Touring Balboa by Foot

One summer evening when my daughter, Caitlin, was about 2 years old, we decided to go exploring. We ended up at Balboa, and there she led me on a walk that has become a tradition. The stopping points and spontaneous diversions she pursued along our original route are revisited each time, perhaps to recapture the magic of our first journey.

She’s 5 now and knows the way.

She tugs me along from point to point, grasping me by the finger.

Last year the walk became part of our holiday tradition after we saw the area transformed for Christmas. The Balboa Pavilion, with its cupola fashioned into a blazing Christmas tree, is a spectacular sight from across the bay at night.

Marine Avenue, Balboa Island’s central business district, brought back lost elements from my childhood: a main street decorated for the holidays, quaint window displays and a giant Christmas tree in front of the fire station.

These were mainstays in the town where I grew up, and I was thrilled to have them back.

Here is how you can follow our route:

Balboa Peninsula

Park in the lot next to the pier (rates are 50 cents for each 20 minutes, up to $7 maximum). From there, it’s a short walk to the Fun Zone, but you may want to stroll along the pier first. The original, constructed in 1906, was destroyed by a hurricane and rebuilt in 1939. Ruby’s Diner, the restaurant at the end of the pier, is closed through Friday for refurbishment, but you might want to wander out to watch the workers put on the finishing touches for its reopening.

At the foot of the pier, there’s a children’s play area and a public restroom next to Peninsula Park, a favorite kite-flying spot. Head inland away from the pier to walk along the peninsula’s tree-lined Main Street. The corner pharmacy, a bakery and a post office serve as a reminder that this is a real town, not just a tourist area.

The Studio Cafe (100 Main St.; [949] 675-7760; open 11:30 a.m. to midnight daily) is a local hot spot with live music Tuesday through Sunday. When things are really kickin’, we peer through the windows and dance on the sidewalk. We don’t linger very long, though, because Caitlin knows there’s a carousel waiting up ahead.

Fun Zone

From Main Street, turn left on Edgewater Avenue and make your way to the Fun Zone, a waterfront carnival and arcade area that has delighted young and old since 1936. There’s a carousel, bumper cars, an arcade, laser tag, the Tin Man, a ride similar to Disneyland’s spinning tea cups and a Ferris wheel with a fabulous view of the harbor.

We have yet to check out the Scary Dark Ride, but it looks like a great place to bring a date. Tickets are $1, but most rides require at least two tickets. (Winter hours are noon to 8 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays; noon to 10 p.m. Fridays; 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturdays; 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sundays. Rides close earlier on nights when business is slow. At this point, we are usually in need of refreshment, and there are plenty of eateries to choose from. Knot Just Candy ([949] 673-1365), on the patio area near the carousel, sells Balboa bars, vanilla ice cream on a stick, fresh-dipped in chocolate ($2), snow cones ($2.25) and cotton candy ($2.50).

Bay Burger ([949] 675-0660) has fish and chips ($1.25 with coleslaw), stuffed baked potatoes ($2.75-$3) and hamburgers ($2.50-$4).

Balboa Ferry

The only thing that will lure Caitlin away from the carousel is a ferry ride across the harbor to Balboa Island. The ferry line has been run by the same family since 1906.

We board as walk-on passengers for 50 cents. Automobiles are $1.25 for car and driver, plus 50 cents for each occupant. Children 5 and younger are free. We have often spotted harbor seals during the three-minute trip. The ferry makes six trips an hour from 6:30 a.m. to midnight Sundays through Thursdays; it runs from 6:30 a.m. to 2 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays.

Balboa Island

Exit the ferry and walk right on South Bay Front. This public walkway encircles the entire island, past waterfront homes with private docks decked out for the holidays. Our journey slows to a meander as we pause to build a sandcastle and watch boats.

There are cats to scratch, dogs to pet and patio gardens to admire. The Fun Zone Ferris wheel twinkles from across the bay, and the pavilion’s distinctive outline is traced in lights of red, green and white. A giant “Happy Holidays” sign beaming from its roof reflects in the bay.

The walkway intersects with streets named after jewels or precious minerals: Opal, Topaz, Turquoise, Ruby, Diamond and Sapphire avenues. After Onyx comes Marine Avenue, and we walk left toward the island’s business district.

Our first stop is always Newport Beach Fire Station No. 4 on the corner of Marine and Park avenues. (A plastic fire hat and a paper badge given to Caitlin during her first visit here are among her most treasured possessions.) The 20-foot tree out front is decorated with giant candy canes and big red bows. Poinsettias are tucked around the base, and miniature buildings carved by island resident Hank Taylor complete the display.

From here, our route varies. We might head over to Shanghai Pine Garden restaurant for Chinese food (300 Marine Ave.; [949] 673-3802; open 11:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Monday through Thursdays; 11:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays) or to Starbucks for coffee and hot chocolate (226 Marine Ave.; [949] 675-4377; opens at 6 a.m. daily and closes Mondays through Thursdays at 9:30 p.m.; Fridays and Saturdays at 11 p.m.; Sundays at 9 p.m.). Balboa Candy has barrels of saltwater taffy and other classic candies available by the pound (301 Marine Ave.; [949] 723-6099; open Mondays through Thursdays, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Fridays through Sundays, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.). Little ones will enjoy the window displays at Teddy Bears and Tea Cups (225 Marine Ave.; [949] 673-7204) and a ride on the mechanical horse in front of Our Gang’s General Store (217 1/2 Marine Ave.; [949] 675-0666).

On the return trip, my little companion is tired and needs to be carried part way. But she usually perks up for another carousel ride at the Fun Zone. We’ll do this again, as every visit has been memorable and time well spent.

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IF YOU GO

GETTING THERE: Take the Costa Mesa Freeway south to where it ends and becomes Newport Boulevard. Continue on Newport, following signs to Balboa Pier. Turn left on West Balboa Boulevard. Turn right on Palm Avenue to enter the Balboa Pier parking lot.

BALBOA PAVILION: Main Street dead-ends near the Balboa Pavilion, a Victorian structure built in 1905 to coincide with the completion of the Pacific Electric red car line from Los Angeles. During the 1930s and 1940s Big Band era, Benny Goodman, Count Basie and the Dorsey brothers were frequent performers in the Grand Ballroom. The “Balboa Hop,” a dance craze that swept the nation, originated here.

Today the pavilion is home to Tale of the Whale Restaurant, Spouter Saloon, Davey’s Locker sport fishing excursions and the old-fashioned General Store. It also is a departure point for Newport Harbor sightseeing tours, Christmas boat parade cruises and trips to Catalina Island aboard the Catalina Flyer ([949] 673-5245).