My favorite stop of the day was at the California Surf Museum, an international repository and resource center on the lifestyle sport of surfing through capturing, preserving, and chronicling its art, culture and heritage for the education and enjoyment of future generations.
An emotional highlight was China Beach: Surfers, the Vietnam War, and the Healing Power of Wave-riding, a ground-breaking exhibit which consists of photos, first-hand accounts, surfboards, and memorabilia from those who were there. The story of the tales of scores of veterans who surfed in Vietnam during the war has never before been told. What a story!
Little did we know that the saying "boys will be boys" was so true in Viet Nam. Anyone who could surf, did so in their downtime.
This is a full-size replica and photo (below) of the China Beach lifeguard station and Surf Club, circa 1967. The China Beach Surf Club was a place for rest and relaxation on the beach, a little touch of home that meant so much to so many servicemen and women during their tour in Vietnam.
This was an incredibly emotion exhibit that I found to be so interesting. It is something everyone would benefit from seeing.
This was an enlightening quote, "There was a time, when on ambush one night, we were told kids our age were rolling in the mud at some place called Woodstock. Another night, another ambush, and we were told a man was walking on the moon." These young men missed so much of their lives while serving our country. It really hit home.
New to me was learning about the Donut Dollies, a group of amazing American women who volunteered to serve during the Vietnam War through the Red Cross as part of a program called Supplemental Recreation Activities Overseas (SRAO), better known by our brave military men as “The Donut Dollies.” Armed with nothing but cookies and home-made entertainment programs, the Donut Dollies risked their lives every day as they tried to fulfill their mission and cheer up the US troops. Despite their service and sacrifice, their stories and contributions in Vietnam have gone largely unnoticed and unappreciated. This exhibit has an actual outfit from a Dolly. Who knew?
I enjoyed learning about the cool tools of surfers. A Brief History of Surfboards: Wood, Foam to Fiberglass tells the story, beginning with wooden plank surfboards reminiscent of surfing’s roots in Polynesia, and follows surfboard evolution through the foam and fiberglass advances, the shortboard revolution, to surfboards being ridden by today’s champions.
We even learned about bodysurfing, the art and sport of riding a wave without the assistance of any buoyant device such as a surfboard or bodyboard. Bodysurfers typically equip themselves only with a pair of specialized swim fins that optimize propulsion and help the bodysurfer catch, ride and kick out of waves. Interesting, Colonial Americans were not known for their agility in the water. A Boston newspaper reported, The most frequent use of the harbor is for transport, and drowning. But one 11-year-old boy loved to swim. The ingenious child strapped thin planks of wood to his feet and hands, thus increasing his speed and efficiency in the water. Young Benjamin Franklin had discovered the swim fin.
An interesting exhibit was titled Courageous Inspiration: Bethany Hamilton. This tells Bethany’s story of how she lost her left arm to a Tiger shark while surfing on Kauai and her determination to not only recover from the incident, but return to surfing a mere three weeks after the attack! Truly inspirational.
We love Brady and Eric living in Oceanside because they are amazing tour guides, sharing their special beach town with us. What an information filled and extremely fun day.
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1 comments:
This exhibit was fascinating! And right in our backyard! I absolutely loved it. And for a $5 entry ($3 for students) how could you go wrong?
Things for joining us!
I still can’t believe they have Bethany’s surfboard.
And sorry we missed the Oside Museum of Art Disney exhibit... :/
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