It’s that time of year when you don’t come up for air. It’s happening. What? The beaches in California are filling up with merriment, sunshine and fun times. Events galore prepare to keep us entertained throughout the summer. Yep, even though it’s the first day of spring, the California beach vacation bus is arriving and it’s time to hop aboard.
What’s going on? Here are few items: AVP pro beach volleyball will hit the sand soon with new sexy ads and buffed, tanned lads and lassies. OK, they’re moms & dads and now in the 20’s but they are definitely in shape. And the new ad firm out of Torrance seeks to sell sizzle at this event with billboards and ads showing closeup shots of buttocks, muscular arms.. you get the picture.
Other events will include Paintball at the Beach, surfing competitins, sand castle festivals, concerts at the beaches and piers and a whole lot more. Come aboard, my friends. The beach train is even starting to run again. Oh, did I mention Aqualink and Catalina Flyer are also working to full schedule.
2009 TOSHIBA CLASSIC
First-Round PairingsFriday, March 6
Newport Beach Country Club (Par 71, 6,584 yards)
Tee #1
Time Players
10:30 a.m. Vicente Fernandez, Ronnie Black
10:39 a.m. Bruce Summerhays, Tom Wargo
10:49 a.m. Mark Johnson, Mark O’Meara, Dave Stockton
10:58 a.m. Denis Watson, Bobby Wadkins, John Harris11:08 a.m. Mark Wiebe, Keith Fergus, Bob Gilder
11:17 a.m. D.A. Weibring, Jim Thorpe, Morris Hatalsky
11:27 a.m. Tom Kite, Fred Funk, Dana Quigley
11:36 a.m. Mike Goodes, Allen Doyle, Isao Aoki
11:46 a.m. Tom Purtzer, Tom Watson, Gary Player
11:55 a.m. Scott Hoch, Bernhard Langer, Ben Crenshaw
12:05 p.m. Don Pooley, Wayne Levi, Joey Sindelar
12:14 p.m. Tim Simpson, Gene Jones, Hal Sutton12:24 p.m. Wayne Grady, John Morse, Sandy Lyle
12:33 p.m. Javier Sanchez, Massy Kuramoto, Greg Hopkins
Tee #10
Time Players
10:30 a.m. David Eger, Mike McCullough, Graham Marsh
10:39 a.m. Gary McCord, Bob Murphy, Dan Forsman
10:49 a.m. Jay Sigel, Jim Colbert, Fulton Allem
10:58 a.m. Ron Streck, Ian Woosnam, Larry Mize
11:08 a.m. John Cook, Brad Bryant, Hale Irwin
11:17 a.m. Bruce Vaughan, Lonnie Nielsen, Lee Trevino
11:27 a.m. Hubert Green, Mark McNulty, Craig Stadler
11:36 a.m. Loren Roberts, Tom Jenkins, Larry Nelson
11:46 a.m. Andy Bean, Jeff Sluman, John Jacobs
11:55 a.m. Eduardo Romero, Bruce Fleisher, Nick Price
12:05 p.m. Bruce Lietzke, Blaine McCallister, Ken Green12:14 p.m. Fuzzy Zoeller, James Mason, Joe Ozaki
12:24 p.m. Tom McKnight, Steve Thomas, Robert L. Thompson
Toshiba Golf Tournament is an annual event fundraiser in Newport Beach which invites the classic golfers to compete for cash prizes. Held in a beautiful country club just blocks from the Pacific Ocean, the hilltop course views are stunning. One of the most fun events in the rooftop hole in one competition, in which golfers tee off from the top of a high rise building. It’s totally cool!
Seal Beach, Calif.–It happened again this past week as we entered March springtime in California. Seal Beach Pier was packed. Huntington, Newport, and Long Beach were busy. But Seal Beach was unbelievable! What’s going on in Seal Beach that makes it seem different? The answers are 1. Community, 2. Quaint, and 3.Cheap. You don’t have to pay to park in Seal Beach. In Huntington Beach and Newport Beach the pier and beach parking that accesses the piers and town centers is locked up at $0.25 per 10 minutes, or $1.50. In Belmont Shore, the robocops are fierce in catching expired meters, and we the unwitting public, are no match for their eagle eyes and lightning speed in writing tickets to the tune of around $40.
Seal Beach is experiencing incredible influxes of local visitors from San Pedro, Rancho PV, Huntington Beach, Laguna, etc., and to me, it is no wonder why. Even I go out of my way to visit Seal Beach. Like brushing your teeth or anything else, you kind of miss it if you don’t walk on that rough, wooden pier, or watch some kid or tourist pat the bronzed seal statue, Slick, on the nose. I go to play tennis at courts that overlook the beach and ocean, then head to the pier to watch the Captain T. Lee pull into dock to drop off and pick up oil platform workers.
I drive to Seal Beach to feel a part of this intimate beach that overlooks Long Beach port, downtown skyline with the unique Riviera building, and Queen Mary to the north. When I go with other people, which is often, I listen to their comments such as, “The sunsets are better here for some reason.” As a professional photographer who spends much time examining sunsets, I ponder if their statements can have any factual basis. Darned, it does seem the sunsets are quite special in Seal Beach, and I don’t know why. I think it has to do with the skyline but it also may be the wooden pier, the closeness to the water, and the size of the beach itself.
If you are visiting Orange County beaches on a trip to Disneyland, do stop by Seal Beach, and maybe grab a burger at Ruby’s on the pier. My favorite coffee in all the world is served at Javatini on Main Street just two blocks from the beach. They can make you an iced drink on the rocks with your favorite coffee blend and some sweet syrups if you like. When you save on metered parking, and notice the little things that say Seal Beach likes tourists, you tend to shop, dine, and spend more money as a thank you.