Huntington Beach 2009: A Grown-up Getaway

It is a bursting-at-the-seams night tonight, my friends!

What is so full, you might ask?

Oh, for starters...the picture folders on my computer, the part of my head that stores thoughts and conclusions-come-to just scrambling around bumping into each other, my tummy, my laundry room...

all due to a bursting-at-the seams week that leaves me tingly with contentment.

Seriously, physically tingly.


So, you will recall (that sounds bossy) that JC and I were headed out at the beginning of the week to our favorite spot, Huntington Beach, CA. A few days of nothing-but-chill were in the plans. And that is exactly what we had.
How lucky are we?
I know.

We left on Monday morning, with the kids happily in my mom's care. (THANK YOU!!!) Bethany had preschool in Mesa that morning, so she got the special treat of being dropped off by Mommy AND Daddy, all by herself, no boys (as she repeatedly reminded us). We listened to the Broadway recording of The Lion King on the way per her request and she showed JC around the additions to her cute little school (less little now. Still very cute). After bidding her farewell, we headed to the airport while I sang "I'm so excited" like Jessie on Saved by the Bell, only without the crying fit inserted. JC tried to get me to WHOOHOO!! loudly with excitement but I was too embarrassed to WHOOHOO!!! on the spot so he did it for me.
You probably need less of a play-by-play.
So, anyway, airport, flight, reading, land, airport, shuttle, car rental, Hybrid Altima - super fun, on the road for a short drive to the land where surfers rule, seagulls and hoodies abound and bare feet can be found on 67% of the population at any given time.

We had made reservations at a new hotel to try something different and it was a real treat. If you ever plan to visit Huntington and want something that embodies the spirit of Huntington (seriously, could I be more in love with this city? It's getting a little annoying.), try Shorebreak Hotel. It is only four months old, but as far as I'm concerned, they've skipped the awkward getting-established period and jumped right to the top of my Favorite Hotels Ever List.
I'm pretty easy to please when it comes to hotels, to be honest. A place to sleep, chill, etc. Not too hard to accommodate that, right?
But when the hotel becomes one of my favorite locations within my vacation location (that was a lot of 'tions), I consider it a good thing.
ANYWAY, if you ever go and want a perfect place to chill and recover from a day spent hard at work sitting on the beach, or if you want to feel like you're on the beach without actually going to the beach (which would take you about four minutes, walking...one if you follow no traffic rules whatsoever)...
Shorebreak Hotel.
Room 416.
Can't be beat.

Here are some shots of said Room 416. (The special feature is more the balcony than the room but this is the only room you will find this balcony on, so...yeah...)

Upon first walk-in...oh, the sunny-ness streaming in!

A view of the room from the other side. So small, quaint, and did I mention...sunny?

First step out onto the balcony, a great view of everyone's condos and vacation homes...

...but then a mere turn to your left and BAM! PCH! The beach!
And sun, sun, sun.
(Behind the shot, there's a hammock. Blessed day.)

More turning to the left and you get this view.

Good times to be had.

(While I'm giving unsolicited reviews, if you want something a little quieter - - that hotel literally sits on PCH and over the main streets of shopping and restaurants off the beach which was GREAT for this trip, but not always what you're looking for - - we also LOVE the Hyatt Regency. Down PCH a bit, away from the hustle and bustle, private bridge directly to the beach, little village within the resort itself...naturally, more pricey but definitely quieter and a grand place to really unwind if you don't want to be tripping over surfers and street performers.
There.
That's my plug for my two choice hotels in the area.
Didn't plan to play Samantha Brown, but when I get excited about something, I talk.
Did you know?

Moving on...
to our actual trip...

As soon as we got in, we were hungry and figured we'd go ahead and bite the bullet right away and walked the pier to Ruby's. You can't not.

Here's me on the pier.

JC on the pier.

Those kinds of pictures happen when you take a vacation, only the two of you.
Me in this spot.
Him in this spot.
Both of us smooshed together in this spot, one of our arms stretched out holding the camera.
We have some of those later on.
Anyway...

A view from the pier, as we walk out.

My toes, eager for some time basking in the sun and sand, wiggle over the side of...you guessed it...the pier.
Funny story - I had clumsily dropped my phone like, three times at random points throughout this day. After I got done taking this particular picture with JC's (new) phone, it took me a while to figure out why he had such a pained, fearful look on his face...

This is a shot back up the beach, toward PCH, from the pier. That building sort of almost-centered in the shot is our hotel. Our room/balcony was on the far left (from this direction). Such a great location.

We ate, then walked back up to the hotel where the plan was to do nearly nothing but lay on the balcony and read. Or sit in the room and channel surf with the sunlight streaming in. The next day was to be our out and about day, but on this evening, we just...

did some of this.

I read my book to the light of the sunset until the ocean side chill sent me scrambling for a hoodie (guess that's why), and then eventually reading in the dark sent me back inside with a headache.
I can't tell you how many of those kinds of headaches I've had in my lifetime.
JC read too, having brought the Jason Bourne action-packed book he's currently on. After receiving all of them as a gift a couple years back, he's been steadily plowing through them during lunch breaks and beachside sunsets. (not as many of those)

Having eaten at a strange in-between-lunch-and-dinner time, we didn't get hungry again until those dangerous hours of late night/early morning when you know you really shouldn't be eating but want to anyway...so we walked a block or so to IHop. We are so glamorous.

This is what happens when a grown man finds himself hungry at midnight.
Steak and eggs.
I had an omelet and pumpkin pancakes.
DeLISH.

The next morning, after a decent night's sleep (which is actually saying a lot since we both usually sleep horribly in hotel beds...I end up about ready to call the front desk and demand they find a way to get me my tempurpedic bed and pillow PRONTO or I will give their hotel HORRIBLE reviews...on my personal...private...blog...) we walked over to what turned out to be a rather dangerous location for a donut shop. WAY too close to where we were staying to come home less than five pounds heavier.

Donut shop from our balcony.
I told you.

Then we headed straight to the beach with our beach chairs, towels, books, iPods, etc. I have one song on my iPod. Because it's new. And I'm irritated that I have to pay money to get songs. And...I'm not good at working it yet. But anyway, JC listens to music on his iPod. I do project planning on mine using a really fantastic outlining application.
One of us is a nerd.

This guy wanted our donuts.
Is it donuts or doughnuts?
I don't think he cared either way, he just wanted some.

Eventually, once we were surrounded by Seagulls, JC decided it would be funny to hold a piece of donut over his head and see if anyone would come get it. The best part was watching one fly in from directly behind him where he could never have seen it coming and take it right out of his hand. I thought JC was going to fall out of his seat.
Awesome.
Then I lectured him on the havoc I was sure that donut was going to wreak on that poor seagull's digestive system.
All while completely ignoring the fact that it would do the exact same to mine.

Just trying to protect these lovely, annoyances of a bird.
JC took this shot by accident.
And I love it.

Ahh, there we go.

JC in the ocean.
A little.
It was really cold.

Me and my toes getting brave and venturing closer.

There's that picture! :)
You can't tell, but here we are both in the water up to our knees or so.
Considering I'm terrified of the ocean (it's a love/hate), that's pretty good I think.
Either way, we are happy.

So, we spent the rest of the day eating at Jack's on the beach (somewhat gross but come on, it's on the beach! And they have dippin' dots for crying out loud!), walking the shops repeatedly, picking up souvenirs for the kids, half-napping here and there when we stopped in at the room for a change of clothes or to drop off bags, etc. The best kind of nothing to fill a day with if you ask me! It also stayed semi-overcast the whole time we were there which is my favorite kind of weather though it did make me a bit grumpy when I was trying to bask. Basking requires sunlight.
You can't be too grumpy in California though, can you?

We had asked our go-to guy at the front desk, Daniel, where we could get good seafood and he told us to hit up Duke's. Which we did that night. And boy howdie, he wasn't kidding.
I am a recent convert to seafood.
Never cared much for it.
Meaning...ran in the other direction. Unless it was fried. And from Pete's.
But anyway, suddenly, in the last year, I've gone from tentatively reaching out to it as a general food genre for a taste here and there to craving it in all forms constantly.
So. Duke's. It was so good. I had the best fish of my life which was...hold on...okay, JC is telling me what it is called and it is barramundi...this fantastic, flaky and light fish that is referenced in Crocodile Dundee at some point and was AMAZING which I chose to have herb and parmesan crusted, over garlic mashed potatoes. Ohhh man, have I been thinking about that ever since. Especially since they had these amazing sounding crab wontons on the appetizer menu and I couldn't help but indulge (I NEVER order appetizers for myself) because they involved crab, macadamia nuts, cream cheese and a plum sauce...SO GOOD. And, anyway, because of that, I couldn't finish my fish and it haunts me that I left it sitting on my plate. Horrible. Best fish of my life and I left it sitting on my plate.

Worth a whole paragraph, apparently.
Well, I had to document it so, just in case I go crazy and forget, I remember what to order next time.

After dinner, we walked off all that food by hitting a street fair that we just happened to be lucky enough to be in town for. I love those things. We had a lot of fun browsing the booths and enjoying all the street performers. It's so fun and magical. It's like Disneyland.
With fresh produce instead of churros.
I think I'm the only person who doesn't like churros. I mean, I like them for sentimental reasons. I remember eating them as a kid, when at Disneyland...so they make me happy. But I don't actualy LIKE them.
Weird, huh?

SO many tangents to go off on...

After we tired of the street fair, we went back to the room where we settled in to absolutely nothing on TV (what happens when you vacation during the week, not the weekend)...but eventually JC found something promising involving cowboys and Kevin Costner and I became engrossed in my book for an hour or so. I don't know how long...all I know is that I woke up to JC taking my book out of my hand, tucking me in, and turning off my reading light. When I apologized for falling asleep he said, "Don't apologize. It was a long day and it's late."
I don't know why, but I found that very endearing.

The next day, Wednesday, was our last day...which felt just right. I was missing the kids and it was awesome knowing that even though we were headed home, JC had the rest of the week off. But we still had a whole morning to be at the beach before checking out, so we walked to the donut shop again and over to the beach to read, listen to music, watch surfers and nearly-naked-joggers, and of course, eat our donuts.
I wish I could say we made better eating choices while there but truth be told, we probably couldn't have made worse. Haha...

Us on the beach that morning.

Once it got to be time to wrap things up, we did just that, bade farewell to the beach and our wonderful Shorebreak Hotel...for now...put shoes back on, and headed back to the airport.
But not before taking a detour through Long Beach...

here.
Yeah, we went to visit Jesse James.
Not the outlaw, played-by-Colin-Farrell-type Jesse James.
The Discovery Channel motorcycle building married-to-Sandra-Bullock guy.
Who, is, if it makes any difference, a direct descendant of that Jesse James.

Here's the shop.
Well, the main shop. Let's be honest, he probably owns all of the surrounding buildings.
And let's be even more honest...while JC was checking out all the awesome bikes, all I could think (and eventually say) was
"Sandra Bullock has BEEN HERE."

Anyway, then it was back to the airport, and back home. Where we were greeted quite warmly.
I love that part.


Now for the part where I talk without pictures to illustrate.
I say that for those of you who only come here to look at the pictures and skip all the rambling.
(. . . JC)


This trip was good for the soul.
I can't really say that things have been especially stressful lately. Or busy. Or especially anything. They've just been pretty normal for our little family.
But there's always that underlying activity in my head, in my heart. It's in layers that I function, probably just like everyone else in this world.
At certain times, our functioning can be very much on the surface, very much about survival only. And sometimes we can't even call it survival. Or functioning. Sometimes it takes others in our world to be the stepping stool that makes us even begin to grasp survival.
I've been there.
Truth be told, me being there has probably sent others, my stepping stools, there as well!

Sorry/Thanks, Mom, Dad, JC. :)

But through time, effort, muscle, and mostly pure grace, that level breaks down and we find ourselves a little more on top of the game of survival and can actually open our eyes and look around...take in the life we're living. Then, eventually, we start experiencing that life. Then, through grace, the motions turn to more than just motions, joy seeps in and we live. Layers break down and eventually, we're actually going through our days with heart, with less fear and more love.
I don't know when this happens for others...maybe these kinds of phases come and go throughout life, the layers peeling away and then building back up like the tide coming in and out.
What I do know is that time has brought me to a place where I am experiencing, a little at a time, this thaw that leaves me feeling more like myself than I have in years.
Many years.
I've been noticing it all lately, the unfolding of this new/old version of myself that steps in randomly and brings me joy, peace, contentment...a sense of humor...
Spending time in such a peaceful setting, a place that holds pieces of me from those years past, taking time to do nothing but be...this all circled in at just the right time and gave me the gift of contentment. Of realization. Of clarity.

Oh, clarity, my old friend, where have you been the last few years? :) Welcome back!

Self-examination can be a tricky thing...and honestly, I probably do too much of it. I think I'm learning to be a little bit more of a passenger in life. Albeit an opinionated, back-seat driver kind of passenger...but still. I'm learning to sit back and just enjoy. The trip helped solidify that in me. My book of choice helped. "Shelter Me" by Juliette Fay. About a mother of two young children who suddenly and unexpectedly loses her husband in an accident. Follows her through the next year or so of her life. How she deals with her days, her relationships, how she mothers her children "with fierce protectiveness." I was shocked to see parts of myself so fully from the outside, in this character. Not in all ways, of course. But, I always feel so different from others who have experienced "the same thing" as I have, in losing a spouse unexpectedly. I never feel like the same thing happened to me as it did to them. I can't explain it, really. But, that is how I've always felt. Different. But to see a fictional character be so completely a mirror of myself in some ways, just because an author thought it obvious that someone in this situation would feel this way or behave that way, I was surprised to know that maybe part of my layers has been that I make myself different. I make myself someone only I really see and know. When, really, maybe it's not true.
There are still a lot of ways that I feel different, but in some ways...
Maybe I'm the same.
"Fiercely Protective."
Nobody would label my parenting style as such, would you? :)

Anyway, it was a great read. As I read that, pausing sometimes to look up at surfers struggling against waves, letting themselves be washed back toward shore occasionally, heading back out, drifting, waiting, using the momentum of a wave to propel them into a few moments of victory...clarity really sank in and made a little nest in my heart.

Where, hopefully it will stay when, starting tomorrow, I head back to more of a normal routine. The week before our vacation, I had started feeling overwhelmed and pretty much went into vacation mode a week early. Checked out, did only necessities, played with the kids, watched movies with my husband, got myself in Huntington mindset.

Now it's kind of time to get busy again. Only this time with clarity, a little more understanding, still-cute toes and a bit of a tan.

Can do.



We did so much more in the week, I can't believe I'm leaving it at this, but I suppose I will be back soon to tell of our many adventures once we were home with the kids.
Until then,

I'm off to dream of this: