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Tom Arnold's Old Places: The Beachcomber and The Pennant Bar in Mission Beach
Across the decades, across the street
Belmont Park: Mission Beach's de facto Downtown.
The idea of writing about old places in San Diego County has been something I’ve been mulling around for years – but I kept putting it off because coming up with the parameters was a lot harder than I imagined. In the end, I decided to focus on businesses and restaurants that have been in the same place, with the same name and line of business, for at least 50 years.
These two venerable beach bars, the first established in 1961 and the second the year after, sit on either side of Gabriel Place on the east side of Mission Boulevard near the south end of the Mission Beach isthmus. Today, they are as popular as they’ve ever been, thanks to a steady series of improvements (a dance floor at The Beachcomber, which had been a bar under a different name since the '40s, and rooftop deck at The Pennant, added in 1980) and an ever-expanding menu of craft beers and cocktails. And yet the spirit of both The Beachcomber and The Pennant remains the same as it was in those heady early-'60s years when crewcuts and the Four Freshman had not yet given way to long hair and psychedelic rock ‘n’ roll. At the time, most of the residences on the narrow spit of land were summer cottages, while the center of “town” was Belmont Park, famous for its huge wooden rollercoaster, which had been built in 1925 and was originally known as “Earthquake.” Locals shared both bars with tourists and sailors; the beers of choice were Schlitz, Olympia and Pabst Blue Ribbon.
Video:
The Four Freshmen, "It's a Blue World"
Editor's note: Tom has written about bygone days in Mission Beach for us before. So has Mimi Cornell. Among others.
Here's something you might be interested in.
Tom Arnold's Old Places: The Beachcomber and The Pennant Bar in Mission Beach
Across the decades, across the street
Tom Arnold's Old Places: The Beachcomber and The Pennant Bar in Mission Beach
Across the decades, across the street
Belmont Park: Mission Beach's de facto Downtown.
The idea of writing about old places in San Diego County has been something I’ve been mulling around for years – but I kept putting it off because coming up with the parameters was a lot harder than I imagined. In the end, I decided to focus on businesses and restaurants that have been in the same place, with the same name and line of business, for at least 50 years.
These two venerable beach bars, the first established in 1961 and the second the year after, sit on either side of Gabriel Place on the east side of Mission Boulevard near the south end of the Mission Beach isthmus. Today, they are as popular as they’ve ever been, thanks to a steady series of improvements (a dance floor at The Beachcomber, which had been a bar under a different name since the '40s, and rooftop deck at The Pennant, added in 1980) and an ever-expanding menu of craft beers and cocktails. And yet the spirit of both The Beachcomber and The Pennant remains the same as it was in those heady early-'60s years when crewcuts and the Four Freshman had not yet given way to long hair and psychedelic rock ‘n’ roll. At the time, most of the residences on the narrow spit of land were summer cottages, while the center of “town” was Belmont Park, famous for its huge wooden rollercoaster, which had been built in 1925 and was originally known as “Earthquake.” Locals shared both bars with tourists and sailors; the beers of choice were Schlitz, Olympia and Pabst Blue Ribbon.
Video:
Comments
The Four Freshmen, "It's a Blue World"
Editor's note: Tom has written about bygone days in Mission Beach for us before. So has Mimi Cornell. Among others.