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The “Three Richards” Redux

A while ago I posted a story called “The Three Richards;” to read it, click here

The story begins: “Three Richards but I have a photo of only one.” At the time the only photo I had and posted was of Richard “the Englishman” Henry. I didn’t have a photo of “Rotten Richard” or of Richard English, not to be confused with Richard “the Englishman.”

Now, I am thrilled to report, I have three photos of “classic” Richard English, a very tall, red-headed charmer who passed away too young, too young (in his 50’s a couple of years ago.)

In the 1970s and early 1980s Richard was always leaving town, which meant there had to be a big, loud and warm going-away party in Princeton-by-the-Sea or Miramar Beach. When he soon came back there was no party but hugs all around.

Richard was ready to make you laugh hard most of the time–but he could also make you cry just as easily and just as hard.

Thank you Joni Keim for the photos. Joni lived in the “Quinta Marta” house in Montara in 1972. Click here for Joni’s website.

(Photo: Classic Richard English, photo courtesy Joni Keim)

(Photo: Richard English with Joni Keim.)

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Do You Recognize This Gorgeous Man?

Guess who? Guess again.

I’ll give you a clue. Everybody knows him. He’s an accomplished musician and he writes for Half Moon Bay Memories & The El Granada Observer.

Give Up? Look closely– deeply into his eyes.

It’s Fayden Holmboe of Half Moon Bay, circa 1970s.
Do you want to read Fayden’s work? Click here

**** Photo courtesy Joni Keim, a Petaluma resident who lived in the lovely “Quinta Marta” house overlooking the sea in Montara in 1972. To learn more about Joni’s consulting business, click here

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Moss Beach Distillery, circa 1980

(photo courtesy Jerry Koontz, jerrysphotos.com)
The Distillery was built about 1927 when Prohibition was in full swing. Frank Torres, a native of Peru [I believe] was the owner and his residence stood steps away. I may have told you before but I did meet with Frank at his home once. He was a friendly man, full of mischief–but what struck me was the painting on the wall–of Frank Torres, wearing suit and tie, with Devil’s Slide behind him. I often wonder where that painting is….the image certainly reflected where the power lay at least on that part of the Coastside.

By 1980 the restaurant’s name had changed from Frank’s to the Galway Bay Inn to the Distillery and one of the owners was David Andrews.

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Granada (10)

(Photo: Ocean Shore Railroad, courtesy Spanishtown Historical Soceity)

While the cement curbs and sidewalks remained [many of them leading nowhere], no one built homes near them. The most ambitious project–the Coney Island West–did not materialize and Granada now had the curious feeling of a ghost town.
The Ocean Shore Railroad declared bankruptcy and the rails were torn up about 1922–but four years later prominent leaders in Half Moon Bay looked for mass transit alternatives, among them a 4,000 foot long tunnel cut through the Santa Cruz Mountains.

About the same time Lewis W. Martin purchased 640 acres for $150,000 in what was now known as El Granada. Martin announced that he had elaborate plans for a development called the El Granada Country Club, accessed via Isabella and Columbus Avenues–close to San Francisco, he said, where he planned to direct an agressive membership campaign.

The landowner sliced the tract into 7500 cabin sites and talked of planting colorful flowers everywhere.

But Lewis Martin’s plans collapsed when the Great Depression put a choke-hold on many investments and there was no great rush to buy property which was declining in value. Also, the strangely constructed Pedro Mountain Road–a road supposedly built for automobiles–with its remarkable collection of twists and turns and its uneven, unexpected drops in the pavement, did not win the hearts and minds of drivers.

On the other hand, as I have written many times, with the loss of the railroad, the Coastside’s isolation remained, turning Granada and its neighboring communities into a perfect haven for rumrunners, bootleggers and roadhouses during Prohibition.

….end….

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Guest Chef di Gabriele Carlesso At Mezza Luna This Week Only

Burt and I went to lunch at Mezza Luna [located in the old Princeton Hotel] in Princeton-by-the-Sea today and were delighted to learn that Guest Chef Gabriele was preparing the “specials”, including a spectacular Veal Scallapino. Gabriele owns the Trattoria Tre Fonti near Venice [Italy] and while enjoying a week’s vacation on the Coastside he decided he wanted to cook.

Photo: Chef Gabriele

Photo: We ordered the Veal Scallapino.

To visit Mezza Luna, click here

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Come Back to the Coastside, Gray Gardner!

DEAR JUNE;I WAS TALKING TO ONE OF MY FRIENDS HERE IN MISSOURI(FROM SAN BRUNO) AND TOLD HIM THAT WHEN I WON THE LOTTERY,I WAS MOVING BACK TO THE COAST,BUYING THE GIFT SHOP IN PRINCENTON HARBOR AND RECREATING “GENE’S BEER AND PIZZA”.

I GUESS WHAT TRIGGERED THIS WAS READING THE HMB REVIEW YESTERDAY AND SEEING THE NEW DEVELOPMENT IN PRINCETON.

MY NAME IS GRAY GARDNER; I MOVED TO EL GRANADA IN OCT. 1967, SPENT MY FIRST NIGHT IN GENE’S, WOKE UP WITH A TREMENDOUS HANGOVER, HEARD THE SOUND OF THE WAVES, AND KNEW I WAS HOME.

TWO OF MY FRIENDS FROM MISSOURI WERE LIVING IN THE STUDIOS BEHIND THE HARDWARE STORE–I MOVED IN–AND LATER LIVED ON TOP OF THE HARDWARE STORE WHEN REX BUILT THE APARTMENTS..

MY LAST FIVE YEARS I LIVED IN THE BEACH HOUSE BELOW THE “DISTILLERY” IN MOSS BEACH.

JOE DOSHER (“MIRAMAR JOE”). IS STILL A CLOSE FRIEND OF MINE AS WELL AS DAVID AND PAT ANDREWS,WHO OWNED THE DISTILLERY.

I STILL GET BACK TO THE COAST AT LEAST ONCE A YEAR,BUT MISS THE “MINIATURE CANNERY ROW”. I WISH TODAY THAT I HAD TAKEN MORE PICTURES OF PEOPLE AND PLACES AND FEWER SUNSETS.

I’VE TOLD PEOPLE FOR YEARS THAT A LITTLE BIT OF “CANNERY ROW” WAS STILL ALIVE ON THE COAST WHEN I MOVED THERE,AND LASTED A LITTLE WHILE. I WONDER NOW WHERE THE POOR COMMERCIAL FISHERMEN AND COWBOYS GO TO DRINK AND FIGHT.

SOMETIMES, WHEN YOU’RE LIVING HISTORY,YOU ARE TOO MUCH IN THE MIDDLE OF IT TO KNOW.

I HAVE THE RAILROAD BOOK AND “HALF MOON BAY MEMORIES’ AND PLAN TO ADD YOUR “PRINCETON-BY-THE SEA ‘ BOOK.J UST WANTED TO SAY HI.
REGARDS-GRAY GARDNER
EXCELSIOR SPRINGS,MISSOURI