Growing up in California….? (San Francisco, Berkeley: transplants, spring break, renting)

[mateo45]

If you happened to grow up here, then looking back what do you think was unique or special about doing that in this particular state (assuming anyone here can still remember back that far…lol)?

For example, some friends have lotsa stories about things like growing up around SoCal low-riders, "the Haight", meeting celebrities, or having teen escapades in Tahoe, etc.… often happening during times when I was busy shoveling snow back East! So what do you particularly remember about growing up in the Golden State?

[Tulemutt]

"The Haight"? I gots lots of memories of that. But I didn't grow up here. I was a young man in the military leaving for and coming home from Vietnam. I had a room off base in a shared house for those "summers of love" in the Haight. The whole adventure was like a big acid trip.

Actually, come to think of, it WAS an acid trip to boot

[Ceece]

I took for granted that we could take day trips to the beach, the mountains and the snow. My family didn't take a lot of vacations but we did stuff like that often. Just bumming around SF with my friends when we were teenagers was pretty fun, hitting all the tourist spots.

[murfslaw]

What memories. Santa Monica Beach without hordes of people; free parking if you didn't walk down. Freak freely farms where hippies camped up near Ventura Beach. Rabbit hunting in what is now Marina del Rey. Renting a boat at Santa Monica pier and fishing on the other side of the break wall. Pacific Ocean Park, Hopping the tram from Santa Monica to Venice. Looking for submarines at night on Santa Monica beach with the perfect lady. Drinking Ripple. The Oar House. Little league baseball at Los Amigos park. Nights around fire pits in Playa del Rey. Long weekends at Surfrider Beach, camping in Topanga at night. Surfing station 2, station 6, Bay street, Topanga Beach, Surfrider beach and county line. Lyons drag strip. Ascot park. Watching wrestling and roller derby at the Olympic Auditorium. Camping at Big Sur. Spring Break in Palm Springs.

[Adriatica]

Growing up in the central valley, we had access year-round to best local, fresh fruits, vegetable, and more. Our friends in ag would give our family all kinds of delicious stuff before it even hit the packing houses. We had oranges, lemons, tomatoes, and herbs in our own backyard and would give and take with our neighbors who grew other things (and these were regular yards, not farms). Having family friends who had a slaughter house and would have roasts (pig, lamb, etc) in a giant spit in their back yard.

We would visit my grandparents' farm (wheat and sheep) in northern California, take a day trip to San Francisco, and then come back to the farm at night. It was the best of both extremes: rural living and a world-class city.

Camping in Yosemite and the Sierra. Camping on the beach. Easy trips to coast, mountain, forest, desert, snow, and cities. Visiting the Missions.

As a teen, I had friends with family vacation houses in Santa Cruz and Tahoe. Good times.

Year-round road trips. Year-round outdoor activities and outdoor sports.

Class trips to Disneyland, Magic Mountain, the Monterey Aquarium, whale-watching boat trips, Sonora/Gold Country, the Exploratorium, etc.

Being able to choose from a ton of different colleges, all with in-state tuition.

[bigdumbgod]

Great surf across the street at Lunada Bay, more relaxed waves at Rat Beach down the road.

Second the above referenced Ascot Raceway.

[SyCo]

I grew up in the Tenderloin area in San Francisco and my dad worked in a Senior Property(building) as an assistant manager so I've encountered all types of characters. Here's a list of what stood out:

-Knife fights my dad had to report and call 911.
-A few overdose victims
-Needles in the early morning before the street-sweepers came.
-Had a wide variety of friends (my best friends back the were Chinese and salvadorian and had a lot of Filipino and black friends.)
-Had a friend that was homeless and my dad made me stay away from his parents.
-Had to say hello to people left and right as a sign of courtesy.
-Got introduced to Vietnamese Sandwiches and Tandoori before burritos and Chinese food.
-Seen police talk it up with everyone and get to know the neighborhood before patrolling got big in the area.
-Became tolerant of young radical transplants to old fashioned Russians.

Returning to that neighborhood now, just amazed on how things remained the same(still a homeless and drug problem and still multicultural) and also changed(young professionals and college kids) yet this neighborhood still feels cohesive and the dynamics of daily living feels just as invigorating as the day I moved away.

[slo1318]

Yes I did grow up in CA

[rhiannon67]

I grew up in the SFV and Malibu. Pretty cool and somewhat infamous places to spend one's childhood lol. I loved the beach or going to Lake Tahoe during my mom's or my dad's summer vacations. It's still my favorite lake of all time.

We also spent lots of time in other parts of the Sierra Nevadas....Pinecrest, Sonora, King's Canyon, Yosemite, and Donner Lake. To this day, the Sierras are my favorite mountain range.

I've been gone from California now since 1989. I would never live there again, but my memories of growing up there are pretty fond ones, overall

[Hemlock140]

#1 has to be Lake Tahoe. We went there on vacation every year, and when old enough to drive I went skiing with friends in the Sierras. We still vacation there frequently despite living in another state. Most recently we rented a condo at Incline in September.

I also enjoyed camping in Yosemite, back when it wasn't so crowded and restricted, fishing at Berryessa, Del Valle, and Clear Lake, and on party boats out of the Berkeley Marina and Half Moon Bay.