Left Coast:
California was so lovely; we got to see so many friends and family, some of whom met Grace for the first time, and I think we had In-n-out like 3 times, phenomenal sushi (as always) from Wasaa, great shopping in Fashion Island, and more importantly, some serious newfie riding (stay tuned for some pics). Though a bit chilly, our walk (picture here) on Big Corona was lovely. G welcomed the water rushing around her chubby little toes. No fear. I can't wait till she's bigger and I can totally geek out and take her tide-pooling, kelp-diving, and yes, whale-watching*. In our whirlwind week we saw so many wonderful friends, met some new little ones (hi Sabiha and Gavin!), and celebrated Grace's baptism at First United Methodist Church in North Hollywood. An entry on that to follow!
Right Coast:
So this was our first adventure with Mid Antlantic beaches, thanks to our incredibly generous and kind neighbors for lending us their beach condo in Ocean City. We only stayed one day and one night, fearing incredibly unpredictable DC metro traffic and in light of M's intense anesthesia oral boards studying. Ocean City (the other "OC" as I now call it) is fun. Fun with a capital "LV" if you know what other fungle I'm talking about. I felt myself reminiscing about Vegas throughout our brief stay, although I will say the similarity ends at the beachline. Well, sort of. It's interesting; there's a whole phenomenon of planes an boats dragging or displaying in some other way billboards. Yes! Billboards, advertising everything from crab buffet specials to pajamas to beer. The beach dropoff was a bit steep and the waves big enough that we couldn't take G into the water, but if left up to her she would have splashed right in. She had to settle for just her chubby little toes again. She also got to see a real live crab and eat sand!
So this is not meant to be a comparison or competition; both coasts have my vote any day. G agrees; she looked at me in both places as if to ask, "Mommy, why did you bring our sound machine to this place with all this sand and water?"
I bring a little beach into her room each night. Helps us all sleep and dream of vacations like the two we just had.
*For any wayward and clearly lost soul who happened on this blog that isn't super familiar with my past, I dabbled in both dolphin training and whale-watch guiding in my past (also teaching kids about tide pools, and of course, kelp). At this point in my life, M referred to me, in an endearing way, as a tour guide.
