Category: OB Shop Talk

Where Have You Been All My Life?

I think I have died and gone to heaven. Or someplace I never expected to be found in. I am walking around in a daze, with a smile on my face, and wondering how this wonderful man came into my life.

Oh no, no! This is not a result from my on-line dating. This is the result of a life-long fear perpetuated by my mother. When I was a little girl, she always told me that if I was a “bad girl” she would send me to her sister Mitzi because Mitzi worked for a dentist! “And you know that dentists can hurt people, Judi.”

Roger and Yasuko’s Shop Help Make OB What It Is

Bernie’s Bicycle Shop has been an Ocean Beach institution for almost 45 years. That’s a long time in a town that is celebrating it’s 125th Anniversary!

Current owner, Roger Lovett, had been a regular customer of Bernie’s since he was a kid. Not every grown up can claim they bought the bike shop they used to hang out in when they were little. When Roger bought the shop in it’s original location on Voltaire and Ebers in 1989, he was jokingly threatened by long time customers to retain the original name of Bernie’s. And so he did.

Two years later in 1991, he moved the shop to it’s current location at 1911 Cable Street (used to house the Sunshine Surf Shop). Twenty-one years is a long time in a town that has seen too many businesses close in just the last few years alone. There used to be 4 bike shops in OB but most have closed.

While this summer has seen stock markets plunge, consumer confidence crater, and hopes for a broad economic recovery evaporate, several members of Ocean Beach’s business community seem cautiously optimistic about the future.

Gary Gilmore, owner of Gilmore Family Jewelers on Newport Avenue, has noticed a slight upturn in customer sentiment in recent weeks.

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As I passed the Electric Chair and the neighboring tattoo shop, I noticed Paul Bolton up on a ladder putting some finishing touches to the fresh paint at the front of the old thoroughfare, that breeze way that took you from Newport to the Apple Tree parking lot.

But no more. It is now – or will be – the lavish entryway for Electric Ladyland – the new music and art center – and music venue that Paul and Lynne Bolton, owners of the Electric Chair, will be opening on June 1st.

Interesting question, since I don’t really care for breakfast in bed, but I found a wonderful alternative and something that I do like. And… the best part is that is right here in Ocean Beach.

Curious? Let me give you a few more hints. The “hidden place” is located on Santa Monica Blvd., just west of the Apple Tree Market. It is between Cable and Bacon, located on the south side of the street. There you can be pampered, fed, even “bathed” if you are interested.

by Mary E Mann
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After very careful analysis, and more than a few whiskey gingers and Belgium beers, what follows is a review of the Ocean Beach bars/clubs. Pardon me if I missed one or two – a girl can only do so much drinking. It’s a tough job, but somebody has to do it.
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Pacific Shores:

Ah, the black light undersea glow is almost as soothing as the drink prices …

OCEAN BEACH, CA. For the last week we ran a poll asking readers : Where’s the best spot in O.B. to catch your favorite band and or music?

Winstons, the long-time local club on Bacon Street won hands down. It received 58% of the votes. There was no one a close second. Farmers Market came in with 16% of the vote, and the Harp had 15%.

Here’s the full tally:Where’s the best spot in O.B. to catch your favorite band and or music?

OCEAN BEACH, CA. According to our most recent poll that was up for an entire week – what do people want to see in OB’s current empty store fronts? – the winning category of respondents want “Mom and pop locally-owned businesses” as “a priority.”

Of 110 respondents, 40 voted for this – 36% of all votes. The poll ran from August 6th to the 13th.

For a week we ran a poll on how people feel about World Oil’s Sunset Plaza. The results are in, and with 67 respondents (and there’s no way to tell whether a respondent lives in OB) people are split on the two-story medical building planned for the corner of Sunset Cliffs and Voltaire.

The largest bloc of voters, 29 of them for 43% think the building is …

In the early Seventies, the battle for the future of Ocean Beach grew very intense, as the different warring sides squared off around the original OB Precise Plan – the urban design for the community sponsored by the elite and powerful. The OB Community Planning Group published an 8-page leaflet that was so effective, that it convinced the community to join and support the organization.

We have just heard from friends in the know that Rock Paper Scissors and its controversial closure is back in the news – sort of. The Reader, San Diego’s predominant weekly, is supposed to be carrying an article on it in its Thursday’s edition. Jeff Fagan, the original owner of the arts and crafts store, reportedly refused to be interviewed. …

BREAKING NEWS:

Fox News will air a story on Rock Paper Scissors this evening, Friday March 27th between 10-10:30pm

Channel 6 San Diego