Rey Arcibal remembers the day in 1960 when he came into the La Valencia Hotel looking for a job like it was yesterday. It was March 15, a Saturday, and the Whaling Bar and Grill was “busy like crazy,” he recalled. The maitre d’ was standing by the door when he came in off Prospect Street and the general manager, sitting at the end of the bar, asked what he wanted. “I asked him for a job and he said, ‘Can you clear plates from tables?’ and I said, ‘Yes, I can do it,” Arcibal recounted. “He looked at me and told his guy, ‘Hire him. Give him an apron.’” He went from cleaning tables to serving tables to bartending, and he said the gratuities earned him more than his previous job as a steward in the Navy. So he stuck with it. And more than 50 years later, Arcibal is still happily serving guests of the Whaling Bar. He said the highlight of the job is the countless fond memories he has carried with him over the years. He remembers when a drink was 85 cents including tax, and a premium steak was $2.50. He remembers the 1960s as being a time of progress for La Jolla, attracting businesspeople and artists — many of whom stayed at La Valencia or spent their time at the Whaling Bar. “This was definitely the most happening place in La Jolla,” said Arcibal. “The bar was always loaded with professional people. Lawyers, judges. I met all the stars of the La Jolla Playhouse. Each morning, they would be lined up drinking coffee and reading the paper. At night, wives would be calling looking for their husbands and they were here. This place was jumping all the time.” Arcibal can’t even begin to count the number of famous regulars he has served over the years. Ted “Dr. Seuss” Geisel, actor Jack Lemmon, radio broadcaster Walter Winchell. He still remembers where they sat, what they drank, things they said to him. A few of his loyal customers, including actors Charles Coburn and Pat Morita (The “Karate Kid”), called him “Dr. Rey.” “They’d say, ‘Hey, Dr. Rey,’” said Arcibal with a laugh, leaning over the mahogany bar. “And I’d say, ‘What can I get for you, sir.’” Since Arcibal’s early days at La Valencia, other businesses have popped up on Prospect Street, but the Whaling Bar is still a happening place for those looking to sit in a quiet leather booth and have a steak or beverage in antique, low-lit ambience. Once the prime after-work hangout of patrons in slacks and skirts, Arcibal said he now sees many day customers enjoy the Whaling Bar in their tank tops and flip-flops, a sight he never saw in the mid-century years. The bar still sticks to a “no tank tops after 5 p.m.” dress code, but he welcomes casual customers during the day, he said. Arcibal said he has confronted challenges in his years at La Valencia, but what makes him excel is that he always keeps his composure. “I don’t argue with anybody,” he said. “That’s why I’ve stayed here so long. I always say ‘No worries. It’s OK.’” He said it has been hard to see regulars pass away over the years. Many patrons from the 1960s and 1970s passed away in the 1980s, he said, but he still sees a familiar face every once in a while. “Sometimes they come in and say ‘Rey, you’re still here?’” said Arcibal, himself in his late seventies. “I say, ‘Yes, I’m hanging in there.’”