Street *

From Interstate 405 (the San Diego Freeway) in Long Beach, exit south on Bellflower Boulevard. After about 1.5 miles, look to your left for Sam Johnson Drive, which enters the Veteran's Administration Medical Center complex at 5901 East Seventh Street. There are ample parking lots in the area. Park nearest to the terrain that tickles your fancy the most.

The Long Beach Veteran's Building is popular with street skaters because it has three sets of short flights of stairs (three or four steps each) connected by flat sections of concrete 20 to 30 feet long. A set of "S" curves ascends the handicapped ramp allowing you to get back up and try them all over again. The trick is, you've got to skate the grounds to find the 30-by-80-foot area where this sweet spot is located, because you will most likely miss it in a car. There are parking lots galore, so even searching for the treasured stairs can be fun. When you skate in this area, please be respectful of the veterans who are rehabilitating here. If you are asked to leave, do so. You can always come back some other time, unless, of course, you raise such a ruckus about getting kicked out that stricter enforcement becomes necessary and ruins the setup for everybody. Two miles away on a street route is another favored destination of street skaters in these parts: the small grounds of the Long Beach Olympic Plaza Natatorium (described in the next listing). Skate west on Seventh Street, on which the formal entrance to the Vet's Hall is located. Cross Highway 1, pass the golf course and, at Woodrow Wilson High, turn left onto Ximeno Avenue. Follow Ximeno for 1.25 miles, all the way to Ocean Boulevard and turn right at Ocean. Get onto the beach boardwalk at 54th Street and continue up the coast a quarter mile to the pier and the Natatorium.