California: Beside the Sea

What comes to mind when you think of California? Surfing! So we strapped Toby to a surfboard and pushed him out to sea...

Actually, it's pretty difficult to engage in watersports when holidaying with a toddler. Sometimes it feels like it's pretty difficult to do anything when holidaying with a toddler! But one thing they do tend to enjoy is getting lovely and wet and sandy. So a beach is a good place to be.

Toby was delighted to discover an apparently endless sandbox, and amused us by running in circles, rolling around and even acquiring a sand goatee! His favourite game was for Graham to bury a small ball in the sand so that he could dig it up again.

One of the most relaxing afternoons we had was at Goleta Beach Park, just north of Santa Barbara, where we were staying. The air was cool but the sand was pleasantly warm, and the sky was partly cloudy, helping to mitigate the panicked impulse to slather on as much sunscreen as possible every five minutes. So I could just stretch out and close... my... eyes....

At least, until Toby discovered the sea. Look Mum, I'll just dip my toes in!

Well, maybe up to my knees...

Hey, this is fun!

It got me!

He was having a blast, giggling like crazy the whole time. Meanwhile I was digging my toes into the sand and hanging on tight for fear he might dash straight into the sea and never be seen again!

We finished that afternoon with a breezy walk along the pier and dinner at the Hollister Brewing Company. This occupies an unlikely site squashed in among a McDonalds and Home Depot, but inside serves house-brewed beer and some great food. I tucked into a tasty beef stew, while Toby was entertained with a colouring sheet and as many fries as he could cadge from Graham.

Back in Santa Barbara the following day, we were delighted to discover that the town boasted a real British chippy. With mushy peas! And baked beans! And proper British chips! Well, you've got to have fish and chips by the seaside, haven't you? With the sun going down we even had the proper level of chilliness to complete the experience, missing only the waterproof jackets and driving rain.

Santa Barbara also has a marina which is well worth a stroll around. The harbour wall gets pretty exciting when the waves are splashing over it, and we spotted crabs, starfish and even a ray in the water.

Of course, we didn't spend our whole vacation on the beach, though it would be easy enough to in that part of the world. More on our inland activities next time...

Comments

Sally Eyre said…

Proper chips in newspaper - I want some. I am so jealous!

2 July 2012 at 00:20

Erewash Valley Trail: Ilkeston

You could spend a lot of time following old canals and railways in the Erewash Valley. This walk included parts of the Erewash Canal, the Nottingham Canal, the Nutbrook Canal, and the Stanton branch line, and I could have continued further along any one of those, if I'd had the time. I started in Kirk Hallam, which is mostly a post-war housing estate with a distinctive outline on the map: the main road to Ilkeston through the middle, and a loop road encircling the village. It looks like the London Underground logo. I parked at the lake at the top of the loop. There was a sculpture commemorating the nearby Stanton Ironworks - the ground remembers the roar of the blast read the inscription around the base - and the remains of a lock on the Nutbrook Canal. Heading towards Ilkeston, I crossed a former golf course, now a nature reserve called Pewit Coronation Meadows, passed a large sports centre, and was soon in the town centre. There was a general impression of red-brickiness, with l...

Mr White Watson of Bakewell

Once upon a time, back in 1795 or so, lived a man who was always asking questions. The kind of questions like, "Why is glass transparent?" or "Why do fruit trees grow better in that place than in this place?" or "What does the earth look like underneath the surface?" This last question was one that he was particularly interested in, and he went so far as to work out what the rock layers looked like where he lived, and draw little pictures of them. Now he was a marble sculptor by trade (as well as fossil hunter, mineral seller, and a few other things) so he thought it would be even better to make his little pictures in stone. That way he could represent the layers using the actual rocks they were composed of. Over the course of his lifetime he made almost 100 of these tablets, as he called them. Then he died. And no one else was quite as interested in all those rocks and minerals as he was. His collection was sold off, bit by bit, and the table...

National Forest Way: Bagworth and Thornton Reservoir

I'd hoped to be further along with my walking by now, but a combination of illness, bad weather, and inset days meant that I couldn't get out for a few weeks. At the first sign of a break in the clouds, I was ready to go. It had rained heavily the day before, and there was still a watery feel to the air. I parked at Thornton Reservoir and donned waterproof trousers and wellies, then started by following a footpath along the back of some houses in Thornton. The village is perched on a ridge, which slopes down to the reservoir on one side, and Bagworth Heath woods on the other. view to Bagworth Heath woods I picked up the Leicestershire Round opposite the village school, and followed it past an old mill, across a railway line, and through the woods. One section of the path was particularly squelchy. At the end of the woods, the footpath sign pointed right, which I assumed meant I should follow the road. It wasn't until afterwards that I realised I could have crossed over and ...

Martha's Marvellous Munchies

Search This Blog