Q. What is it supposed to be on the show? A. Various public streets. Q. Where is it supposed to be on the show? A. In Miami. Q. When did we see it on the show? A. In Episode 11, of Season 5, "Hop a Freighter". Stan Liddy has tasered Dexter, tied him up, thrown him in a van, and driven away. These brief shots show Liddy driving between the parking lot where he abducted Dexter and the old fuel docks where he later parks the van. The first shot (at around 31:59) shows Liddy's van speeding away from the scene of the crime, and then lingers on a blue house. The second shot (at around 33:54) shows his van driving past a beach, just before Dexter wakes up (to find himself tied up in the back of the van). The third shot (at around 35:01) shows the van driving past a bay, with a city skyline visible on the other side of the bay. At the end, Liddy arrives at the old fuel docks, and phones Quinn. Q. What is it actually in real life? A. Three different public streets. Q. Where can I find it in real life? A. All three driving shots were filmed in Long Beach, CA, but quite far apart:

• The first scene, of Liddy's van speeding away from the scene of the crime, was shot with the van heading east on Stearns Street, between San Anseline Ave and Ocana Ave.

That's just east of the parking lot where Liddy abducts Dexter. The camera pans from north to east, following the van, and lingers on a blue house with distinctive hedges.

That blue house is located at 2206 Ocana Ave, at the northeast corner of Ocana and Stearns, two streets east of Liddy's parking lot.

• The second scene, of Liddy's van driving past a beach and pier, was shot five miles to the south, with the van headed south on Bay Shore Avenue, near E. 1st Street, just before it curves off onto 54th Place.

That pier you see is the same short pier that Dexter walked out on when he planted evidence on Doakes in Season 2, located next to Bayshore Aquatic Playground Park, at 14 54th Place.

That's also where they shot the scene of Lila buying roofies, in Season 2, and the scene of Lundy & Debra having lunch at a tropical cafe in that same season.

Farther north on Bay Shore Avenue, they filmed the "barrel girls" accident scene this season.

• The third scene, of Liddy's van driving past a bay, with a downtown skyline view in the background, was shot file miles to the west and across a bridge, on the Queen Mary side of the bay.

The van is heading southeast on Queensway Drive, just before the Queen's Event Park, where they filmed the camping scene last season.

The spot is just east of the marina dock where Doakes shot a guy, in Season 2, and the Maya hotel where Dexter & Lila had a date at a fancy restaurant (in Season 3).

The camera is looking northeast across the bay, at the Long Beach downtown skyline. Visible on that skyline is the round International Tower, the red-roofed Parker's Lighthouse, and the blue whale mural on the Long Beach Convention Center.




Here is a photo I shot in 2009 showing a similar view from the nearby park:






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

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

A.  This is where my own familiarity with Long Beach comes in handy, thanks in part to past Dexter filming...

Dexter has shot so many times in Long Beach (especially along the coast) that it's hard to throw a rock in that town without hitting one of their filming locations.  I spent a fair amount of time in the city long before Dexter existed, but as someone who has documented all of its filming locations, I've gotten to know the city a lot better over the last few years.

I recognized Bay Shore Avenue not only from having driven there on my own, but also from the many times they used the pier and Kayak café there as filming locations.

Likewise, I recognized Queensway Drive not only from my trips to the Queen Mary, but also from the times they used the park, the docks and the hotel there as locations.

And the blue house on Ocana was easy to find, since it was next to the location they used for Liddy abducting Dexter..