A picture perfect day overlooking Dana Point Harbor from the lookout point at the end of Blue Lantern Street. I looked it up and this little lookout ramada that hangs out over the bluff is part of the Ken Sampson Overlook Park. Funny thing is, most of the park is part of a bluff and can't be accessed. Another really cool overlook is the Bluff Top Trail between Amber Lantern Street and Violet Lantern Street. From this lookout, you can access a wooden sidewalk along the bluff that provides some really great views of the harbor. Near Violet Lantern Street, you'll pass a really nice bronze statue of "The Hide Drogher" -- a barefooted worker tossing a cowhide over the edge. Back in the 1800's, men stood on the bluffs overlooking what is now Dana Point Harbor and tossed cowhides over the edge so they could be loaded onto the trading ships anchored below.
If you haven't figured it out by now, Dana Point has more than a dozen streets that have the word Lantern in them. It's real easy to forget whether you need to turn on Green, Blue, Violet, Ruby, Amber, Copper, Silver, Crystal, Golden, Old Golden, Port, Cove, Starboard, Shore, Park, or Eastern Lantern, and don't forget there's also Lantern Bay Drive. Oy vey!
Update: Someone who chose to remain anonymous, left me 3 comments telling me I forgot Crystal Lantern in my original post, but they missed the fact that I also left out Silver Lantern, which I have since corrected, so there! ;) If there are still others I missed, by all means, let me know.
During one of my strolls through Dana Point, I noticed the year the concrete was poured. It amazed me to find the sidewalk I was walking on (near the intersection of Santa Clara Street and Ruby Lantern) was poured 80 years ago!! Finally, something that is older than me!! By the way, don't you just love the name of the construction company -- Underground Construction. Sounds kinda sketchy if you ask me. ;)
While on my tour of my old stomping grounds (Newport Beach), I drove by my old apartment (Las Casitas near Birch and Bristol), which is located in the Back Bay area. I was happy to find that it is still around. The street has been widened from 2 lanes to 4, so there isn't much lawn out front, but other than that it looks pretty much the same. This is where I lived when I worked at Hughes Newport, which was only 5 miles from my apartment. I used to ride my bike to work for exercise. There were a couple of steep hills I had to climb on the way home that really gave me a great workout. Of course, heading into work was a blast since it was mostly downhill.I lived in both the downstairs and upstairs apartments shown in the picture (at different times, of course) during the 70's. I have many fond memories of afternoons spent lazing by the pool and other times where I would walk a couple of blocks to where my horse was stabled on Cypress Street. From there I could access the trails that meandered through the Back Bay or take the San Diego Creek Channel trail inland. While all of these memories were floating through my head I had to ask myself, why did I ever move??? Oh yeah, I took a job in Silicon Valley, and stayed there for 20 years before moving to Arizona. That's a whole 'nother story in itself.
