Monthly Archives: October 2007

Invisible Beach’s 3 Claims To Fame/#2 Driftwood (2)

Story by John Vonderlin ——-many of John’s terms are described here Flotsam in the nearshore takes that path in our area because it is driven by the longshore current (littoral drift)–which in turn is driven by the prevailing northwest winds. … Continue reading

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Invisible Beach’s 3 Claims To Fame/#2 Driftwood

Story by John Vonderlin–but his friends call him “Dr. Science.” Part II Hi June, When I first started taking the long hike to Invisible Beach, to see the colorful pebbles, I noticed a nearby area where a number of rafts … Continue reading

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1951: “Ma Frey”: Bartendress & Hotel owner’s daughter (4)

Lizzie McCormick, the hotel owner’s daughter married Herman Frey, the town constable and owner of the Elkhorn Saloon. For ten years the happy couple lived at Lobitos*. During that time the ship ‘Colombia‘ ran aground and broke-up near Pescadero. The … Continue reading

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Looking Toward The Famous Flagpole: Pescadero, circa 1980

Photo by Jerry Koontz, jerrysphotos.com

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1951: “Ma Frey”: Bartendress & Hotel owner’s daughter (3)

One of the famous landmarks in Pescadero was (and is) “Lincoln Hill,” on the south side of the town. “I’ve been on it enough,” Ma Frey, who tooled around in a 1935 Ford, said. “When I was a kid, we … Continue reading

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1951: “Ma Frey”: Bartendress & Hotel owner’s daughter (2)

Here it was, 1951, and Ma Frey complained that the only remaining celebration in town was the annual three-day Portuguese Chamarita festival. “I suppose I’ll march in the parade,” she agreed. “I remember when I used to dance three nights … Continue reading

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1951: “Ma Frey”: Bartendress & Hotel owner’s daughter

[I wrote this in 1993] One of my favorite Pescadero characters is Lizzie McCormick Frey (affectionately known as “Ma Frey,” pronounced “Fry”). But I never met her. Yet I can almost hear the bespectacled 70-year-0ld widow chatting –in her trademark, … Continue reading

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The Fame of ‘Invisible Beach’ #1/Rocks by John Vonderlin

Invisible Beach: “Not even Big Sur, Jade Cove, or Cambria’s, Moonstone Beach, further south, have such an interesting pedigree or range of attractive stones.” Part I Hi June, I’ve asserted that Invisible Beach is the most amazing, unusual, interesting, etc. … Continue reading

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Well Worth Memorizing (2) The “Poem of Pescadero” by Mrs. H.L. Good (circa 1850)

The Poem of Pescadero by Mrs. H.L. Good “Like a bird’s nest in an old oak tree, Or a pearl within a shell, Lies the village Pescadero, Near where restless seawaves dwell Round her rise the rugged hilltops, And beside … Continue reading

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The Poem of Pescadero (1)

A sweet story from the Redwood City Tribune, 1924: “Over 50 years ago a subscriber to a well-known farm journal of California picked up an incomplete part of a poem about Pescadero on Market Street in San Francisco. Finding the … Continue reading

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