Balboa Island

It's summer in San Francisco, and the days are often cold and foggy. While I love living in Northern California, there are times I desperately miss the warm summers in Southern California. This postcard reminds me of Southern California summers on Balboa Island where I spent many hours riding bikes around the "little island" (there are three islands, one connected to the mainland, the other two connected to the "big island" with small bridges), walking along the sea wall looking into the houses at night (no one would consider closing their curtains), grabbing patches of sand to sun in at low tide, and jumping into the bay from a variety of docks, whether we had "official" permission or not. We visited the Ogdens, we rented houses at Easter vacation, we moved from one family's rental house to another as teenagers either staying for a few days or looking for parties, and I spent a lot of time at my friend Chris' house on the bayfront on the little island.

Balboa Island used to be an "everyman" sort of place: tiny houses for rent on a weekly or monthly basis, wet beach towels hanging from porches, Balboa Bars, and the best place to buy a summer bikini, tops and bottoms made to order separately. Now, like most places in or near the Pacific Ocean, it's a place for McMansions crowded on tiny lots, houses that sit empty much of the time, and big powerful boats screaming "Look at me!"

Not sure exactly when this postcard was printed, but judging from the beach chairs, this picture is probably from the 1960s.  My mom had a chair exactly like the ones on the left for years.