The Road to Portland
I agree with Enrique, Bert Grimm's in Long Beach at the Pike, which has been gone for many years. It was open in the 50's and closed sometime in the 60's, I think; could have been a little later. After you left the underground tunnels to the Pike from Pine Avenue and before you actually entered the Pike with the Cyclone Racer and the grab a gold ring on the merry-go-round to get a free ride, there were frontage shops, including tattoo parlors, food establishments, smoke shops, yarn shops etc.
There is still a Bert Grimm's in Huntington Beach, I believe.
No, I don't have any tattoos, but my dad was in the Navy -- the Pike was a sailor hangout and my grandmother would take us down there to buy yarn. I was a little girl. I guess, I don't need to enumerate the other type of establishments in that area based on the population....?
