In this age of super fitness, muscles...

In this age of super fitness, muscles are common enough on the local beaches. So it’s no wonder that the Recreation and Parks officials in Venice are besieged every summer by tourists looking for the real Muscle Beach.

“We get hundreds of tourists who want to know where the gyms are,” said Darlene Galindo, Venice Beach Recreation Center spokeswoman.

Just as Hollywood has its famous maps to movie stars’ homes, Venice is now giving out free brochures showing where the hunks hung out. The brochures depict such famous spots as Gold’s Gym, World Gym and Vic Tanny’s. The original Muscle Beach, where such musclemen as Jack La Lanne and Steve (Hercules) Reeves flexed their pecs, was located south of Santa Monica Pier. Bodybuilders started gathering there to exercise in the mid-1940s, but it was closed in 1959, after four weightlifters were arrested on rape charges.

Bodybuilders soon migrated to Venice, where “The Pen,” owned by the city of Los Angeles, attracted the likes of film star Arnold Schwarzenegger, who won the Mr. Olympia title. While most of the muscle building today is done in Venice, Santa Monica still sports some die-hards. And the Muscle Beach Alumni Assn. has asked Santa Monica to erect a historic marker. If they need any help, there are sure to be plenty of musclemen around to lift it into place.

Another Los Angeles landmark, Chinatown’s Yee Mee Loo restaurant and bar, got a one-year reprieve from the wrecking ball.

The watering hole, which opened 50 years ago at Ord and Spring streets, has long been famous for its glamorous Hollywood patrons, sentimental jukebox, and a clock that runs backward.

The restaurant was ordered closed by the city Building and Safety Commission because it failed to meet earthquake safety standards. The one-year extension will give supporters time to petition the Cultural Affairs Commission to make the building both a cultural and architectural historic landmark.

The old brick building that houses Yee Me Loo was sold last year to a developer who had reportedly wanted to replace it with a mini-mall.

There’s more good news for tourists. The U.S. Navy is reinstating tours of various warships that dock at the Naval Station at Terminal Island.

No tickets are necessary for the one-hour tours. The next one is scheduled for Aug. 26 between 12:30 and 4 p.m.

“Many other bases do it, and its a good way to familiarize and educate the public about its Navy,” said J. E. Smith, a public affairs officer. The ships, he added, will be located at Pier E and visitors should arrive through the Naval Shipyard’s Gate 15.

In the official press release announcing the tours, the Navy emphasized that “ladies should wear shorts and slacks . . . the wearing of a dress or skirt is not recommended for touring a naval vessel.”

Explained Smith: “Our steps are open frame, so we thought spelling out that advice would save them a lot of embarrassment or last-minute decision not to do the tour if they had dresses on.”

Attention!