San Diego’s Real Waterfront Is Found on Kettner Boulevard

The World Championship has come and gone. The America’s Cup approacheth for next year.

Am I wrong or does San Diego have a palpable apathy toward rich-men’s yachting competitions? Maybe it’s our conflicting feelings toward the rich: envy, spite, resentment, fascination.

Even the very comfy International Village setup at Seaport Village--food, tables, music, swell view of the water--was under-utilized. Maybe people just avoid ersatz waterfront.

If so, then I suggest the real thing, a real socializing spot, a real place where men who work the sea congregate: The Waterfront Bar & Grill, the oldest continuously operating bar & grill in San Diego, opened in 1934, Kettner Boulevard between Grape and Hawthorn.

It’s popular with fishermen, sailors, stevedores and cruise ship employees. And white-collar employees from downtown high-rises and assembly line workers from nearby Solar Turbines.

Nancy Nichols, who’s owned the place for eight years, says some of her customers are the sons and grandsons of original customers. The progenitors’ pictures are on the wall.

The Waterfront is mostly unchanged since their day: A low-slung ceiling. Shuttered-windows open to the fresh air.

Fishnets strung behind the bar. Decades-old pictures of prizefighters, Pacific Coast League ballplayers, and a sleepy city at the bottom of the state.

Try the Mexican eggs for breakfast or the Italian sausage sandwich for lunch. Or the hamburgers until 2 a.m.

“It’s a good hangout,” said John Stoliker, 83, a retired Navy chief.

He’s been eating breakfast there for 18 years. And maybe a beer at lunchtime.

There’s a plaque with his name on it on the bar. It’s that kind of place.

I could tell you Stoliker’s view of yacht racing, but it wouldn’t be pretty.

Disturbing Deja Vu

A sense of history.

John Lockwood, freshly retired as San Diego city manager, is being criticized for arranging to keep secret the $100,000 settlement of a sex harassment claim against the now-ex-planning director.

He reasoned that informing the City Council would have led to all the details becoming public, hurting innocent family members in the process.

Maybe it helps to remember that this isn’t the first time Lockwood faced a moral dilemma involving disclosure. He’s seen the tragedy that can result.

When Lockwood was assistant city manager, City Manager Ray Blair was having a consensual liaison with Deputy City Manager Sue Williams. Like others, Lockwood kept quiet.

When it all became public, it set off a two-year chain of events: blazing headlines, turmoil at City Hall, two divorce actions and the suicide of Blair’s estranged wife, Nancy, just before their divorce was to be final.

And how had the Blair-Williams relationship become common knowledge?

It was leaked out immediately after a closed-door session of the City Council in which a disgruntled department head had spilled all. Of course, the council had every right to be kept informed.

That’s cold comfort to the friends and relatives of Nancy Blair, who was 48 years old when she killed herself on Jan. 26, 1986.

Among those at her funeral: John Lockwood.

Gallows Humor

Heard and seen.

* A grim joke is making San Diego financial rounds, in the wake of the recent regulatory crackdown on red-inkish HomeFed Bank:

What’s the difference between HomeFed and Great American?

About six months.

* Depending on the rumor, San Diego Councilwoman Abbe Wolfsheimer is interested in running for city attorney, Board of Supervisors or state Assembly.

* San Diego cops figure one in three liquor stores and mini-markets will sell booze to minors. More undercover busts are planned.