Ocean Beach Pier to Broadway and Harbor

September 20: San Diego County Ocean Beach Pier to Broadway and Harbor. 11.7 miles

There is a buzz of anticipation in the air. It is not so much that we will soon be done, but that we will soon have done it. We can mentally see the end coming nearer and nearer, even if we cannot physically see it.

We awoke at Scripps on this Saturday and looking out at the ocean, there seemed to be fewer surfers than the day before. I suspect that on weekdays the press of work compresses the time for surfing into the early morning and late afternoon hours. Today the crowds would be more evenly spaced throughout the day.

We drove to our start in Ocean Beach and remembering that this was September 20th and therefore beach clean-up day, we took our plastic bags and dedicated an hour to the beach, here, doing our duty. Results: ban tobacco and alcohol products and we would have much cleaner beaches. (Linda’s note: Cigarette butts were prolific along the border between the sand and sidewalk or parking lot, as well as on the beach. Smokers don’t think, I suppose, that these bits of debris are both unsightly and unhealthy for birds and other living things.)

Our walk continued into the Point Loma area, where we entered the grounds of the Point Loma Nazarene University, home of the Sea Lions and where they “Teach, Shape and Send”. Here we took our midmorning break in the student-union building and later heard of the history of this area from Steve Kononenko. The former owners here, from 1897 to 1942, were the Universal Brotherhood and Theosophical Society, founded by Katherine Tingly. A Greek theatre and two campus buildings are the remnants of this part of this land’s history.

As we walked through a Point Loma neighborhood, not far from PLNU, we met and talked with Bill Parker, who was just about to take his 1914 Buick out for a spin. Soon we hit the shore of San Diego Bay and by various routes, waterside paths, roadways and concrete multi-use paths, made our way along the shoreline, past the Star of India, to the San Diego-Coronado ferry terminal and the end of our day’s walk. (Jon Breyfogle; photos by Linda Hanes)

Right: Steve K., Steve J. and Jean with their Coastal Cleanup haul. Center: PLNU and Theosophical Society. Right: Walkers at the Star of India sailing ship and museum.