Torrey Pines State Beach…currently. Hello, On our way to San Diego, the coastal highway route is so much better than the freeway, when it was built. Don’t get me wrong. The freeway has many good qualities as it is a fast one direction per route and speeds can get up to 75-80, if one had the power to match. But, during our early 1960s surfing road trips, we had to be near the ocean to check out our favorites as we drove from Long Beach through Orange County and down to San Diego. If we were going to Baja, Mexico, we would take the straight inland freeway to get to the border crossing around 3:00 a.m. The border guards were sleepy and waved us through without asking for parental consent papers signed by a notary or family lawyer. (who had family lawyers back then???) Sometimes, they were actually sleeping and we silently moved past them to continue our longer road trip South for another hour or so of coastal Baja Mexico cliffs/beaches. But, back in San Diego County there were many days of just driving down to San Diego beaches and we knew where to go for good surf. We were usually the first in the water at most places since we left Long Beach in the very early hour of 3 or 4 am. Usually, after checking all of the surf spots along the coastline, we ended up in Del Mar at a funky place called Swami’s or down the coast a couple of miles to this location at Torrey Pines. Yes, the surf at this curved beach location is pretty good and we always had fun. The view from the city of Del Mar heading South. Jnaki When our dad took us South to go camping/fishing in Baja, Mexico in the 1950s, we drove down the coastline. There were folks camping all along the open shoreline in the Southern San Diego County. But, then, our destination was a fishing/camping location about 100 miles into Mexico. The one thing the above photo does not show is the flat beach area is right at the base of the tall Torrey Pines Cliffs. And, the road starts its climb up the steepest road incline in all of San Diego County. If we drove past the photo location, we were usually in 3rd gear of our flathead 40 Ford Sedan Delivery. But, within the start of the incline heading South, 2nd gear was necessary to begin the long climb uphill. If there was traffic, the slow lane usually was 1st gear all the way to the top. It was not the most fun drive in first gear. The flathead was surely underpowered and later on, our 327 powered 40 Ford Sedan Delivery never had the problem of the steep hill climb going South. YRMV Or with the 327 powered 1965 El Camino.
The Jalopy Journal
