Little Corona Beach, Corona Del Mar

OCThen reader, "J San" remembers Little Corona Beach in Corona Del Mar...

My family moved to Anaheim, just west of Disneyland, in 1956.

Anyone remember the Snack Shop restaurants? Great burgers and shakes. As I recall, there was one on 17th in Santa Ana, another on PCH in Corona del Mar and another somewhere in Anaheim.

One of my best memories was trips to Little Corona beach. We'd take the Sanat Ana Fwy to Newport Ave, exit on to a 2 lane road in the middle of farmland, eventually get to a little airport in the middle of nowhere (now John Wayne) and then onto MacArthur, past the Buffalo ranch, over the hill and down to PCH. Virtually nothing between the freeway and Corona del Mar.

Great times.

J San

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Merle's Drive In - Pacific Coast Highway

We've had a couple people send us messages about their memories of Merle's Drive In, located on the corner of MacArthur Blvd and Pacific Coast Highway. Merle's goes back to the 1950's. I don't have the exact date when it opened.

In the 1960's, it became the "The Zoo" drive in, and then in the early 1970's, it closed down, and was leveled. Today, it's the location of shopping center, and another restaurant, the Gulfstream Restaurant.

Here's a letter we received from Ron & Anna Winship on August 25, 2007, regarding their memories of Merle's Drive In...

Steve,

Before it was the ZOO....with the big gorilla waving at all the people....It was Merle's Drive-In....on the corner of MacArthur Blvd. and PCH on the land they call Corona Del Mar Plaza these days.

Meanwhile, this came to mind because we were watching a PBS special with Ralph Story about "What isn't there anymore!" in Los Angeles.

So, it got us thinking: The Clock Restaurants ...especially the one on the Circle in Long Beach. The Clock in Whittier too! Van De Kamps.....and we can't remember what cities they had those! Remember the Windmill in Neon? Harvey's Broiler in Downey! Was in Mel's on Sunset Blvd. or was it something else...can't remember. That one was the most famous of them all. My mom used to hang out there in the 40's.

Anyway, we had a great place for burgers and the best tachitos on the planet. It was located near Poppy and PCH in Corona Del Mar.....where the Sandwich Place is now..next to the empty parking lot.

So, Steve if you can remember the name of the famous Drive-in on Sunset in Hollywood...please let us know.

Ron & Anna Winship

Here's another message I received from Matt Keto as a comment on the Submit a Memory page...

In Corona del Mar, at the corner of MacArthur Boulevard and East Pacific Coast Highway, once stood some kind of a drive-in.

I thought it was called The Zoo in the early 70s.

An acquaintance remembers it from her childhood as Merle's.

Can anyone fill in the blanks?

Cheers,
Matt Keto
Costa Mesa

If you have something to contribute regarding Merle's Drive Inn, or The Zoo, please click on "Post a Comment" below, and share them with us.

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