Seal Beach, California: Then and Now

Seal Beach is (was?) a big, big part of my childhood. It’s just a stone’s throw—literally—from Long Beach, where I was born- with the San Gabriel River being the only thing separating the two. I went to elementary school at McGaugh Elementary, daycare at Camp Marina, and did all of my schooling in the Los Alamitos School District. I spent so many summers taking day trips down to the beach, dodging stingrays, begging to go to Sweet Jill’s- and never missing a chance to stop at the shell shop. Seal is also where I first learned to surf there on the north side with my uncle when I was about seven years old.

When I got a little older, Seal became the place we’d go for lunch or dinner with family and friends, often taking a long walk down the pier if we weren’t already eating at Ruby’s. Remember those cheap ice cream cones, and how everything around you smelled a bit salty with a hint of sun-baked bait and fish? Okay, maybe not just a hint 😉 . Man, those were the days.

After high school, Seal Beach was always a solid spot for bar hopping: Clancy’s, The Irisher, and of course, O’Malley’s if we were feeling a little fancier or knew it was going to be a long night and we wanted to eat something.

I think O’Malley’s is the first place I ever tried both a black & tan, and a Snake Bite.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been in the Irisher or Clancy’s, playing bar games and probably annoying the regulars with my jukebox choices. Haven’t been to eithe in probably 20 years though.

After the bars closed, I spent countless nights crawling over to Shore House Café, which has long since closed. If we had someone sober enough to drive, we’d all pile into their car and cruise down the road to Harbour House Café in Sunset for some better food while we sobered up a bit.

I’ve been to Taco Surf more times than I can count. Something I think is really cool, is that this is now one of my Dad’s favorite places to go. Their Happy Hour and Taco Tuesday are just hard to pass on 🙂

When I was a kid I could have wandered around this shop for hours. The shell shop is why I got so excited about having my own shell and rock collections. It’s the first shop that had so many delicate things, but I was still able to walk around and carefully look at everything, and discover new things I had never seen before up close. Who could resist getting a cool new sand dollar, starfish, or a puka shell bracelet, or necklace?

Needless to say, my connection to Seal Beach goes way back. Revisiting it now with my cameras after living and traveling abroad for over 12 years has been a real treat-a walk down memory lane.

This time, I visited Seal Beach for a couple of hours with the intention of approaching it like any other location I work in abroad, while still holding onto the obvious sentimental connection I have to so many spots. I focused on the details that stood out, landmarks and signs I wanted to preserve visually, with a little creative perspective thrown in.

Growing up in Seal, I was always so amazed by how cool this tree is. To this day it’s still a super iconic part of the city to me.

Seeing the Seal Beach Administration building again – I realized that I never got a chance to go up on the tower. I’d love to get up there to be able to take some photos of Seal from a different perspective some day. If anyone has a contact that could help set that up, please reach out to me.

The streets felt familiar but different, like someone you used to know well who had aged but still carried the same laugh. The palm trees still lined Ocean Avenue, casting long shadows across quiet sidewalks. Eisenhower Park was still there, just as I remembered it, maybe a little more polished, but with the same view looking out toward the pier, and the same calm feeling watching people drift by.

I noticed all sorts of things I haven’t thought about since I was younger, and I had a great time breathing new life into old stories again as I got to show my wife around my old stomping grounds. Along the way I stopped to photograph small details, weathered textures, sun-faded paint jobs, and the kind of signage that rarely survives modern renovations.

When I was walking along, something else cam to mind: Know what would be really awesome? If they started using these red trolleys again in Seal Beach. Make public transport cool again. Take a cruise up main, and down electric avenue. Maybe a jaunt over to the north and south side jetty’s– develop those areas a bit more.

Would be amazing if the city added a couple big parks, or more useable outdoor spaces – with some small businesses, or maybe a museum, or an art gallery, or a big play ground with a coffee shop, etc., – something still very connected to nature, and then helps Seal spread its wings ( Or flap its flippers, if you will). I guess a guy can dream 🙂

When capturing the pier, I of course found that the world just can’t get enough of cranes, it would seem. We’re either building up, tearing down, repairing something, or restoring something. I wonder when the next moment will be that humanity collectively exhale and say ‘Alright, everything is structurally sound and looking good now!

Maybe at that point we can focus on something else for awhile. Maybe some breathing, reflection, and presence? But Probably starting the process all over again on Mars or another planet tbh. Earth one day may reach its ‘peak’, but humanity’s desire to explore, build, and conquer the next challenge will never end.

So anyways. Thank you for joining me on my mini-rant. The photo was the intention, the crane wasn’t invited- but when you take as many photos as I do- you know that cranes are just kinda part of the deal. They also help to give a time reference to images taken, which is cool.

During this visit in particular I also got to spend some quality time with my brother Ben. It was awesome getting walk around with him in a place that I had explored so much in my past. If you’ve ever met my brother, you’ll immediately recognize his infectious laugh- so needless to say a lot of the time I spent walking around Seal was just laughing, walking slow, and generally just have a great time. Seal Beach is a great place to do that. At a certain point we walked into Humblemaker Coffee Co. for a coffee to-go, and man let me tell you- That place is right in line with my style. I would absolutely love to have some of my artwork up on the walls in that place. If anyone has a contact, please let me know about that too! After taking our coffee we headed past the Bay Theatre – which, per usual- has their very time-appropriate quote to remind us that there are still sane and loving people in this world. Whoever decided to put that quote up there- thank you. I needed that.

Visiting Seal and viewing a place I have so many memories of was honestly such a treat. It’s just such a cool town, and I’m really happy to took the time to give it some well deserved love, respect, and attention. I treated Seal like I do any place I shoot now, with genuine curiosity, and an eye for what truly gives a place its character. There’s something about seeing a place you know through a different lens, both literally and figuratively. The result is a collection of images that I hope helps capture a bit of the charm that makes Seal Beach, Seal Beach.