PIER TREASURE : Tiny Pearls Can Be Found Ashore--on Seal Beach’s Main Street

The first time you drive along Pacific Coast Highway in the area of the Seal Beach Pier, you might wonder what’s to do here but shop for water sports equipment. The street is full of storefronts revealing rubberized bodysuits, boogie boards and bikinis.

But a quick turn down Main Street, and especially through some of its pretty side streets, shows the village-like mix of small shops and homes for which this area is known.

That this area has been able to retain its small-beach-town flavor is the envy of many who inhabit its increasingly pink plaster neighbor to the south, Huntington Beach.

11:30 to 12:30: Main Street in Seal Beach has plenty of restaurants, serving Cajun, Italian, Mexican, seafood and burgers. It’s hard to choose one, but my favorite is a relaxed French cafe near the Bay Theatre called Cafe Lafayette. It’s an especially nice place if you’re always missing breakfast. The egg dishes and Dutch pancakes are served until 3 p.m., according to the menu. Most days you can order them as late as 4.

Everything about the cafe seems relaxed, from the green polka-dot tablecloths to the manager at a rear table, tallying some figures over a copy of the morning newspaper. Lunch prices are reasonable: $5 to $6 for omelets with fried potatoes and a thick croissant, $6.75 for the warm chicken salad and about $6 for sandwiches.

The cafe seems to have saved its energy for some elaborate desserts and coffee drinks, from gelato truffles to hazelnut torte to iced mocha cappuccino.

12:30 to 1: After lunch, there are lots of little shops on Main Street to lose yourself in, including three art galleries. Try to make it down to the ocean end of the street and the California Seashell Co.

Inside are rows and rows of seashells for sale, and not a one collected from nearby beaches. They’re from Mexico and Florida and the Philippines. They have great names such as ruffle clams and donkey ear abalone, and many are less than $2.

And if you like kitsch, all the better. There are starfish dressed as Santa Claus, with hooks to hang them on a Christmas tree. There are cowrie shells painted with the signs of the zodiac.

Flea market enthusiasts might recognize some items; owners John and Lisa Haney have exhibited for years at the county fairgrounds in Costa Mesa.

1 to 1:30: Another treasure is the Bookstore on Main Street. The place makes its pack-rat character known at once: The books that are piled high on both ends of the sales counter leave just enough room for the clerk to reach through to hand you your change.

The store sells new magazines and used books and records. An unusual section, near the back of the store against the east wall, holds books that have been made into movies (or vice versa), such as “Rambo,” “Pretty in Pink” and “The China Syndrome.”

1:30 to 2:30: If you like to walk, a more peaceful alternative to the Seal Beach Pier is a a shady, narrow park that runs along Electric Avenue, perpendicular to Main Street, for about three-quarters of a mile. Near the north end of the park rests a Pacific Electric Red Car. Until about 1950, when cars became more popular, these rail cars carried passengers to inland Orange County and north to Los Angeles.

Today, the Red Car is a museum, housing photographs, period clothing, shells, newspaper clippings and other artifacts.

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1. Cafe Lafayette, 330-F Main St. Egg dishes, sandwiches, dessert, coffee. Lunch prices about $5 to $7. Hours are 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. weekdays and 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. on weekends. Visa, MasterCard accepted.

2. California Seashell Co., 125 Main St. Open 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

3. Book Store on Main Street, 213 Main St. Open 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Closed Wednesdays.

4. Pacific Electric Red Car, Electric Avenue and Main Street. Open from 1 to 4 p.m. on the second and fourth Saturdays of the month.

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Parking: There are municipal lots at Main Street and Electric Avenue (on the north side of the street) and at Main and Central Avenue (on the south side). There is limited diagonal parking along Main Street, but feed the meters, because restrictions are enforced every day, including weekends. Side street parking is available.