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| photo published by the Orange County Register |
Three generations of my family lived that life in the 40's, 50's, and 60's. My father says his favorite time of childhood was learning to snorkel and body surf in Laguna Beach with his big brother.
My older brother and sister were beach babies from the beginning.
Grandpa ran a beach concession at 18th Street along Newport bay.
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| Grandpa in the captain's hat, center |
We lived up in the heights, overlooking the bay and the Newport peninsula.
On clear days in Newport, Catalina Island rose clearly from the Pacific.
The Upper Newport Bay (the Back Bay) cliffs and tideland marshes made for great exploring.
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| by Cindy Carrillo of Arizona |
We could jump off the docks of the bay and swim in and around the boats.
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| by Catherine Dzialo-Haller of Southern California |
The fish were plentiful then.
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| by Elizabeth Blaylock of Alabama |
Dad bought a little Sabot sailboat, and he, my mom, and I squeezed into it with a picnic lunch packed, and spent leisurely afternoons sailing around the bay.
My brother took up surfing, towing his board on a rack he built for his bike, pedaling across the Arches bridge and on down the Peninsula.
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| by Kevin Short of San Juan Capistrano |
Then and now was the little car ferry that went from Balboa Island to the Peninsula where the Fun Zone was.
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| by Frank Dalton of Southern California |
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| By Karen Werner of Southern California |
Perfect for long walks or bicycling, sidewalks run along the oceanfront the length of Newport's beaches.
My sister is a regular walker of the perimeter of Balboa Island.
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| by Stephen Parker of Texas |
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| by Michele Byrne |
At Laguna's Crescent Bay, my father taught me to snorkel. One summer he and his buddies and wives and kids would go there nearly every weekend for scuba diving. While the guys were diving, the kids were hunting around the tide pools, and the wives sunned on the beach and chatted.
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| by Justin Clayton |
A walk along Laguna's Main Beach was always an interesting experience. Laguna has always been a magnet for the creative and the eccentric.
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| by Elaine Hughes of Laguna Beach |
Or just a day of lazing around the water and the beach was just wonderful. We'd come home tired and burned.
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| by Ann Sullivan of Florida |
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| by Nicole White Kennedy of North Carolina |
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| by Nancy Colella of Massachusetts |
Down by the Balboa jetty is a surf spot called The Wedge, where the waves can grow unusually large, and break almost right onto the sand. Not for the faint of heart.
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| by Hannah Vokey |
The Newport pier and the old downtown nearby were the stomping grounds of my grandparents, parents, and siblings.
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| by Steve Simon of Newport Beach |
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| photo by Larry Vogel |
As a teenager, my brother spent some time employed at this landmark restaurant.
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| by Amanda Fish of Southern California |
This spot is the true old soul of Newport.
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| by Tom Brown of Southern California |
No matter what our ages, or where we roam, we will always be those beach kids.
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