A. An alleyway, and a park across the street..

( One of the hookers refers to it as "the stroll", so perhaps it's supposed to be the same "Waterfront Stroll" where they found Teegan's body.
)

Q. Where is it supposed to be on the show?

A. Somewhere in Miami.

Q. When did we see it on the show?

A. In Episode 2 (of Season 3), "Finding Freebo".

Debra is desperate to find out the identity of the dead girl they found in the park.

Her brother, Dexter, knows it was Teegan Campbell, Freebo's girlfriend, but he's not telling anyone, because Freebo saw him at his house - and he doesn't want the police to find out he was the one who killed Prado's brother at that house.

As this scene begins, we see Debra standing in an alleyway, showing a photo of the dead Teegan to two transvestite hookers (guys, in drag), asking them if they recognize her.

They say no, they don't have a name to go with the photo.

As Debra is crossing the street, heading back to her car, she sees Yuki Amado, the irritating Internal Affairs police woman, walking towards her, from what appears to be a park across the street.

Yuki continues her efforts to recruit Debra as a snitch against fellow cop Quinn, and she's not very subtle, promising to get Debra a shield for selling out Quinn.

Debra tells her she's not interested - again, at which point Yuki turns catty and insulting.

Q. What is it actually in real life?

A. An alley between an arcade/sports bar and some batting cages, plus a public grass lawn across the street.

Q. Where can I find it in real life?

A. Although the alleyway looks somewhat sinister when seen on the show, it is actually located in one of the safest sections of Long Beach, CA.

What you're really looking at is the back side of Yankee Doodles, at 4100 E. Ocean Blvd, in Long Beach, just a short walk from the Belmont Pier and the beach.

At 17,000 square feet, Yankee Doodles is a popular Long Beach hangout that is part arcade, part sports bar, part restaurant. It features a large billiards room, a spacious video arcade (with sport cages), 30 TV monitors (for sports games), a cafe, etc. ( You'll find its website at yankeedoodleslongbeach.com )

It's at a junction, of sorts, on Ocean Blvd, where the road splits - part of it veering off (as Livingston Drive) through the trendy Belmont Shore shopping district, and part of it continuing along the coast, out onto the Long Beach peninsula and its collection of beach homes and beaches.

The camera is looking north, towards the back of Yankee Doodles, out towards Ocean Blvd. The alley is to its west, and separates the main Yankee Doodles building from a smaller area filled with batting and basketball cages.

And what about that grassy park, where we first see Yuki?

It's right across the street (to the south), a public lawn/park surrounding the Belmont Plaza Olympic Pool, at 4000 E. Olympic Plaza, in Long Beach. The large, million-gallon indoor pool, run by the city of Long beach, was the site of the U.S. Olympic Swim Trials in both 1968 and 1976, as well as two NCAA championships and various college events.

(The same plaza complex houses La Palapa, the beachside cafe where they filmed other Third Season scenes. And the beach next door is where they filmed the scene with Astor's stalker.)

The street in between the alley and the pool plaza, the street Debra crosses as she leaves the alley and heads back to her car, is (as you might have guessed) E. Olympic Plaza.




I shot the photos below in Feb. 2009



The photos above & below are looking north, towards Yankee Doodles - and the alley to its west.



The photo below (looking southeast) shows the north side of the Belmont Plaza Olympic Pool.





UPDATE: As of 2020, Yankee Doodles has been replaced (as the resident of that building) with Olympix Fitness.  The mock alley space (at the west end of the building) is still there, but there are now sturdy gates at both ends. The Belmont Plaza Olympic Pool, mentioned in this article, was demolished in early 2015.  They discovered seismic deficiencies in the old building, so they torn it down. It will eventually be replaced with a new pool. La Palapa, the patio café which was the location of several different "Dexter" scenes over the years, was attached to the west side of the pool building, so it was torn down as well. Here, for the record, is a Google StreetView of the pool, when it was standing. And here is a YouTube video of the historic building being torn down.




Here is an aerial photo of the park. And here is a map link.

Q. How the heck did you figure out where it was?

A.  I knew of Yankee Doodles, but I wasn't familiar with its back side. Fortunately, I spotted this location when I was down at the Belmont Pier shooting photos of La Palapa café and the nearby beach, other Third Season locations. Those words on the back wall ("Billiards, Restaurant, Sports Bar, Banquets") were a dead giveaway.