CHARMING TO A FAULT HISTORIC LA JOLLA CLUB OFFERS TENNIS AND MUCH MORE.Byline: Joe Jares Correspondent LA JOLLA La Jolla (lə hoi`yə), on the Pacific Ocean, S Calif., an uninc. district within the confines of San Diego; founded 1869. The beautiful ocean beaches, in particular La Jolla shores and Black's Beach, and sea-washed caves attract visitors and - As its name implies, the La Jolla Beach & Tennis Club is a fine place to work on all sorts of strokes: swimming, tennis and - although unbilled - golf. It is a charming, family-friendly resort hotel as well as a club, with amenities and continuity galore. For instance, the Dann Angeloff family of San Marino San Marino, city, United States San Marino (săn mərē`nō), residential city (1990 pop. 12,959), Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1913. Of interest is the Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens. spent two weeks there every summer for 20 consecutive years when the kids were growing up and is making plans for a family reunion Often an annual event, a family reunion takes place on a specified day each year for the purpose of keeping an extended family closer together. Some reunions may be held less often. at the club. The descendants of founder F.W. Kellogg still run the place and some of them live in the neighborhood. The Angeloffs remember a Kellogg who would give children rides on a tractor he used to remove seaweed. The nine-hole, par-3 golf course is nice. The large swimming pool is inviting. The beach is lovely, quiet and uncrowded. But it is for tennis that the LJBTC is best-known. Club pro Bill Bond played with Hall of Famers Dennis Ralston Richard Dennis Ralston, better known as Dennis Ralston or Denny as his wife Linda calls him. (born July 27, 1942 in Bakersfield, California), was an American professional tennis player. He was one of the Handsome Eight. and Rafael Osuna at USC An abbreviation for U.S. Code. in the mid-1960s on what many consider to be the greatest college tennis team of all time. He and his father, also William (who used to manage the club), have won six national father-son championships. Club literature claims that U.S. and French teams trod some of its 12 courts in 1947 for a Davis Cup match. Foot fault! The ``USTA USTA United States Tennis Association USTA United States Telecom Association USTA United States Trotting Association USTA United States Telephone Association USTA United States Twirling Association USTA United States Trademark Association Tennis Yearbook'' shows that America played only one Davis Cup match that year and it wasn't against France and it wasn't anywhere near La Jolla. Never mind. A long list of tennis greats have played there, including Dorothy Bundy Cheney, who won her 300th USTA national title at the club in 1999. This history is of no help to a hacker like me, but at least, unlike at many resorts, guests can play on the courts for free. Eight of the courts have lights. Our family stayed at the LJBTC for the first time recently. My wife and I had a small, no-frills room facing a patio for $119 per night. Our daughter, son-in-law and their two small children had a second-floor, two- bedroom, two-bathroom suite overlooking the ocean for $385 per night. Both prices were below the official rate sheet for winter, spring and fall, and of course, way below summer rates, which would have been $179 and up for us and $599 for the suite. From all of us, there were only two nitpicks: the inaccurate Davis Cup information and the pool closing one afternoon at 4 with no explanation. Everything else was wonderful. Hard-packed sand near the water's edge, perfect for strolling. Congenial staff. Table tennis and a small children's playground. Good food at the Club Dining Room or Marine Room (the latter offering such dishes as aquavit aquavit (from Latin aqua vitae, “water of life”) Scandinavian clear distilled liquor flavoured with caraway seeds. Distilled from a fermented potato or grain mash, filtered with charcoal, and usually bottled without aging, aquavit has an alcohol content of huckleberry huckleberry, any plant of the genus Gaylussacia, shrubs of the family Ericaceae (heath family), native to North and South America. The box huckleberry (G. brachycera) of E North America is evergreen and is often cultivated. The common huckleberry (G. glazed venison venison (vĕn`ĭzən) [O.Fr.,=hunting], term formerly applied to the flesh of any wild beast or game hunted and used for food but now restricted to the flesh of members of the deer family. chop and goat cheese brulee). A well-equipped fitness center. Quarter-mile jogging path. The beach-services office stands ready to set you up with towels, umbrellas, a sunset barbecue. When ground was broken for the club in 1926, it was called the La Jolla Beach & Yacht Club. The yacht part was soon scuttled. A big plus is the club is not in ``downtown'' La Jolla, a part of this San Diego suburb with many restaurants, museums and stores. But that section is just a short drive away for those in need of hustle and bustle. (A small avenue of neighborhood restaurants and shops is a five-minute walk away.) Legoland, Sea World and the San Diego Zoo San Diego Zoo One of the world's largest collections of mammals, birds, and reptiles, located in San Diego, Calif., and administered by the Zoological Society of San Diego. The 100-acre (40. are also close. All excursions ought to be made before or after dusk, however. Guests, perhaps bushed by tourism or tennis or tanning, should not miss the opportunity to pull up chairs in the arcade running along the beach side of the club, put up their feet on the low, wind-scoured wall and sip drinks while watching the sunset. LA JOLLA BEACH & TENNIS CLUB Where: 2000 Spindrift spin·drift n. Windblown sea spray. Also called spoondrift. [Variant of Scots spenedrift : spene (variant of obsolete spoon, to run before the wind) + drift. Drive, La Jolla. Information: (848) 454-7126; www.ljbtc.com. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: The La Jolla Beach & Tennis Club sits on a shore far from the bustle of the San Diego suburb. Joe Jares |
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