We first came to Paradise Point (then named Vacation Village) in 1963.  We had a son who was two years old and a 2-month-old boy.  We stayed in what is now room 265. There was a street to its side; the rooms on the bay east of our room didn't exist nor were there any rooms built on what is now Paradise Cove.  We fell in love with the resort and have been coming ever since.  By 1968, we brought our new daughter and our boys fished for the first time (fishing in the lagoon was permitted then).  As the kids got older they found new things to do - tennis, sailing, golf and feeding the chickens and rabbits.

Vacation Village became the Princess Resort and now Paradise Point, where we have continued to take vacations over the past 48 years. The size of our group has grown. When our children were in high school they often brought a friend.  As our children grew up and got married, they came with us with their growing families. Because of our family's long tradition, we also celebrated our 50th wedding anniversary at Paradise Point. Here's to the resort's 50th!

In 1963, my parents took my little sisters and me to San Diego’s island resort for a family vacation . I was the only son, and in my teenage years at the time.  

Following lunch one day, my mother and younger siblings decided to take a nap. With the rest of the family asleep, my father invited me to join him at the Barefoot Bar, which looked like a men's club at the time. The place was full of fathers and grandfathers, socializing amongst each other during this hour that we all seemed to have just to ourselves. It was a time for male bonding, meeting new people, exchanging information about the area, and recommending places to go with our families and friends.  

Now that I’m a grandfather with four grandchildren, I continue the tradition by taking my son-in-law to Barefoot around that same time of day to bond with me and make new friends.

I hope Barefoot Bar & Grill will stay open at least another 50 years, as my grandsons are just in their teenage years and I know that my son-in law will want to pass the tradition on to them when it’s “their time”.