A hard-core fan of the South Bay

The singer from the band Pennywise spends a lot of time on tour, so he cherishes the days he spends at home in Manhattan Beach and Hermosa Beach.

Beach days

I grew up in the South Bay beach area, and one of the things that makes me nostalgic about the past is buying a bunch of pastrami, turkey and chicken sandwiches from Boccato’s deli in Hermosa Beach and taking them down to the beach to eat them on the sand. My family and I also like to get on our bikes, ride down to the pier and stop at the aquarium to look at the sharks. When we’re in the mood for shopping, we head for Rocketship Records in Hermosa because there’s a whole experience to buying records that you don’t get when you download music from computers. I want to have the album cover and see the art that the performer intended me to see and look at all the lyrics. So going to the local record shop and slicing open the newly bought CD is always exciting for me because it enhances the new music experience.

Headed south

We never like to leave the South Bay area for anything. On the rare occasion when we do go up into L.A. proper, it’s like we’re in Moscow; we don’t know where anything is. Plus, we are always traveling, so it’s great to set up shop at home and not leave our little beach community.

There are many cool local hangouts, one of which is a bar called Ercoles in Manhattan Beach. It is decorated with pictures of local people dating back to the ‘50s, and there are wooden tables that the locals have carved their names into for posterity. We like to drink Bud Light and eat nuts while we’re hanging out with friends we may not have seen since high school.

Blood Alley

Because I’ve never lived anywhere else, I have the ability to go back to favorite places I used to frequent when I was a teenager. In the alley behind 28th Street in Hermosa, I used to skateboard with my friends. We all named it Blood Alley because after you skated there, you usually left some of your own blood on the pavement. There were big driveways that we’d bank off of and fly through the air on our way down to the beach. This experience inspired me to write our song “Yesterdays,” which is all about what it was like growing up in the South Bay, hanging out with friends, enjoying the wonderful Southern California relaxed lifestyle and then growing up and learning the responsibilities and fun of family life.

So in a way, this area has been influential in my songwriting material.

Pancake house

On a Sunday morning, we like going to Uncle Bill’s Pancake House in Manhattan Beach. My kids are in love with the Mickey Mouse pancakes, which are traditional cakes topped with a whipped cream face. The only time when my kids are ever silent is when they’re biting off a piece of Mickey Mouse. The only bad thing is that the wait is almost always over an hour because their food is so good.

Our favorite Mexican restaurant is El Sombrero in Hermosa. The atmosphere is great and no matter what you order -- chips and salsa, burritos or enchiladas -- you can’t go wrong.

-- Karla S. Blume