Part 11 - Ocean Beach, California.

Part 11 - Ocean Beach, California. 

Sand castle at Ocean Beach. Pier lights in the background lighting up the waves.

When I was younger, my mother had a friend whose son lived in Ocean Beach, California. We went to visit when I was around 13 years old. I had just started skateboarding, and coming from the Midwest, being in Ocean Beach was like being at the epicenter of everything cool. 

My ramp. Circa 1989. East Peoria, Illinois.  180 backside grab with extra style. 

The alley behind the apartment I stayed at when  I was here as a teenager. 

When I was offered an extension to my contract in Tucson, I agreed, providing I would get 2 weeks off before the next contract started in February of 2018. The management agreed to the terms and we began planning our vacation.

My memories of San Diego came up, and since it was only about a 5 hour drive, we quickly agreed on an Ocean Beach vacation.  One thing I wanted to do was take our dogs, because I remembered a beach where dogs could run off the leash. We did some research and found out that Dog Beach was still a thing, then we found a dog friendly hotel right on the beach, and booked a room for a week. We even got a great rate, under $100 per night, due to it not being surfing season.  No backing out now...this was really going to happen!!!  

Here is a link to the hotel we stayed at:

Website: Ocean Villa Inn

It was a perfect hotel for what we wanted, the location couldn't be beat, and they gave us a basket of treats and toys for the dogs!!! They sure won us over.

Look how happy Bugzy is with his new ball. He already has it tore up. 

Luna is always trying to find a doggy den when she gets somewhere new. 

We still did not trust our dogs off the leash since there were so many other dogs around. Or...maybe I had seen Jaws too many times. Either way, the dogs had a great time at the beach, even Luna who generally doesn't like water....I have always thought Luna was part cat.

Dogs first time at the ocean.

The rock barrier in the background of the picture below marks the Northern end of Dog Beach.

California dogs!!!

Dog beach is separated from Ocean Beach to the South by a sand dune.  Luna was way too excited to be perched up there for this picture.

Luna dog with Ocean Beach and Ocean Beach Pier in the background.

We loved Ocean Beach for a lot of reasons, but most of all, because we could ride our bikes everywhere. There were tons of shops on Newport Ave, just like I remembered, so we killed a lot of time just walking around that area after locking up the bikes. We found a chill Irish bar that we liked, called the Harp.

The Harp, on Newport Ave. Ocean Beach, San Diego. 

It had a courtyard that we sat in a few times since the weather was so nice.

I forgot my sunglasses. LOL!!!

We went to a few other bars, but kept coming back to The Harp. They had live music one night and we caught the first song. I was really excited that it was Streams of Whiskey, by the Pogues. It went downhill from there. I think they were just like, "Its an Irish bar, lets learn one Irish song." They were still good, I just wanted more Irish music...whats new. We made lots of good memories there, and will go back if we visit Ocean Beach again. Here's their webpage:

Website: The Harp Pub; Ocean Beach, San Diego.

One of the most popular tourist attractions in Ocean Beach for non surfers are the tidal pools located just South of the pier. There is easy access from the SW corner of the Abbott Rd/Newport Ave parking lot. The pools are full of invertebrates, anemones, and sometimes a fish or two. Here are a few of our pictures of the tidal pools.

Tidal pools, waves, and Ocean Beach Pier. 

The pier has sustained heavy damage since we were there in February of 2018. It is being rebuilt.

Probably the first time I had ever seen anemones not in captivity. Pretty damn cool. 

Our time went way faster than it should have, so we booked two more days at the Ocean Villa Inn. We really were so relaxed that we forgot to take pictures some days.  They would have just been of the same beaches and bars we already posted. We really didnt have to go far for anything so it was nice to just spend our time by the water with our dogs. Our plan was to get home and have a day or two to unpack. That didn't happen. We left on a Sunday and I returned to work the next day.

Below: Our video from Dog Beach

Dog Beach Video

We will WAVE goodbye for now...

Put the kids to bed...

And we will see you next time!!!

Link to previous entry:

Part 10 - Tanque Verde Falls.

Link to the next article:

Part 12 - Rover.