Labor Day in Hermosa Beach

Almost every weekend, Julie and I make our “pier to pier” walk from the Manhattan Beach Library parking lot to the Hermosa Beach pier and back, which is about two miles in each direction. For Labor Day, we decided to mix it up a little, hiking down to Hermosa Beach with beach chairs to spend some time at the beach. We also knew there would be live music, but we were surprised to note the Bikini Open Volleyball tournament, which looked like a fun amateur competition.

 

Compared to Caribbean water we experienced last week, the ocean was brisk, but it was probably around 70 degrees, which is pretty warm for California's coast. After the hot walk, it felt great to body surf by the Hermosa pier in the brisk water. When I was a teenager, my friends and I loved going to Huntington or occasionally Newport to hit the waves, and I never lost that love.

 

After warming up a bit, Julie and I moved to a cool location in the shade of the pier so we could hear a Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young cover band named Four Way Street that was scheduled to start at eleven. It sounded like they started around twenty minutes early, so we left our chairs and walked over to find out, but it turned out to only be a sound check.

 

The stage was set up on the block of Pier Avenue nearest to the beach, which has been closed to auto traffic for a few years. It's normally an open area lined by restaurants, bars and shops where mostly attractive and active young adults hang out, but for Labor Day, in addition to the stage, there were lots of booths with artisans and vendors hawking goods. Some very unusual art was on display for this street fair, including some neat wide angle photographs of Southern California communities as well as places around the world. We ended up buying five wide angle photo magnets, each of which featured a photo of someplace we had lived since getting married. For San Diego, we selected a photo of the baseball stadium, which wasn't exactly accurate, but some great memories involved watching the Padres as a family.

 

At eleven, the band started, and we headed over to take a seat. I thought back to Christmas in 1969 when I had asked my Mom for the first Crosby, Stills and Nash album as well as the brown self-titled album by The Band, both of which I received as presents.

I would say I wore those records out, but the truth is that I kept them both in excellent condition despite playing them over and over. I still love the music. Julie related that she had bought tickets for a CSN concert in 1975 which was canceled. They never sent her a refund when she returned the tickets, which still left a bad taste in her mouth to this day, but she nonetheless enjoyed hearing their music today as much as I did.

 

I heard the original band in Denver around 1977, and I'd say the cover band did about as well as they did. Those harmonies on some of the songs can be very difficult, but they delivered a strong performance. Anyway, we enjoyed the trip down memory lane. After the first set, we had some chips and a Coke Zero, and then I went back out in the ocean once more while Julie headed over to the edge of the beach where she could still see the waves while listening to the music. I joined her to hear the last few songs in their set.

 

When the band packed up at two, so did we, although a Doors cover band was scheduled to start at three. It's funny that we both enjoyed spending a day that we would have enjoyed about forty years ago, including chips for lunch. I guess we just never completely grew up. Back home, Julie barbecued some burgers and hot dogs, enjoying the classic American summer holiday meal.

 

For anyone catching a cruise in the LA area, Hermosa Beach is a great place to visit. There's usually mild surf with fun waves for body surfing or boogie boarding. Even when there isn't some kind of celebration, there's usually live entertainment and fun at venues on Pier Avenue and the surrounding areas.