The Castaway, Dana Point, CA (restaurant)

Name:The Castaway
Type:restaurant
Street:25001 Dana Drive
City:Dana Point
State:CA
Zip:92629
country:USA
Phone:
Status:defunct

Description:
My mother Doris Walker, who passed away last October, was a newspaper reporter/photographer in the South Orange County area who became the first public relations director of Dana Point Harbor when it opened in 1971. This branch of The Castaway was there from near the very beginning and was there for just a few years before closing. We went there at the opening, and many times over the years, in its Castaway configuration, as well as subsequent rebirths as El Adobe By the Sea, Delaneys, and the Beach House.

It wasn't "Tiki" per se, but there was a lagoon at the entrance, and a great nautical bar. Here are some photos (some taken by my mother--the girl scout one for sure because I have negatives only--but most I believe from the PR packet sent to her from The Castaway chain).

[ Edited by: congawa 2012-02-05 18:39 ]

[ Edited by: congawa 2012-02-05 18:59 ]

Oh yes, I remember Surf & Turf over looking the Ocean back in the very early 1970s there, Brent.

Awesome,
thanks for posting Brent,
I love how the paper add has a Totem Pole on it,
wonder if that was a tiki mix up?

Jeff(btd)

Congawa,

Great old photos! I think I have seen 7 or 8 different Castaway locations now.

Here is a color postcard I have showing the low-slung entry feature with the sign in the background.

No RVs allowed in that parking lot!

The back of the card.

DC

Brent, Didn't the "Chart House" take over this location after they closed?

Thanks for those shots Dustycajun!

BTD--It never was "Tiki" in terms of having any. I think for a lot of seafood restaurants, a totem pole might also be shorthand for "there's some damn good Alaskan salmon served here."

Chuck--It was the Beach House more recently (I'm assuming a branch of the Laguna Beach restaurant). The Chart House in Dana Point is on the bluff, and has been there since the 70's. It (said bluff Chart House) is definitely in the 1970's architectural motif (completed with spiral staircase) that screams "Cocaine smugglers who live on their yachts and sip Harvey Wallbangers welcome here!"

My mother also took a photo of a sea lion on a rock in front of the sign, circa mid-to-late 70's after it had become El Adobe by the Sea (a short-lived branch of the historic San Juan Capistrano Mexican restaurant built in an 1800's Wells Fargo carriage house that was known as Nixon's favorite restaurant when he lived at the "Western White House").

Caltiki Brent

http://www.facebook.com/dingdongdevils
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/dingdongdevils

[ Edited by: congawa 2012-02-07 10:07 ]

[ Edited by: congawa 2012-02-07 10:08 ]

Hi Everyone - The old Castaways Restaurant in Dana Point Harbor changed hands many times and had fallen into disrepair. We have taken over the lease and are converting it to the headquarters of Pacific Asian Enterprises, builders of the beautiful Nordhavn Yachts (www.nordhavn.com) We are looking for memorabilia and photos of the Castaways from the glory days. Does anyone have photos available, or know how we can contact the heirs of Doris Walker? Becky Peters, Pacific Asian Enterprises 949-496-4848

congawa (You can PM him right here on TC) is
Doris Walker's son.

Nordhavn, I haven't checked this thread in a while so didn't see your post until now (didn't get a PM). If you're still interested in photos, contact me at delbrent @ gmail.com

Okay, this is some really esoteric ephemera, but here I am in Summer 1974 on a family vacation at the Grand Canyon, wearing my T-shirt from The Castaways in Dana Point (unfortunately there's no shot of the whole back of the shirt). Shirt long gone, of course.

Caltiki Brent

Okay, one more Castaways shot. My grandparents, Rose and Al Isaak (on the right) at the Castaways, Dana Point, early Seventies.

Caltiki Brent