SURF CITY USA

Photograph by russ454@ flickr.com

I was invited to do a dinner talk in Huntington Beach, California near the Pacific Coast Highway. Huntington Beach - a.k.a "Surf-City" - has come a long ways since the days that it earned the non-glam nickname of "Tin Can Beach." Back in the sixties, the city received so many complaints about cut feet from buried tin can lids that the government kicked in and cleaned up the beach. During that time, oil drilling and farming were the main industries of the day. Today the business climate is about as diverse as its character and beauty.

Photograph by Alexandria LaNier

Surf City USA has earned its trademark (granted by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office) by promoting the California beach culture lifestyle to the rest of the world. It is a colorful town that speaks an outdoor language from sunrise to sunset. Besides the major surfing competitions, Huntington Beach is home to pro-kite fliers, lighted boat tours, bmx racing, volleyball, paintball, long-distance racing, bi-athalons, tri-athalons, equestrian events, and Dean of Jan and Dean ("Surf-City" song).


One of the most fascinating stories of Hunington Beach has to do with land that was given away in the 1960's. Remember when Encyclopedia companies stressed the importance of owning a whole set? Once upon a "buy", you could have also been the proud owner of a small piece of land to go with that set. Land was dirt cheap. The lucky owners of the encylopedia sets later found out that oil in "them-thar hills." I would venture to say that it was a better bargain than the lottery.