‘Tween beach and bay

Lindsay Sandham

Before Disneyland, Legoland and Knott’s Berry Farm, there was the

Balboa Fun Zone.

Awash with history, the nearly 70-year-old amusement park has seen

some cosmetic changes, renovations, business ups and downs and plenty

of restaurant and shop turnover, but the feeling of good,

old-fashioned fun remains.

“The Fun Zone is the idea of coming down and hanging out and

eating corn dogs and pizzas,” said Bob Black, vice president of the

Balboa Pavilion. “It doesn’t really change that much. We like the

uniqueness, the old flavor of Balboa.”

Kim Wells of Corona del Mar, who brings her two children a couple

of times a year, said the area offers something for everyone in the

family.

“It’s appealing that there isn’t change,” she said. “You always

know what to expect.”

When the kids were really small, Wells recounted, she and her

husband would wander through with them in strollers. When her father

comes to visit, he likes to hang out on the harbor and watch the

fishing boats come in.

Longtime Balboa Peninsula resident Gay Wassall-Kelly started

vacationing here with her family in 1949, when she was 10.

“We rented a little cottage on the water,” she said. “The first

thing I found was the Fun Zone.”

By the time she was in high school, she and her girlfriends were

coming down from Los Angeles during the summer and Easter break,

which was known to Balboa visitors as “Bal Week.” The Fun Zone took

on a new meaning for her -- it went from a place to get 25-cent photo

strips and ride amusement park rides to a place to ogle boys and

giggle with her girlfriends.

And while times have changed, fashion trends have come full cycle,

Wassall-Kelly said.

They used to wear pedal-pushers and zoris -- known today as capri

pants and flip-flops -- and they always wore cotton blouses, although

the minute they left their parents’ sight they untucked them and tied

them in a knot, so “maybe you could see a little skin.”

The crowd had a tendency to be a little older in those days,

especially with places like the popular Rendezvous Ballroom, where

teenagers and young adults would dance and party until 1 a.m.

A dance called the Balboa Shuffle started at the Rendezvous in the

late 1930s and quickly spread throughout the nation, according to the

Balboa Pavilion website (https:// www.balboapavilion.com).

“You always knew a tourist,” Wassall-Kelly said. “Guys would wear

black socks with penny loafers. We made fun of them.”

On weekends and in the summer, the area still fills up with

tourists. “We sort of pride ourselves on a family atmosphere,” said

owner Joe Tunstall. “We sort of cater to people with children up to

12 or 13. It’s a nice clean, safe place.”

Kim Wells said although big amusement parks also cater to the

young crowd, that’s a whole-day commitment, and it costs around $50 a

person right when you walk in the door.

“You can come here for a couple of hours; it’s not a big

commitment,” she said.

Fun Zone general manager Patrick Moore said what’s attractive

about the area is it’s not just an amusement park; people can come

down for the day and enjoy the beach or the many activities offered

at the Balboa Pavilion, such as harbor cruises, skiff boat rentals,

Catalina passenger service and sport fishing trips.

“I love working here,” he said. “I’ve got the bay on one side and

the beach on the other.”