It turns out to be a tiny shop, across the street from the beach and the Seal Beach pier, and just a few shops down from their Main Street. (Which I drove down while looking for parking, and saw a three piece band out on the sidewalk, with banjo, acoustic, and electric (with an amp!) guitars, in plain view of some cops across the street. Good sign -- maybe I'll give that a try someday.)
Anyway, the place was full most of the night, but that's not saying too much since there are probably 10 chairs in there. But friendly, and lots of requests, including the two baristas who wanted "I See the Light" (from "Tangled") and "Mrs. Robinson", respectively.
And there were apparently two ladies sitting on a bench just outside, listening to the music and enjoying the view. They came in to buy a CD each and recommend that I try another coffee shop in Long Beach called "Portfolio", but they had to go back outside 'cuz it was warm in there and they were too bundled up to sit inside.
And the lady who wanted to come hear me at CALB for her husband's birthday but never showed, finally did make it, and they stayed the whole time. Very sweet.
One of the coffee girls set up an iPhone and sent the night out as a Live Stream. At the end she said that 10 people had watched (at least a little), including the shop owner. Internet Famous.
I guess I'd play there again, but it's an awful long drive for such a small, mostly fixed, crowd. I don't mind playing for a dozen people, but on the street corner, I get a constantly revolving set of a dozen, not just one. And the parking was *terrible*!
When I was done, I drove down Main Street to check it out. Bars, restaurants, a psychic, souvenir shops, ice cream, pizza. A lot like Laguna or Santa Barbara, really, but no art galleries. A lady was out singing and playing an autoharp, so I parked (easy at 10, impossible at 7) and listened a bit. I put a buck in her can and asked for Joni Mitchell, so she launched into "Clouds", with mostly wrong chords. But she was sincere, and just being out there is half the battle, so good for her.
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