At some point in your life, you’ve probably had a friend like this: He’s a teacher’s pet in grade school; a brainy know-it-all in college; a veritable genius in the real world. I’ve known my walking encyclopedia of a friend for nearly 20 years, and he’s never failed to impress me with his limitless knowledge of completely random facts. He kills at trivia and can spout off sports stats as easily as he explains different scientific methods.
But, surprisingly, what I find most fascinating are the impromptu history lessons—he loves to go off on an impassioned tangent while we’re waiting in a long line or stuck in a car during a road trip. I’ve learned about everything from turtle farms to samurais and pirates, and even though I was never a fan of the subject in school, his colorful style of “teaching” now has me hooked on history.
Fortunately for me, that’s an area where Newport isn’t lacking. If you talk to anyone who’s lived here long enough, they have a story about partying with John Wayne back in the day or camping on the beach at Crystal Cove when it was still legal. While our magazine team always has an eye on the future, we took a moment with this issue to also celebrate the past. Do you remember the sound of wind chimes ringing as you walked up to Fashion Island? What about the taste of cotton candy melting on your tongue right before you climbed aboard the Balboa Fun Zone Ferris wheel? The memories tied to our local landmarks are incredible, and I think those are the things that really shape the community. We’re not just another coastal beach town.
Give in to the nostalgia for just a few minutes while you enjoy this issue’s fashion shoot—we traveled around the city to capture stylish snapshots in five places that everyone will recognize (“A Retro Resurgence”). But if you’d rather look at buildings than beautiful women, you’re also in luck. I’ve fallen in love with the Lovell Beach House and the work of architect Rudolph Schindler—in “Architectural Evolution,” writer Alina Orozco takes us back in time to the early days of modern design in Newport, beginning with that iconic structure on the peninsula.
Even if you live entirely in the present, you can’t deny that history is all around us. History—whether it’s reflected in today’s fashion and architecture or the city’s restaurants, bars and beaches—is alive.
Allison Hata
Editor, Newport Beach Magazine
allison@firebrandmediainc.com
