My story post 33
I went to a take out restaurant here in Ventura with my son today that was one of the places that Blinky turned me onto for a good burrito when hungry after surfing. It got me to thinking…..
There were a number of places we’d go to after work or surfing to fill our bellies back in the day. One of the spots was right down the street from the point, Fiesta. Fiesta was where almost every surfer would go to at some time or another. So close to the beach.
Then there was Ted’s Sizziling Steaks out toward the college. This place was the after hours stop. Not really great but cheap and filling. Back then there were not any steaks houses like what’s out there now but, with the help of steak sauce the food did the job.
The little café at the west end of Main St. was a place for good hearty breakfasts. I remember the first time I went there around 1965. I was really hungry one morning and had very little money… actually not money, just some change. The change was enough for a bowl of oatmeal. For about 35 cents I got the best bowl of oatmeal I’ve ever had, to this day I still remember being so hungry and worried I’d go hungry for the rest of our surf trip but the loose change in my pocket and the little café made the day.
How ‘bout the Galley? They had a burger basket that was great! Only one block from MP, sometimes we’d go there for lunch during the work week. I remember Cooper running there for some grinds, sitting at the counter talking story and chowing down.
Now in downtown Ventura there are more places to eat than imaginable. A couple years ago my wife and I counted enough places to eat in the 4 blocks of down town that we could actually eat out everyday for a month and never eat at the same place twice. How nuts it that? But those places listed above? Except for Johnny’s where my son and I went to today are all gone. Fiesta is where Bad Ass Coffee is now. The little café was knocked down and the spot it was in is a parking lot. The Galley building is still there but the building is empty… no burger baskets there. Ted’s…. gone. Seems as time goes by all we end up with are memories.
D.R.
I went to a take out restaurant here in Ventura with my son today that was one of the places that Blinky turned me onto for a good burrito when hungry after surfing. It got me to thinking…..
There were a number of places we’d go to after work or surfing to fill our bellies back in the day. One of the spots was right down the street from the point, Fiesta. Fiesta was where almost every surfer would go to at some time or another. So close to the beach.
Then there was Ted’s Sizziling Steaks out toward the college. This place was the after hours stop. Not really great but cheap and filling. Back then there were not any steaks houses like what’s out there now but, with the help of steak sauce the food did the job.
The little café at the west end of Main St. was a place for good hearty breakfasts. I remember the first time I went there around 1965. I was really hungry one morning and had very little money… actually not money, just some change. The change was enough for a bowl of oatmeal. For about 35 cents I got the best bowl of oatmeal I’ve ever had, to this day I still remember being so hungry and worried I’d go hungry for the rest of our surf trip but the loose change in my pocket and the little café made the day.
How ‘bout the Galley? They had a burger basket that was great! Only one block from MP, sometimes we’d go there for lunch during the work week. I remember Cooper running there for some grinds, sitting at the counter talking story and chowing down.
Now in downtown Ventura there are more places to eat than imaginable. A couple years ago my wife and I counted enough places to eat in the 4 blocks of down town that we could actually eat out everyday for a month and never eat at the same place twice. How nuts it that? But those places listed above? Except for Johnny’s where my son and I went to today are all gone. Fiesta is where Bad Ass Coffee is now. The little café was knocked down and the spot it was in is a parking lot. The Galley building is still there but the building is empty… no burger baskets there. Ted’s…. gone. Seems as time goes by all we end up with are memories.
D.R.
Looking up the beach from the pier back in the day didn’t look anything like this either.
2 comments:
Cool memories. They call it progress but I'm not so sure . Although I've never been to these places and I'm on the other side of the Atlantic the same thing has happened .It just seems like greedy developers and franchises to me! I feel like I was born in the wrong era?I love the Boards ,music,clothes,motorbikes ect from the fifties and early sixties.I'm reading Rensin's Dora book and the pre Gidget era souds amazing. Sorry if i sound like a grumpy old man at 44 !
Grumpy? nah... you like what you like is all.
Fortunately, so far at least, the majority of businesses in down town VTA are local. Only a few franchises... Subway, Starbucks... like that.
D.R.
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