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These are the tales of San Diego

By Angeline Tiamson

October 24, 2005

Seaport Village--Pick up any brochure about San Diego and you’ll read about Sea World, the Wild Animal Park, and the Zoo. A bit more research, on the internet, perhaps, may alert the potential tourist to the local Karl Strauss brewery, the Pacific Beach nightlife, or the Carlsbad Flower Fields.

Chances are, you won’t find anything about Joe Gordon. Nestling himself quite comfortably alongside the boardwalk in Seaport Village, Joe Gordon is easily the crown jewel in the treasure chest of cobblestone streets and quaint eateries by the bay.

Sit down on Joe’s carpet square and pay your dollar. What you get is approximately four minutes of nostalgia—for Seaport Village’s storyteller has the gift that can goad out anyone’s inner child. Joe’s tone, inflection of voice, and simple love of storytelling has people mesmerized in the first minute. Within the chambers of his creative mind are hundreds of stories he has memorized to suit any group, any mood.

Joe brands an eclectic mark on San Diego, and tourists in Seaport Village list him as one of their most fond memories. “He was kind and did not over-bother us…my children sat on his ‘magic carpet’ and his ride began.” wrote Susan Pohlen of Anaheim, CA, to San Diego Downtown News last year.

As any good storyteller, Joe adapts his style to his audience, and can seamlessly transition from a tale reminiscent of Hitchcock to a story filled with magic and fairy dust.

Why does he do it? For the simple love of a lost art. His sincerity and kindness spill over in the twinkle of his blue eyes. His gift to San Diego is indeed rare, and it is hard not to wonder by what mysterious fate he was brought to the shores of the San Diego Bay.

Betcha he has a story about it.