf City, USA

My most recent visit to my hometown, Huntington Beach, California (a.k.a. Surf City, USA) was in February. I hadn’t been home for a real visit (one unrelated to a death in the family) in 18 years. This time I got to relax, visit old hangouts, and take a lot of pictures. 

One of my first stops, straight from the airport, was Lucci’s “old-fashioned Italian-American Deli, Bakery, and Market.” My mom used to buy our spaghetti dinner supplies here but, more importantly, they have my all-time favorite cookies which I have never found anywhere else - divinity cookies. I bought two dozen. I went back again a few days later for more, and I also packed some in my luggage to bring home. 

Lucci's

I drove by my childhood home. It hasn't changed much at all. My parents bought this house while it was still being built. It's hard to imagine that it's over 50 years old now. 

In thinking about what tourists might come to Huntington Beach to see, I couldn’t think of anything. We don’t really have any tourist sites. Then it hit me – the 8.5 miles of beach is what attracts tourists. There are plenty of other nearby attractions, such as Disneyland, but they aren’t in the city of Huntington Beach. So, I’ll start off with some pictures of the beach.

A view from the Huntington Beach Pier

When I arrived in HB (in mid-February) it was colder than it was in Huntsville. Then a heat wave hit and it was almost 80 F at the beach! That’s not normal for the summer, much less the winter. It’s always nice to take a walk on the Huntington Beach pier and I expected to enjoy the cool ocean breeze there, but it was hot there too! So, that was a good excuse to get a chocolate milkshake at Ruby’s on the end of the pier. 

This is the "new" pier. The old one, also made of concrete, was built in 1914. It was severely damaged by storms in the 1980’s and had to be closed and rebuilt. The new pier (similar in design) opened in 1992. (Apparently, the only pictures I took of the pier were when I was out on it.)

The "new" pier is 1,850 ft long, just like the old one.

I know far more about the history of my new hometown, Huntsville, than I do about Huntington Beach, even though I lived in the area for 30 years. I guess when you are born and raised in an area you tend not to be very curious about it, unlike when you move to a very different area. So, I read up on some of the history and learned this interesting fact about the pier -- After the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor, the U.S. Navy installed a submarine lookout post and a heavy caliber machine gun at the end of the pier for the duration of the war.

Ruby's - A 1940's-style chain diner with a nice ocean view.

The End Cafe used to be on the end, before the old pier "ended".

Interior of Ruby's

George Freeth is recognized as the first surfer in the United States (1907). He demonstrated surfing in HB at the 1914 dedication of the pier. It was also popularized on the mainland right here in HB in the 1920's by the legendary Hawaiian swimmer and surfer Duke Kahanamoku. (I did not know this when I lived there.) Surfing quickly became popular and spread along the California Coast. I never even tried it (I'm afraid of waves!) but several of our neighbors were really into it and were on our high school surfing team. They had to get up very early in the morning to catch the waves before school – that’s not for me either.

Oh, there is a tourist site that I completely forgot about - the International Surfing Museum. It opened in 1987, but I've never been to it. I wish I had remembered to stop in during this trip. They even have a Surfing Walk of Fame and the World's Largest Surfboard!

Duke's restaurant (named for Duke Kahanamoku) beside the pier.

A statue of Duke across the street at Main Street and the Pacific Coast Highway

Waiting for a wave

Not a lot of activity on a Tuesday in February

Are those people in the water crazy?! The water temperature in February is about 59 F. That's why surfers wear wetsuits!

California doesn't have the beautiful white sand beaches of Alabama and Florida's Gulf Coast, and for anyone unfamiliar with the Pacific Coast, the water is cold - it averages 68 F in the summer! It does, however, have good waves (for people who like that sort of thing) and nice cool breezes year round (usually!).

Plaza next to the pier

I love the weather and views that the ocean provides here, but I have no desire to lounge on the sand or get in the water. The rest of my "sightseeing" in my home town is probably not the sort of thing very many people are interested in - but here it is anyway. I have many fond memories of my dad taking us to the library, mostly the "new" library (built in 1975). When I was reading up on mid-century architecture in Palm Springs I learned that the "new" HB Central Library was designed by Dion Neutra, son of the famed Mid-Century Modern architect Richard Neutra. (They worked together and Dion eventually took over the company.) I always appreciated this building, even if I didn't really think about the architecture. I even went there sometimes to study while I was in college (my college libraries didn't have nice fountains, plants and windows all over). So, I wanted to see it again while I was out there. On the way from the pier to the library I passed some typical HB scenery.

I did know that my hometown was an oil town; it would be hard not to notice the ubiquitous oil pumps. And Huntington Beach High School's team is the Oilers.

Huntington Beach High School, the city's first high school, was built in 1906. There are three other high schools. The one I attended was built in 1969 and has boring architecture.

The entrance to the library was almost unrecognizable to me because an expansion was added in 1994. Once I was inside though, most of it was very familiar and I enjoyed wandering  through it, taking pictures. Luckily, I was almost done exploring when a security guard approached me and said, "You're just taking pictures of the building, right? Not people?" I probably did appear to be a potential stalker! I told him how was I home visiting and how I remembered when this "new" library was built. I'm quite sure it must be an old library to him since he was probably 20-something years old.

I decided to see if the old library building was still standing on Main Street. I had no idea it was still being used as a library! I only have very vague memories of going here with my dad when I was little. (Both of my parents were big readers, but it must have been my dad's job to take us kids to the library all the time.) I went inside and learned a little about it's history. 

Main Street Branch Library, 1951, International Style. It's on the National Register of Historic Places.

Drawing on display in the library

I also remember when the new Civic Center was built around the same time as the new library. In addition to interesting architecture, it has some beautiful outdoor tile murals.

Civic Center, 1974

HB also has the Newland House Museum. I toured it with my mom when it first opened as a museum in the early 1970’s. At that time it was 75 years old, the oldest house in HB. I did not know then that our house was actually built on the Newland farm which covered 500 acres of swamp. Mr. Newland drained the swampland (now we call it wetlands and some of it is a bird sanctuary) and turned it into excellent farmland. Until I was 10 years old, our little housing tract still had some farmland on three sides of it. The Newland House Museum is only open a couple of weekends a month.

The Newland House Museum, 1898. It's surrounded by a shopping center now.

Huntington Beach has been wall-to-wall houses for a long time now. The population is about 200,000.

I did go on this trip home to visit with family and friends, but I don’t travel without also sightseeing – no matter where I go. (I have a recurring nightmare where I am some place new to me and something is preventing me from sightseeing – it’s horrible!) So, in between visiting with people, I also visited places, including Newport Beach, Long Beach, Palm Springs, Irvine, Garden Grove, and Los Angeles – more blog posts to come.