Seal Beach, CA Beach Destination 

Seal Beach, California―How would you like to visit the "best sand castle building beach in the US"? Among its honors, Seal Beach ( named for seals) has a greenbelt that parallels the beach and coast a few blocks away, and it there that you will discover a bright red train car sitting in the grass, plus the best beaches for building castles in the sand.

While seals that once frequented this quaint seaside city on the northernmost border of Orange County, seals are seldom seen in Seal Beach these days.

Located on the border of Los Angeles County in the Southern California, Seal Beach wasn't always so "quaint" as it is today. Now  residents enjoy serene beaches, the location of tv and film shoots, among other things.

Residents recall Seal Beach history, and can cite a time when it overshadowed neighbors such as the now booming Huntington Beach with its tourism reach.  During the 1920's, Seal Beach was known as the pleasure place.

"Seal Beach had the buzz. You went there for fun in the sun," said the Red Car Museum former president Laura Alioto.  Seal Beach featured bath palaces, a huge roller coaster, gaming rooms, gambling ships, rum runners and wicker boardwalk carts. Scintillating lights illuminated the water and night bathers from the second longest pier in the state. Bathing Pavilion with 1000 dressing rooms renting for 25 cents each, opened directly onto the beach. Their motto was: A beach without an undertow.