Hermosa Beach

2002

Colin Fahey

2002.12.12 : 3:30 P.M - 6:00 P.M.

I visited Sennari Interactive, my former employer, in Marina Del Rey, and on my return trip to Irvine I decided to walk around Hermosa Beach and take pictures as dusk approached. 

The pictures are in chronological order, so you can imagine walking around Hermosa Beach with me.

I lived in Hermosa Beach, California, with my friend Serge Cortes, from approximately 1999.05 through 2000.10. 

We lived in an apartment that was approximately 200 yards from the beach, in an apartment complex called Playa Pacifica. 

I was working at Adrenalin / Sennari during that time, first on a Nuon demonstration, and then on a game named "Flintstone's Bedrock Bowling" (PC,PSX), and then on an Electronic Arts (EA) game called "NCAA Football 2001" (PSX), and finally on a game prototype for the Playstation 2. 

I really loved living in Hermosa Beach, and I would be living there today if I had the cash.  It was not terribly expensive.  It was approximately $1000 (USD) per month for a one-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment; or $1500 (USD) per month for a two-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment.  But I do not like the pressure of having to remain employed to pay rent.  If I ever become wealthy, I might move back to Hermosa Beach for a while, or perhaps to Manhattan Beach, because it is a pleasant place to live. 

Serge and I went to local restaurants and bars a few nights a week. 

We walked from our apartment to Manhattan Beach on the pedestrian path by the ocean, to an Italian restaurant called Mama D's, or to The Kettle (one of the few places open all 24 hours). 

We liked local Hermosa Beach hangouts, too, such as Rocky Cola Cafe, Hennessey's Tavern, Einstein's (or was it Ein Stein's!), etc. 

Of course we went to conventional restaurants in the area: Ruby's restaurant, The Cheesecake Factory (very popular location), and sometimes Denny's (open all 24 hours) on Artesia. 

Sometimes we went to some classy restaurants with really small, but delicious, entrees. 

I liked living in Hermosa Beach and working at Sennari.  I wish things could have stayed in equilibrium for many years.  However, my life as a video game programmer was burning me out, and Serge wanted to move back to the East Coast after spending approximately five years in Southern California.  So, I left Hermosa Beach and returned to Irvine. 

I have many fond memories of living in Hermosa Beach, and it is nice to have the following images to remind me of that experience.  I feel like the following images don't quite convey the full beauty of the place, but they nonetheless serve to remind me of what is was like to live there.  Some day I would like to take photographs with a better camera, and when the sun is higher in the sky.