Created by June Morrall
When I first landed on the Coastside, and became intrigued with local history, I met with Louie Miguel, whose father, Joseph, was one of the masterminds behind the spectacular Palace Miramar Hotel. Louie offered good background info and also talked about the US military taking over his father’s buildings during WWII. [The military moved into …
(Oil spill…photo courtesy Leon Kunke.) Hi June, If you’re a fan of shlock Japanese horror movies of the kaiju (monster) subset of the tokusatsu (special effects) genre, involving undersea monsters, you remember their typical opening with murky underwater shots, accompanied by the building of melodramatic, danger-portending music, ultimately showing something large and mysterious as it …
Hi June, “J‘Accuse!,” my friends in Half Moon Bay. Yes, I accuse your fair city and its residents and visitors of being responsible for the enormous amount of non-buoyant marine debris making the southward “Silent Procession” of which just a small portion is spit out by Neptune’s Vomitorium onto Invisible Beach. Through the carelessness of …
Continue reading “The Crimes of Half Moon Bay…..? By John Vonderlin”
San Francisco Bay Into Two Lakes by June Morrall In the early 1940s Redwood City resident Francis G. Hutchinson attended a meeting that featured John Reber, “the man who wanted to remodel San Francisco Bay.” As Hutchinson listened closely, the author of the controversial “Reber Plan” explained how his “super-colossal” job of geographic re-configuration would …
Continue reading “Bay to Lake: A Failed 1940s Plan Would Have Turned”
This morning, early, I drove to Moss Beach, to the west side near the Fitzgerald Marine Reserve. I wanted to see if Charlie Nye’s “Reefs II” was still there, at Nevada & Beach Streets; I heard that the historic building was gone. Even though you’d think it would be easy to keep in touch with …
Photos:At left, the “Brother Buzz,” and at right, a motor launch believed to have been the “Buzz” before it was retrofitted. Both photos courtesy Fran Young. June, You may recall a decade or so ago we also found a Dog at sea, it made The Review Every Dog Has It’s Day… I have included …
Continue reading “Meet the “Brother Buzz”…See it At Pillar Point Harbor”
Photo: Explosion aboard the “San Juan” in 1929 took the lives of many. The “San Juan”was a “commuter” ship that offered passengers good value as it sailed between San Francisco and Los Angeles. Courtesy San Mateo County History Museum. Summer of 1929: Tragedy at Sea Near Pigeon Point by June Morrall, Part II As the …
Continue reading “Did the Vessel “Brother Buzz” Stumble Across the San Juan?”
June, Here’s some of the correspondence to this point, I came across the wreck site on Thursday 8/2 while making my way to a spot we fishermen call “601” it is aptly named because it is the only spot on the NOAA chart for our area that is 601 fathoms, Tuna fishing enthusiast refer to …
Continue reading “Did the Vessel “Brother Buzz” Stumble Across the San Juan?”
Throughout the decades the Chamarita has grown to include Festival Queens from Tracy, Newark and Santa Clara participating in the celebration at Half Moon Bay. But the Chamartia remains a small town festival sporting a carnival atmosphere with a Ferris Wheel and carousel. Originally, Pescadero and Half Moon Bay jointly celebrated the Chamarita, but in …
Continue reading “History of the Coastside’s Beautiful Chamarita (6)”
What follows below is an email conversation between me and Michael Bowen, world traveling artist. Mr. Bowen was my original contact to the beatniks,including the âbeat leaderâ? Michael McCracken, who lived in the Abalone Factory at Princeton. I interviewed Bowen in the late 1970s, in North Beach in San Francisco, and at his Bolinas home. Michaelâ who …