Nostalgic Seal Beach

Seal Beach is simultaneously offbeat and gloriously nostalgic.

Take, for example, this seaside community’s Main Street. It has something to interest just about everybody, from a mysterious psychic and hard-to-find brews to a pier that’s more than six football fields long.

Play It Again, Sam

The Bay Theatre is an old favorite. Built in the early ‘40s, it has stood the test of time and outlived the proliferation of cookie-cutter multiplexes.

Catch a movie, or better yet, step back in time with one of its “The Mightiest Wurlitzer in a Western Theater” concerts beginning in December. The organ--which was uprooted 21 years ago from New York City’s Paramount Theater--is the sixth largest in the country, according to theater owner Vic Loderhose. “It’s a sound you just don’t hear anymore,” Loderhose says.

The 1 1/2-hour concerts will include a repertoire of sing-along favorites from the ‘40s, light classics andpop tunes. Admission is $12. First show is Dec. 5 at 1 p.m. (340 Main St., [562] 431-9988).

Tap ‘n’ Cap

If you stop by the Abbey (306 Main St., [562] 799-4246), you might end up elbow to elbow with home-run great Mark McGwire. The Orange County resident--that is when he’s not in St. Louis playing for the Cardinals--frequents the beer joint for its jovial atmosphere and its traditional Caesar salad with blackened chicken ($8.25) or the barbecue chicken wood-fired pizza ($7.95).

McGwire turned the modest eatery into an instant landmark when he started wearing the Abbey’s gray baseball cap during last year’s run to break Roger Maris’ home-run record. Now the hat thing has become a tradition. The owners have started a baseball cap wall of fame with autographed brims from “Local Goddess” Cameron Diaz, Marilyn McCoo and the Doobie Brothers.

“Kind of like the Hard Rock Cafe,” says manager Rob Burdick. McGwire’s jersey and “the” lucky hat are both on display too.

Ask owner Mike Burdick for a favorite pick on the menu and he immediately replies: “Beer!” The Abbey boasts 12 hard-to-find European beers and microbrews that flow from the tap. Try the Mardesous--otherwise known as “Abbey Ale”--a fruity beer with twice the alcohol as most ($4.50). Or swill a gulp or two of “everybody’s favorite”--the 20-ounce Hacker-Pschorr,--distinguished by its wheaty, tart taste and yeasty aroma.

If beer’s not your thing, try Walt’s Wharf (201 Main St., [562] 598-4433) for one of its 200-plus varieties of wine. “It’s overwhelming,” says restaurant manager Neil Sorensen. The selections range from $18 to $200.

Walt and Mona Babock have owned the place twice. In between they started a small winery with the family name in northern Santa Barbara County. Now the Babocks’ wines are mainstays at Walt’s Wharf, as well as home-grown vegetables they ship weekly to the restaurant.

Walt’s has good food too. Its claim to fame? The oak-grilled artichoke for $7.95. So popular is the dish that the restaurant routinely doles out its recipe--even sometimes faxing it to befuddled chefs at home trying to whip it up from memory. Concerned about giving away secret ingredients? “No way,” Sorensen says. “No one’s got a wood-fire oven at home.”

For the Kids

Check out the Red Car Museum (Electric Avenue west of Main Street, [562] 683-1874); Hours: 1-4 p.m. on the second and fourth Saturdays each month) for a snapshot history of Seal Beach.

It’s the famed Red Cars from the Pacific Electric Railway that brought the crowds to the beach communities we know today.

The particular car on display on a lovely greenbelt was once a mobile machine shop, dating to 1925. It traveled to the aid of troubled cars along the 40-mile route that operated from 1904 to 1950. As the automobile began to grow in popularity, the rail system languished, officially going kaput in 1961.

Visitors can see photos from the bygone era, and kids can toot Red Car No. 1734’s compressed-air whistle just as the engineers did in the old days.

Since there are not a lot of seashells by the seashore on Seal Beach, kids will love exploring them at the California Seashell Co. (125 Main St., [562] 493-6653. Hours: 10 a.m.-6 p.m. daily). Bin after bin of shells come from, oh, just about everywhere. “Africa, Philippines, Mexico, Japan, Ireland. We’ve got them all,” store manager Todd Turner says. “That is, from everywhere but here.”

According to Turner, the shells that wash up along the Southern California coast don’t have the vibrant colors of those from warmer climes.

Kids can dig in a bin for shells at $1 per scoop or take home the more exotic: florescent pink starfish from the Philippines ($1 each); the “freak of nature” left-handed Whelk from India ($6); or a “very rare” Mexican Lion Paw, which looks like the old Shell gas logo ($3 each). “It’s one of the only places around where kids come in and buy something with their allowance and get change back,” Turner says.

After you’ve finally made your way down Main Street, you’ll hit the Seal Beach Pier, reconstructed in 1984 after fierce storms. The pier stretches 1,865 feet, but it’s well worth the walk for a breath of fresh sea air.

There’s fishing at the end for about $15 a day. Everything you need is there, including rod rental, tackle, bait and all the free advice you can stand from the well-weathered anglers. No license required.

For the more adventuresome, try your luck hooking a barracuda, yellowtail, bass or bonito on a half-day fishing excursion by Seal Beach Big Fish Sportfishing ($23 per person; $19 for kids under 15. [562] 598-4700). During the winter, the wooden-hulled 55-footer leaves daily from the pier at 9 a.m. and returns at 3 p.m.

Readers’ Paradise

Most every customer enters the Book Store on Main Street (213 Main St., [562] 598-1818. Hours: 10 a.m.-9:30 p.m. Thursday-Monday; closed Tuesday and Wednesday) with the same puzzled look and asks: “Hey, do you happen to have. . . ?” For that hard-to-find book or those out of print, this is the shop for you. Owner Nathan Cohen, 77, will do his best to find the title you seek, digging through floor-to-ceiling book stacks, scouring nonalphabetized shelves, sometimes two rows deep. But don’t worry. Cohen’s got a razor-sharp memory and can usually zero in on the title you seek.

“There’s 14 gazillion books in this place,” said a recent shopper looking for a book on Bible miracles. Cohen shrugs. “It’s a mess, but I know where everything is.”

Whether it’s F. Scott Fitzgerald or Danielle Steel,--Cohen’s probably got it.

Sundae With a View

Many corner ice cream shops have been replaced with franchise stores, but not in Seal Beach, where the fresh aroma of waffle cones cooking will lure you into Main St. Ice Cream and Yogurt (101-K Main St., [562] 431-3394. Hours: 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Sunday-Thursday; 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Friday-Saturday).

Order the traditional hot fudge sundae, or try crushed Snickers bars, fresh blackberries or the always popular cookie dough added to vanilla or chocolate nonfat yogurt.

Kids can even sip an old-fashioned ice cream soda at the counter while drooling over oversized jars of $2 jawbreakers, lollipops, licorice or candy necklaces. Best of all, nearly every seat in the shop has a lovely ocean view.

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IF YOU GO

GETTING THERE: From the San Diego Freeway (405) take Seal Beach Boulevard south. Turn right on Bolsa Avenue, which bends left and becomes Main Street. Cross Pacific Coast Highway and you’re downtown. Diagonal free parking available along Main Street.

SIGHTS: The Tot Lot playground on the south side of the pier is adorned with hand-painted tiles from Seal Beach families. City kids will love swinging in the fresh salt air. A clean bathroom is conveniently nearby.

SATURDAY IN THE PARK: If brown-bagging is more your thing, pull up some grass on the greenbelt for a picnic lunch. Sit outside the Sea Coast Community Church for a special New England feel. Locals favor Nick’s Deli (223 Main St., [562] 598-5072) for takeout. Try the Breakfast Burrito with chorizo, potato and eggs ($3.75) or the California Club with turkey, avocado and bacon ($5.50).

FINDS: There are unique finds at the Antique Gallery (217 Main St., [562] 594-4985. Hours: 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday-Friday; 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday), including a 1920s tortoise-shell hair comb ($27.50) and a linen car coat ($95).