Reunion, Part 3

One of the things I like about staying in motels is the “in-room” coffee that many offer. There’s something refreshing about the strong aroma of brewing coffee in such a small space.

It’s the simple things with me.

After showering, getting dressed and polishing off three cups of java I was ready to take on the world or go take a few photographs – which ever was to happen first. My starting point was Beach Front Park.

There I discovered two things – they’ve named the street that divides the park in two from Beachfront Drive to the ocean after Bill Stamps. The other thing – the parks restrooms are modern and no longer the creepy-scary stranger-danger they had been all the years I lived in Del Norte.

For the first time in my life, I actually went inside the Surf Hotel, now called the Surf Apartments, legally. Before this, I had always sneaked in and made my way to the roof to sit and drink a beer and look out over the city at night.

Once inside, I went upstairs to the top floor. Inside the stair-well I discovered the man-hatch to the roof and since the sign didn’t say, “No Trespassing,” I decided to open it.

I’m still in awe of the view – especially since it was daylight.

After several photographs I returned to the ground floor and headed towards the center of town. I was on my way to Glenn’s for breakfast.

Unfortunately, I discovered my favorite restaurant shuttered, with for sale signs posted in the windows. Of course this isn’t the only business I noticed had gone away.

There is also Endert’s Rexall Drug Store, Johnson’s Store for Men, The Photo Boutique, The Escape Hatch, Daly’s, Bistren’s, Crescent City Printing the Crescent City Movie Theater and McKay’s Market, to name a few. I know some have been gone a long time – others not so long – but I thought they deserved listing anyway.

On the upside, the men’s department on Daly’s is now home to Johnston’s Gift-Garden-Home. I wandered inside to buy a couple of thank you cards and met the owner, Sheri Johnston.

We had only ever met though Facebook. In person is much nicer.

She filled me in on the shops history, which included a reference to the high water mark left by the 1964 Tsunami. While the original stain is no longer visible, Sheri showed me where the construction workers marked the line on the new wall.

From there, and as referred by Sheri, I went next door to Tomasini’s for lunch. I had one of the best bowls of clam chowder I’ve had in ages along with a hot pastrami sandwich on sourdough and an ice-cold beer.

Once seated, the waitress, who insisted on calling me ‘sir,’ though I work for a living, handed me a brief history on the restaurants namesake. Strange as it seems – I knew Mr. Tomasini when he owned the Fort Dick Tavern.

In fact – the original bar, which is more than 100-years old is in use at Tomasini’s. I was happy to see the restaurants owner, Sasha Tomasini and Mr. Tomasini’s grand daughter, has a heart for history.

After lunch, I wandered over to the Masonic Temple. It was recently gutted by fire, started by some children who broke in and were playing with a lighter or some matches in the attic.

While some damage can readily be seen to the front of the structure, it’s the backside that shows the most damage. Much of the roof caved in – creating an open maw that exposes the burned out interior.

“Bummer,” as we’d say back in the day.

Finally, I walked back to Tsunami Landing and visited at the Seagull Water Fountain, dedicated to the victims of the 1964 Tsunami. It saddened me to see the flower shop that had been in the Martinelli building was also gone along with the bar that was once a neighbor to the shop.

Further down, I walked by the former KPOD studios, where I first broke into the broadcasting business. I later learned their studio is north of town  and housed with KCRE, a one time direct rival to the older KPOD.

It was beginning to get late in the afternoon and I still wanted to visit the harbor and dock area before the day was out. For all the damaged reported from the 2011 tsunami which swept through the slips and fishing vessels, I saw nothing that said it had been there – a strong testament to those who rebuilt it.

This is where I also met a new friend, a Brown Pelican, who decided to follow me from one part of the dock to the other. It was kind of like a large feathery, big-beaked tour-guide.

The funny thing is that every time I aimed my camera in its direction, it would turn and waddle away.  I’ve never known a camera-shy pelican until now.

Somehow, I lost track of time, leaving myself only 45 minutes to get cleaned up and over to the Elks Lodge for the main event.