The '57 with new colors for it's final year. The Chevelle was the last race car. Working on those cars was a great education for me.
Don the Beachcomer Restaurant in Hawaii Hello, This was a very popular place for locals and tourists in Hawaii. We saw a different version of that style of construction of tropical hot spots for food and entertainment in So Cal. When we were little, a fairly empty coastal location just past the Seal Beach city limits was in the Orange County property lines and not quite a city yet. It was in the incorporated county property location on PCH that led to the vast Huntington Beach coastal beaches, just down the coastline. Early Sam’s Seafood was a popular out of the way location on a vast empty beach side location. Jnaki Our dad took us there for dinners as he was a fanatic for fresh fish or the “freshest fish” he could get for his seafood dinners. Having grown up fishing from the time he could walk, his love for fish breakfasts, lunches and dinners always took front in center when deciding where to go and what to have for a weekly dinner at a restaurant. Our mom was always supportive, even though her cooking was the best ever. But, at least, she did not have to prepare a huge fish dinner, fresh tuna or a grilled halibut steak for our dad and us. He used to surf fish just across the street on the ocean beach side from the Sam’s Seafood location on the highway. A public access beach that had tons of fish almost every time he went fishing. But, the beach was usually empty of people, so the fish congregate along the shoreline troughs. His cooler was always full when he returned home to Long Beach. Then as the popular sea food café started growing weekly, it reshaped the fairly empty inshore location of PCH to create the pitched hut Hawaiian theme of the newish Sam’s Seafood Restaurant. It was packed almost every weekend and for the locals, the weekday dinners were the winners as it was less crowded on that empty portion of the inland side of PCH, on the bay. During our 20s, my wife and I were regulars at this restaurant and when it was crowded on the weekends, the place across the street on off hours had grilled fish dinners to die for and the following there was intense. The odd thing was, competition was evident as both parking lots were full with their own customers. We knew the larger place was going to be packed on the weekends. So, we usually went across the street on Friday/Saturday nights. During the week, the Sam’s Sea Food Restaurant still had great food, but it was walk in and have a great dinner, with no crowds, almost any time. The small, quaint place across the street was called Noel’s Seafood Restaurant and the funny thing was, the public sign we all saw daily was misspelled, although no one noticed it until pointed out. During the day, it was Noel’s “Seafood.” During the nighttime hours, the sign lit up at “Noel’s Seafod.” So, for the locals, the small “Noel’s Seafod” Restaurant was our favorite versus the big guy across the street, Sam’s Seafood. Note: Don The Beachcomber Corporation eventually purchased the Sam’s Seafood site and renamed it Don The Beachcomber until its permanent closing. They knew Sam's Seafood had a huge so cal following and even though folks from all over are far away from the coast, they still drove for miles to get a great fresh seafood dinner at reasonable prices, even for a couple of 20 something folks... ha.. Yes, it was great food. The restaurants in Hawaii were a part of the early history of the whole California chain of establishments. The old Sam's Seafood purchase gave don the beachcomber a So Cal presence... For us and other So Cal locals the food quality was not the same as when it was Sam's Seafood. So, we continued to have outstanding dinners across the PCH roadway at Noel’s Seafood Restaurant until they closed, too... YRMV
The Jalopy Journal
