The first area featured in the reading was actually many, and they were all attributed to the workers of Caltrans. Hector Tobar wrote of the vast freeway system he experienced growing up in Southern California, and his writing was an "ode" to them, something that stayed with him for his entire life, and shaped him. Caltrans was formed in 1895 in Sacramemto, California. The building of the Pasadena Freeway was the first freeway west of the Mississippi River, and Caltrans was also the first to build a four level interchange. Most all of the structures that Tobar mentions, from the Santa Ana Freeway to the Hollywood boulevard onramp can be attributed to Caltrans.
Seal Beach was the place that Edward Humes wrote of in "My California". There was no town in America left like it, the last of its kind in his eyes. Humes makes people from outside the area who read his excerpt want to visit the small orange county town. He had many vivid memories of the area, and was able to express his feelings through his writings of the beach town.
The town was originally known as "Anaheim Landing", because of its close proximity with Anaheim, and it being where boats would land. In the early part of the 20th century, it was called Bay City, but finally on October 25, 1915, it was officially named Seal Beach. The census from the year 2000 put the population at 24,157. It is located in Orange County, next to Long Beach and San Pedro Bay. It is home to the 2nd largest wooden pier in California, and was built in 1935. Many famous surf spots are in Seal Beach, including the Pier and Stingray Bay. American Pie 2, tv series Greek and the Wonder Years, as well as the 1923 version of The 10 commandments all had film locations in Seal Beach.
I found this video, its like a promotional package for seal beach, people deciding on where to go to and getting info from different things to do in the town.
Matt Warshaw's "Surfacing" was a vivid description of the surf culture around Northern California, specifically surf city Santa Cruz. It was the only story that our group read that was not about Southern California, and it was a welcome writing, seeing that most of us can relate better to the areas described, Half Moon Bay, Santa Cruz, San Francisco. This was my favorite story, it had a great story to it and great background info.
Santa Cruz is located in Santa Cruz County, and is south of San Francisco. The population as of the 2000 census was 54,778. Before becoming a California city, it was an area populated by the Ohlone Native American tribe. It was also the place for the famous Mission Santa Cruz, the place the Spanish used to convert the Natives early on. It became a California town in 1866. It took some damage during the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, damaging railways, and other structures, but not until 1989 when Santa Cruz would be hit by the near bye Loma Prieta earthquake would the old structures be destroyed.
Warshaw references Surf City, which has to be true for mainland U.S.A. The first surfing in any city in California took place in 1885 when 3 princes from Hawaii surfed the San Lorenzo River. Many of the premier surfing competitions are still held here, including O'Neill Cold Water Classic and the International Long board Association contest.
Thomas Steinbeck, son of one of the greatest writers of the 2oth century, John Steinbeck, who's writings include The Grapes of Wrath and Of Mice and Men, was born in Manhattan, but after reading his entry in "My California", you know that his home, forever and always, is California. He references the origins of the name for the state, how the Spanish at first thought it to be the location of the mythical city of gold, or a western version of "Atlantis". He writes of his Grandmother, Olive Steinbeck, who shaped his views of the myths of California.
Sasquatch was something that he wrote that the locales had great respect for. Researching this item, it is hard to get information for the area that Steinbeck talked about, Big Sur being the only home of Sasquatch. Looking on the Internet, it seems farther North to be the alleged home of the giant man like monster.
Steinbeck also referenced a phenomenon called the Dark Watchers, something that I had never heard of. But looking into it, his Dad also wrote about these strange beings in one of his poems, "Flight". The Dark Watchers are said to be giant phantoms who are only seen at twilight, and usually do not attack people, just stand staring at the sunset. No one seems to know what they are staring at, but few people have been able to view them.
10 things learned about from Classmates
1. Tarissa - I like how you wrote about the bad drivers, because when I had gone to Texas in April, I noticed the same thing. There good would definitely be "our" bad.
2. Danelle - Made me realize I had missed something in my readings about Steinbeck: "Steinbeck tells a story about a man named Montalvo". I guess I missed that part, I thought Montalvo was a city.
3. Katherine - Where there were once multiple fig orchards, there are now Wal-marts and McDonald's. This is so true, and not just for the Fresno area, but everywhere.
4. Aloma - I also had not heard of the Lower Owens River, but did a quick wikipedia search, seems like a great place to get to see.
5. Marylou - I did not know the exact area of the Dark Watchers, Santa Lucia Mountains. Thank you.
6. Brian - "His first wave, the one that broke his board was on the cover of Surfer and the front section of the New York Times Magazine and was called the "worst wipe out or at least the worst looking wipe out, in surfing history." Making the New York Times, especially as a surfer from a small Northern California town, that is a big deal.
7. Nicole - Had a great quote about Southern California driving, and I have to say I completely agree. I can remember being down in Orange County going from Anaheim, to Westminster, to Long Beach, wherever we went, and never remembering, or never knowing when a new city started, where one ended, i couldn't remember there being any signs. "I take the 101 30 miles from Cloverdale to Santa Rosa (and back) for school every day, and going down to SoCal makes that feel like a piece of cake; a walk in the park compared to the hours I would spend in the car if I had to commute the 60 miles a day in Southern California."
8. Torri - I have been to Newport Beach, Costa Mesa, all those up scale areas of Southern California. I remember my friend telling me, this was a place where "look to your left, you see a Ferrari, look to your right, you'll see a Lamborghini". I was still appalled by the comments by the locals toward the new family: "people thought his family to be the landscapers, and when he said he didn’t speak Spanish, the neighbor was surprised! He lived there in the community, and people still thought they were “workers”.
9. Lemlem - My favorite format for this project. I read through every area covered twice. Thank you for the info on Playland, sounds like it was a good place for the youth in the early 20th century.
10. Preston - I found out through him that Beverly Hills does not have dumps, cemeteries, or even a hospital. I guess they want to keep the area as upscale as possible.
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