Editor,
My wife and I recently accompanied our son and his wife to California to visit their daughter, who is a freshman at USC. When we were not watching her dance programs, we did some sightseeing and had a little time for a short visit to Laguna Beach.
There we walked the main roads and stood at the central plaza viewing the beautiful beach, had a beer and I let my memories take me back 70 years to the last time I was at Laguna Beach.
My hometown friend and I had a 48 hour pass from our ship anchored in San Diego and planned to spend it in Laguna Beach. It was the place we had read about in the magazines where the beautiful California girls sunbathed on the sand and the Hollywood stars dined and danced.
We took the bus from San Diego and were walking along the beach road approaching midtown when we saw a little sign in the front yard of a beautiful house on the beach side offering a room to let. We were surprised and delighted at our good fortune and the homeowner agreed for us to stay overnight. The next morning we went down the steps from her back yard to the beach and walked down toward the lifeguard stand and where we thought the girls would be. It was a foggy morning and we were alone—-and wondering if the idea was going to work.
Soon the sun and the girls came out and our impressions were confirmed. But the girls were tanned and we were white as sheets, and that pretty much dimmed our romantic intentions for the day. But we had a great time anyway, had our meals at a restaurant no longer there right behind the lifeguard stand and went to the picture show. Playing at the theatre was Walt Disney’s “So Dear to My Heart.”
You can understand what that California sun did to our white skin. Leaving the next day for our ship, and putting on those wool dress blues was painful. But what a wonderful time we had and we loved your town and are still warmed when thinking of the hospitality of the lady who rented two strangers a room in her home. Can you imagine that today? My friend and I still talk about Laguna Beach.
Thanks for listening.
Marshall Ramsey, Columbia, S. C.
