Hello, Nice capture of the iconic Long Beach shoreline and the Pier that has gone through several changes in its So Cal history. This is part of our teenage cruising area and the shoreline was a direct line to our adventures just down the street and also on our surf adventures along the shoreline all the way south on the main connecting PCH highway south. The main street closest to the base of the Belmont Shore Pier is called Ocean Blvd. It is the main roadway from the Los Angeles Rivermouth in downtown Long Beach that runs along the shoreline cliff all the way into the portion of Long Beach called Belmont Shore. We grew up knowing the shoreline runs all the way South past Seal Beach/Huntington Beach to the surfing wave rewards in South Orange County and San Diego. When we were little, our dad used to take us along Ocean Blvd South through Long Beach at the far end of the color photo. That is the long stretch of the beach called the Peninsula and used to have a bridge connecting to Seal Beach. It was one way to skirt the shoreline all the way South to perhaps, Baja Mexico. Add in this cruiser on the yellow line headed east to the only 2 mile straightaway in this area, good for a high speed, full acceleration run, without bothering anyone late at night. The city fathers decided to get rid of the bridge at the end of the blue line peninsula road and then the connection had to be rerouted back to PCH to get further South along the Orange County beaches to Camp Pendleton. In a way, that helped us as teenagers as it created the roadway to get to our teenage hangout/cruising area in this portion of Long Beach. At the end of the main street called 2nd Street running through Belmont Shore, the reward was now called Westminster Blvd headed East. The empty road ran through the U.S. Navy Base that handles ammunition and later, missles for ships in the Eastern Pacific coastal waters. The empty roadway ran through the area that looks like a residential street/block construction from any airplanes above. Street lights and blocks with corner stops in the enclosed area. But, it also created one of the best, empty roadway that was about 2 miles long without any cross streets or lights. It was dark and empty most of the time and was home to plenty of “local” hot rod folks, us included, all the way from our houses and teen hangouts in Bixby Knolls. The sound of big powerful V8 motors without header exhaust caps on, shifting throughout the late night could go for several runs, both ways. The races would happen once, maybe twice, but then it was pushing it for a third race, despite being out in the middle of the night. We always thought the gate guards at the Navy Base on both sides of the road were the ones calling in a complaint about “folks trying to intrude on the base grounds” or some nonsense like that. So, after a couple of races, we did not push our luck at a third race. There were other places in our itinerary of late night drag race spots. So, a drive back West down the street until it crossed PCH and turned into 2nd Street in downtown Belmont Shore. Where two restaurants stayed open late and one pizza place was always good for a slice or whole pizza pie. Yum! Jnaki The ocean waters along this breakwater protected, shoreline in Long Beach to Belmont Shore to Seal Beach is relatively calm with little to no waves, unless a hurricane is creeping up the western shoreline from mainland Mexico to around San Diego. From there, it is forced to go West along with the strong current headed to Hawaii. The opening to the open Pacific Ocean waters is at the end of the Long Beach/Seal Beach connection. YRMV Note: This shoreline all the way back to the Los Angeles River will be a huge development for the upcoming 28 Olympics, as several big time events will be held all along the shoreline from the sports arena area down to the pier. The previous 1984 Olympic sailing events were held right off of this pier due to the great location for sailing.
Fred Bryant Motor Car Company, 255 E. Main Street, Lexington, Kentucky, 1934 - Courtesy of University of Kentucky Libraries, Special Collections Research Center
This dude better hope this horse doesn't suddenly stop or he'll be wearing this horse's *** for a hat.
The Jalopy Journal
