A Little History...

We're a beach family. My Mom lives in Oceanside, my sister in Huntington Beach. My husband, the lucky dog, grew up in Hermosa Beach. We love the climate at the beach as well as the ever changing beauty of the ocean. The picture to the right is my Grandparents enjoying a day at Redondo Beach. My Grandma lived in San Bernardino growing up but spent the summers in Redondo Beach. They took the "Red Car" west and rented a house for the summers. My other Grandma relocated to Long Beach with her father. She loved to swim and would dive off the Long Beach Pier for money and swim in as a child! She was a grand swimmer well into her 80's.

Summer Sundays were very special when I was growing up in the 50's in Westchester. We'd get up early, go to church and then pack a lunch and head to the beach. We'd spend the entire day there. Our favorite beach at the time was El Porto. As soon as we saw the Eucalyptus trees on Rosecrans Ave, I knew that the warm sand and the waves weren't too far away.

My Dad would teach us about rip tides (now called rip currents): how to spot them and how to swim parallel to shore to get out of them. We learned to ride surf mats and couldn't wait for Dad to take us out. When a really big wave was coming, we'd dive hard and get as close to the sand as we could to escape as much of its pounding energy as possible. There was lots of tar in the water then and we'd have to have it all removed from our feet before we could come in the house once we returned home. As I remember, gasoline was my Dad's solvent of choice.

My high school was in Playa del Rey, so my beach of choice then was D&W (Dockweiler) -- at the end of Manchester. I'd ride the bus with my friends until one of us was old enough to drive. I couldn't imagine how cool it would be to live AT the beach and just walk or ride a bike. We'd be there from about 10am until 4 or 5 pm. Sunscreen was almost unheard of and getting that first "base coat" tan was critical. Once we could drive, we'd "cruise" the coast along Vista del Mar to Highland then jog down Manhattan Ave through Hermosa Beach.

I went to college in Long Beach and my beach days were spent at Seal Beach. I also spent a summer living in Hawaii. After college, when I was dating my husband we'd go right out the door of his apartment on 17th St. in Manhattan Beach. We'd pull beach chairs down to the volley ball courts to watch the Open or play ourselves. That first apartment was on 17th and Ocean. I would do almost anything to have that place back!

On Friday when I was checking out property for clients, I had to pull into the parking lot at the Manhattan Beach Pier and walk to the end of the pier because the ocean was just such a gorgeous color. Catalina was in view on the South and Malibu on the North. It was breath taking and I just had to drink it in. Imagine living with that view out your window!