STROLLING DOWN THE SIDEWALK….
From the nice to see to the not so nice to witness….
A stroll down El Mar Drive last evening…heading towards 101 Ocean…for dinner….Out in front of a duplex… 2 girls …1 box of colored chalk and some “puffy” names being drawn on their driveway…that was nice…it said spring break…family….and a momentary recall of the days when this writer could have been that girl…holding the blue chalk…
Proceeding up towards the town…saw the not so nice…2 BSO police cars and Sal’s towing at the El Prado parking lot…BTSTimes Editor -photog/VFD-Town photog Marc Furth and VFD member Mark Conn standing by observing…We asked the BSO policeman what was up…thinking parked cars were illegally parked in the newly designated beach/residential spots?…Nope they caught 2 criminals he replied…and seated in the back of his car and his fellow officer’s car…there they sat…watching their truck being hooked up for a tow ….
In town it was a little nippy…a little less crowded than in the prior day or two…providing quick seating for dinner…The service and food were first rate which has become the norm at 101…firmly placing it on our weekly list of restaurants we frequent…as so many we know now practice as well….
I took the BCbytheseahubby to check out the pavilion…he hadn’t walked inside before…Surprisingly it was not shut right back down as the Coastal Construction guy informed last Sat….We saw people in and out and ON it…The brand new pavillion seems to have suffered through some “bumps and bruises” already….with a concrete base already cracked off on the east …on a pole under the pergola…The marigolds just planted a few days ago are showing signs of being sat on, stepped on and used to hide cigarettes…People are sitting wherever they can…due to no seats available to them ……with kids doing the “balance beam” like it’s the conservatory in the “Sound of Music”…( remember the scene…”You are 16 going on 17”) We hear it may be a a destination for panhandling musicians…witnessed the day after the ribbon cutting ceremony…..Prime spot…out of the sun…and full of passerbys…Unfortunately to get to the pavilion…you need to step into oncoming traffic at the turn-around… due to the tight pathway on the north side…full of waiting patrons for dining at Aruba..holding their balloons…and the saw-horses blocking the walkway to the pavilion…Many remarked on the lack of space to get around…and no lights…Another topic of ire…a $3000 clock!…No one is “buying” this expenditure at this time…How about VFD Booster Club donation instead?…
Walking back home we noticed once again the darkness at the El Prado parking lot…(Good they caught the criminals there before it turned dangerously dark)…How is it possible that this new parking lot, would not come with turtle friendly lighting…from the get go…Parking customers cannot see where to pay the meter…fumbling and feeling vulnerable…The lights across the way in the park should have provided the obvious requirement…(one would think.)…Speaking of the El Prado Park…What’s up with the Minto cones cutting off 6 parking -drop off spaces…this is not Minto property…And the signs that point to “handicapped access” for the beach….are particularly troublesome…they point north to the small path at the far end of Minto’s office lot…but to get to the access….the handicapped person needs to go over unpaved sidewalk and a grassed area…along with an uncovered power box…hardly user frindly or safe…Why was there no plan for handicapped access directly behind the park…leaving only the same old steps with no handrail?…YIKES!…
At Pine Ave. the lights at the portal are red…they do the job…they don’t hurt your eyes…( unlike the Oriana/El Prado colored lights)…When going to see the turtle nests a few years back with the Furths……we were told cover your flashlights with red film…easy…with a rubber band…So question is…why can’t colored lightbulbs be used…to keep both the turtles and the people safe?……..Just asking…
more to come…
Tags: Scoops
