The drive from Needles to Seal Beach (pop. 23,896) was 264 miles across the Mojave Desert. We stopped in Barstow, CA (pop. 23,915) and got our second cup of coffee, filled our personal thermoses for the remaining drive, ate lunch at Panera Bread, and had Arthur cleaned at Blue Beacon Truck Wash. We’re new fans of Blue Beacon having used them twice now. The quality of service was consistent, and the wash racks were perfectly designed to accommodate any size of RV.
From Barstow to Seal Beach was only another 120 miles, but most of the remaining road time was on crowded freeways in the congested Los Angeles basin. Our nerves were frazzled by the time we arrived. We had an 18-day reservation at the Seabreeze RV Park located on NWS (Naval Weapons Station) Seal Beach. Our friends Dave and Kathy Pasillas, who lived locally, had recommended this park for several years should we ever be in the area. This was the best military RV park in which we’ve stayed, and ranks in our top 5 of all parks. The entire campground was paved with spacious, level sites that included an integral concrete parking spot. The grounds were meticulously groomed and landscaped, the laundry was free, and there was an on-site, covered wash rack suited for RVs. In over 170 campgrounds, this was only the third one, which has had a wash facility. The campground was only 1.5 miles from the Seal Beach Pier and Old Town.
NWS Seal Beach was commissioned in 1944 as the Naval Ammunition and Net [antisubmarine nets] Depot. At that time, the Depot was responsible for storing and loading ammunition for fleet ships and servicing nets; and eventually became the Navy’s primary West Coast ordnance storage, loading, and maintenance facility. In 1962, the mission shifted to guided missiles and the Depot was redesignated as a Naval Weapons Station. In 1972, about one fifth of the Station (salt marshes) was designated as the Seal Beach National Wildlife Refuge. The area was originally part of Rancho Los Alamitos, and in the 1860’s, it was called Anaheim Landing because it served the town of Anaheim as a shipping and receiving port. By the early 1900’s, the area was further developed as a resort community and incorprated as a city in 1915 with a population of 250 and area of 1.25 square miles.
One of the attractions at the station was the World War II National Submarine Memorial – West. The plaques at the Memorial honored the over 3000 submariners who died in the 52 U.S. submarines lost during the war. Additional plaques also paid tribute to those who died in submarine accidents during the Cold War, such as the USS Thresher.
We’ve been coordinating our visit with Dave and Kathy for over a month. The morning after we checked in, they picked us up at 0830, and we went for breakfast at The Crema Cafe on Main Street in Old Town. The meal was delicious and the coffee was absolutely top drawer. We walked out on the pier after breakfast where Dave reminisced about his father bringing him there as a kid to fish, and other interesting life stories about his historic connections with Seal Beach. Later in life, he purchased his first surfboard from Harbour Surfboards (Est. 1959) on Main Street, learned to surf on Seal Beach, and rewarded himself, when he first rode standing up on his board, with a “Surfer’s Special” (burrito and coke) at an old version of El Burrito Jr. Ahhh, memories.
We had Dave and Kathy over several days later for barbecued baby back ribs and corn on the cob, because he was leaving town and wouldn’t be returning until after we’d departed for San Diego. MFI made her famous “Ribs ala Oscar” (it’s all about the sauce), and it was again a huge hit. The significance of the recipe was that she got it from an Airman named Oscar who also worked with us at LA AFB. We spent much of our late afternoon and early evening reminiscing about our days together at Los Angeles AFB, sharing stories from our respective RV travels, and generally shooting the proverbial shit. In other words, we had great fun with dear friends…and patted ourselves on the back for remembering to get pictures.
We scored a trifecta (or initially thought so) with our Seabreeze RV site, which put us within two miles of an Anytime Fitness, a Starbucks, and a breakfast joint called Sunny Side Cafe. Unfortunately, the Anytime Fitness turned out to be a bust, because the place reeked of soiled adult diaper. We found another only 6.5 miles away and worked out there instead. MFI liked Sunny Side Cafe; however, I felt the hash browns were too salty and left me with a strange, unpleasant chemical after-taste. Fortunately, we tried and loved the Katella Bakery-Deli-Restaurant, where the only problem was mustering the willpower to forego any of their bakery items.
I still enjoy hiking to achieve my steps, but LA suburbia didn’t offer much in the way of nearby nature trails, with the exception of the aforementioned Wildlife Refuge. I included the accessible portion of the refuge in my first hike and wasn’t disappointed. While salt marshes weren’t particularly scenic, the bird life was abundant.
Most of my other hikes were through Seal Beach neighborhoods and often included the beach. The diversity of flowers was amazing, as was the residential architecture and shoreline scenery.
Initially, I had no idea what this elongated blue flowering plant was, but it was beautiful and the bees sure loved its nectar.
…and I wasn’t done with the flowers, or the beach, just yet. I got a chuckle out of one resident asking me which of his flowers interested me and insisted on giving me clippings of anything I wanted. He seemed insulted when I thanked him and said my iPhone pictures were fine.
I did a 7-miler south along Pacific Coast Highway and through Sunset Beach and Bolsa Chica State Beach with a tour of their Visitor Center.
My feet couldn’t have taken me back to Arthur, so I called MFI who came and picked me up at the Visitor Center. We drove further south to Huntington Beach, log ago nicknamed “Surf City,” and we spent a few hours along Main Street for coffee and on the pier for a quick kraut dog and fries at Broad Street Oyster Co. In 1964, I swam at Huntington Beach while on summer vacation with my mother’s sister’s family. Back then, the city population was 30,000 as compared to 198,711 today. The growth and over-commercialization wasn’t an improvement in our opinions; but fortunately the sunny beach, the waves, and the surfing hadn’t changed.
During our first week, we’d walked around Seal Beach enough to have potential restaurants for one of our periodic self-pampering dinners. MFI wanted Italian cuisine and selected Osteria Mare Blu on Main Street. I made a reservation for 5 pm, right when they opened for the evening. Dylan, our server, greeted us and seated us, and of course at that hour we had the entire place to ourselves. The owner and chef, Nicola Bellazzi Canale, came out to say hello and professionally and passionately walked us through their entire menu and wine list. Their pastry chef, Filo, took our white wine order (Broglia 2023 La Meirana Gavi), and we ended up sharing a long conversation with him throughout the meal about our common RV experiences, respective families, and much more. We learned he was an expert maker of gelato, sold to local markets, and was hired by Nicola largely for his gelato skills and knowledge. Nicola was quick to inform us jokingly, that despite their association, Filo still charged him full price for his gelato. They all treated us like family, and we had a fantastic dining experience. We’d highly recommend this place to others.
A quaint location with only ten tables.
Yes, we overdid it on the dessert, but hey, we felt obligated to evaluate Filo’s gelato. Hanfs down the best we’ve ever tasted. At least we didn’t order the Tiramisu, although we were tempted. Even self-pampering has its limits.
A primary reason for staying at Seal Beach was to visit our friends the Persichina’s. We’ve known the family since Sarah and their son Joe went to ASU. Lou and Ilsa were kind enough to have us over for their annual Easter egg coloring soiree with family, and they invited us to stay for dinner: Shepard’s Pie followed by Rice Pudding. We arrived at 2 pm and reminisced over drinks; tequila Sunrises, made from Lou’s fresh backyard oranges, and red wine from his private cellar (the crawl space beneath the great room). Joe, Sheena, and their three (Ember, baby Dalton, and pooch Ella) arrived a little later; as did his brother Mike, Natalie, and their two (Gwen and Grant). We felt like a part of the family and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Lou and Ilsa were the consummate hosts as always, and we can hardly wait until our next visit or rendevouz.
This Persichina family really knew how to concentrate.
Here were the colorful results:
On Easter Sunday, we made reservations at The Crema Cafe, invited our dear friends Nick and Claudia to join us, and they drove down from Santa Clarita. A stop in the LA Basin wouldn’t have been complete without seeing these two. We’ve enjoyed a long, memorable, and fun history together and were so pleased to also acknowledge and celebrate their 24th wedding anniversary.
Of course, I need to explain this video. Champagne does not agree with Nick, so we poured him a spritz with advanced knowledge he’d be tossing it over his shoulder after our anniversary toast. We had an LOL moment.
Having already received two parking tickets, we all piled into Sid and went looking for free downtown parking. We had hoped to use the parking lots around either CVS or Pavillion’s Grocery, but chickened out when we saw signs warning that parking was for customers only. MFI had the great idea to park in the bank lot since they were closed, but as we pulled in, a police officer was parked in the middle of the lot. I asked him whether parking was OK since the bank was closed, and he responded, “It’s not my parking lot. I’m just here to eat my lunch.” Perfect! We parked without incident. After enjoying a good-not-great meal at Crema, we strolled down Main Street and walked the pier out and back before the cold blustery wind blew us back into Sid. We were having so much silly fun, my jaws ached from all the laughing.
Eighteen days flew by quickly, and all too soon it was time for us to move south to San Diego and complete our west coast adventure. While in Seal Beach, we were satisfied with accomplishing everything in our plan and more. Another great stop!
Footnote:
Five year’s of using our microwave finally caused its door hinges to fail. MFI found a properly-sized and fairly-priced replacement online. She ordered it, and with the kind assistance of Pasillas’ Postal Services, we were soon back in business.
