When I kept hearing how great the weather would be on Wednesday, April 15 – in the high 70’s – after weeks of cold and rain – I had great fears that OBceans would burst out of their homes of self-quarantine and come down to the beach.
Fortunately, my greatest fears were not realized as I cruised along the beach Wednesday. No one – literally no one, except law enforcement – was on the beach, either Dog Beach (“North Beach” to long-timers) or South Beach. It was great, I thought. OBceans are still adhering to the strict requirements Californians and San Diegans were under during the pandemic.
And on the streets and sidewalks, OBceans were giving each other wide breadth and most wore masks. Yellow tape stretched across every park entrance and access points. The beach parking lots, including the life guard station, Dog Beach and the pier were all taped off.
Here’s the exit from the Dog Beach Parking Lot. Photo by Kate Bell. All other photos by Frank Gormlie.
There were construction sites around OB where the workers were still on the job. And some businesses were open.
This was all good news.
Yet, the bad news was that OBceans were staying away from the beaches and grassy parks next to the beaches, but they – and everyone else – were flocking to Sunset Cliffs.
Even while San Diego Police officers were stationed at every Sunset Cliffs parklet preventing anyone to enter, there seemed to be droves of people, bicycling, jogging, walking the dog or just walking themselves out along those paths and roads available.
There were some efforts I observed at “social-distancing” (the new term is “physical-distancing”) but still …. on one hand, you can’t blame cooped up humans from getting out into the fresh sea breezes and tremendous views along the cliffs (there was even a low-tide), but – all at once?
This ain’t over. And we can’t pretend it is about to be. So, here’s a photo gallery from Wednesday of Ocean Beach and the Cliffs.
Saratoga Street Park was empty.
This is Andy L. who was on duty at the life guard station.
The lifeguard parking lot – and restrooms – were closed.
Veterans’ Plaza and OB’s famous wall were closed.
The small toddler park on Ebers was yellow-taped shut.
The small beach-lets were empty, stairs closed off.
The cliff trails were solitary.
A few ventured out to the end of the streets to take in solace.
Sunset Cliffs “Natural Park” was taped off, but somebody had torn it.
Cars, pedestrians, bike riders found their space along the cliffs.
The beach at “No-Surf” was returning to its natural state.
SDPD at every small parking lot along the cliffs.
Pedestrian giving space to others.
This nice family from Clairemont were having a picnic at the cliffs – in their car. They were okay with me taking their photo.
She found a creative way to take in the sun and cliffs and do some reading – and gave the OB Rag permission to take the photo.
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
For some funny reason I cannot figure out, the OB Rag has a lot of photos to share with our readers today, not much text. These days are wordless.
Yesterday was summertime gorgeous, so warm after all that rain and wind and grayness. And yes, there were a lot of people out and about, around town and along the walkway at Windansea — more than there should have been.
The OB Rag is good to run these photos of the way it’s supposed to be if we’re going
to positively influence the future rate of coronavirus infection in our community.
Follow the rules. Mostly, stay home. When you’re out, don’t congregate in groups. Keep six feet between yourself and others. Wear a mask when you’re in public. Wash your hands often with soap and water. This won’t last forever, but don’t second-guess the rules: cooperate instead. Everyone has to do their part while we’re tamping down coronavirus contagion.
Imagine if those cops were just making sure people were being responsible rather than enforcing prohibition… since we know those policies have worked out so well historically!
Sadly I think Americans, in general, and Republicans specifically, are too self-centered, and personally irresponsible to do anything that could benefit the greater good. The organized protests happening in red states just reinforces this belief.
Sunset Cliffs Blvd is the new Boston Marathon. The ends of the streets at Point Loma Ave. and Pescadero are the new gyms. 24-hour Fitness for the locals; the place to go when people are unemployed, live somewhere else, and like it better here than there. Six feet of separation does not mean at sunset; that’s excluded; if you don’t know the other people, it doesn’t count.
One South American country lets males and females out in public on alternate days. We could not do that here as it would be discriminatory. This is our today.
The Rag~ Thanks for the information and pictures!
Please RESPECT the Rules that the State & City have asked us to do, their is a REASON~~
On another note the lawn south of the Lifeguard station looks Terrible!! So much for a Veterans Park~~ Who wants to help me make the lawn look better & help where needed< I'm going to contact the City Monday & I'll get back toyou if anyone is interested in helping!! Contact me on Face Book or e mail me obrebel1@yahoo.com~~ Thanks Claudia