ARIZONA TO CALIFORNIA - APRIL 2023 |
Charlotte’s taken vacations before, however, this trip to Arizona and California was the first Charlotte-centric vacation. She wasn’t merely a passenger watching from a child-carry backpack; an object to be plopped down at dinner or a winery; this vacation was Charlotte’s introduction to the concept of vacations. Meeting family. New experiences. New attractions.
Case in point - our first stop. The airport. Charlotte’s been to the airport before. Just past the two month mark. So this time, while she may still not remember the experience, there is photograph and video evidence of her enjoying the time at the airport. We departed on a Sunday night and the airport was relatively quiet allowing Charlotte to confidently explore without fear of being trampled by passengers racing to their flight or baggage claim. She walked up and down the terminal cheering all the way. Into the waiting areas. Out of the waiting areas. Peering out of windows. Boldly riding the moving walkway. Little did she know that this was all an attempt to tire her out before the flight. A strategy that worked reasonably well.
After a few rounds of Super Simple Songs she nestled into a deep sleep for the majority of the flight. Mom created an ingenious cot to keep Charlotte comfortable as she slept.
We headed to Arizona to visit Charlotte’s Lola Asares. Lola Asares works as an in-house caregiver for an elderly woman suffering from dementia in Fountain Hills, Arizona. Fountain Hills is about thirty minutes northeast of Tempe, the last town on state route 87 before heading into the hills of Arizona. It looks more remote on the map but it’s actually only about a fifteenth minute drive from Northern Scottsdale.
It had been nearly a year since Lola Asares last saw Charlotte and video calls simply do not compare to seeing your Lola in person. Lola Asares was ecstatic to see Charlotte again.
It had been nearly a year since Lola Asares last saw Charlotte and video calls simply do not compare to seeing your Lola in person. Lola Asares was ecstatic to see Charlotte again.
Charlotte roamed all around the house where Lola Asares works - it is a beautiful, mid-century modern-type house, perched on a ridge with unobstructed views of the areas rock formations and a cactus filled valley below. You could see Four Peaks from the windows. While it’s a shame that Lola Asares can’t be closer to family, at least she is working from a beautiful house and location.
Charlotte quickly found the TV remote and paraded around the house like she was back in Conshohocken.
We took Lola Asares out for a Filipino lunch in Mesa with a stop for some fry bread on the return trip to Fountain Hills.
As the town’s name, Fountain Hills, implies, there’s a fountain lined promenade that runs through the town's main commercial district. After breakfast, Charlotte took advantage of the nice weather, before the temperature got too hot, to walk the promenade and enjoy the fountains.
At the base of the promenade is a man-made lake with a “World Famous Fountain”. I’m not sure how World Famous is defined as we had no awareness of this fountain until we drove past after breakfast but it was impressive. Every hour, on the hour, the fountains sprays over three-hundred feet in the air for fifteen minutes - that’s three times higher than Old Faithful and even higher than the Statue of Liberty (including the base). Charlotte seemed more inclined to try and go swimming in the lake than gazing at fountain.
Fortunately, there was a “splash pad” park that was part of the broader fountain “complex”. In her typical fashion, Charlotte spent the first five minutes evaluating the splash pad, getting a lay of the land, then made her way around the various splash zones. From falling water to jet sprays to fountains, Charlotte explored each area getting completely soaked in the process. After drying her off, she immediately escaped and ran off to go through the fountains again, but unfortunately for her, Dad scooped her up and put her in the car seat - a World Famous Fountain-sized temper tantrum ensued.
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We stayed at the Inn at Eagle Mountain - a boutique resort surrounded by a golf course. Charlotte enjoyed her new surroundings and made a game of removing things from the suitcases and hiding items for Mom and Dad to find later. She’s also shares Annie’s excitement and hangs around the door eager to leave on the next adventure.
From Fountain Hills we headed to Highland, California to visit Charlotte’s Aunt Cherrie, Uncle Scott, and cousins Sophia and Samantha. We made a very, very important stop on the way to Highland - In-n-Out for Charlotte’s first hamburger. She was a bit indifferent about the hamburger but be careful where you leave the fries because if she can reach them, they’ll be gone rather quickly.
In-n-Out wasn’t Charlotte’s only “first” dining experience. For breakfast she had her first taste of Dad’s favorite morning meal - the breakfast burrito. In true California fashion, the burrito was enormous - literally larger than Charlotte’s head. She had a stunned reaction to this monstrosity but once Dad cut the burrito into smaller pieces she immediately devoured the burrito. I couldn’t be prouder of her. Hopefully this is the first of many breakfast burritos together. Charlotte also got her first glimpse of downtown Redlands.
Once school let out, Charlotte’s cousins joined her at a local playground where Charlotte showed off her climbing abilities and sliding fearlessness. Next it was off to the HOA's pool where Charlotte demonstrated all she'd learned so far at her swim classes.
For dinner we went to the Old Spaghetti Factory, Samantha’s favorite restaurant, although it was Charlotte who showed her how to eat adventurously, opting for spinach and cheese raviolis over spaghetti.
The first two stops were re-connecting with Mom’s family. The final stop was re-connecting with Dad’s favorite place in the world, Manhattan Beach. There’s an alternative universe in which Dad, Mom, and Charlotte all live in Manhattan Beach, however, for this trip, that universe was limited to 24-hours. Just enough time to visit all of Dad’s old stomping grounds. Visits to Manhattan Beach start at the Manhattan Beach pier.
I wish I had the video rolling to capture Charlotte’s reaction to seeing the ocean for the first time. She did a double take, stopping in her tracks as soon as she saw the Pacific Ocean’s waves crashing on the beach. Her reaction to seeing the massive and powerful ocean wasn’t to turn away but rather to try and climb the pier’s railing and jump into the ocean below. At some point we probably need to temper the confidence to make sure it doesn’t turn into foolishness but for now the more adventurous the better.
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We made our way to the end of the pier and I finally went into the mini-aquarium located there. If not for protecting glass, Charlotte was prepared to swim with jelly fish.
After the pier Charlotte and I grabbed a seat at The Strand House. Dad has spent many a sunny afternoon at the seats overlooking the pier but this was the first time he had a sidekick with him making this a much better experience.
There was only one option for dinner - Manhattan Beach post. Buttermilk Biscuits. Burrata and peas. Flank Steak. Charlotte was feasting on all the best at one of Manhattan Beach’s finest dining establishments. For desert, again only one option - Manhattan Beach Creamery. Charlotte certainly has a sweet-tooth for ice cream and once she’s introduced to something she likes, it becomes difficult to take that item away without a temper tantrum.
What’s the best way to follow up dinner and desert in Manhattan Beach? With watching the sunset at Manhattan Beach pier. I’ve seen many Pacific Coast sunsets but this was my first with Charlotte.
What’s the best way to follow up dinner and desert in Manhattan Beach? With watching the sunset at Manhattan Beach pier. I’ve seen many Pacific Coast sunsets but this was my first with Charlotte.
For breakfast the following morning - again there’s only one option here - which isn’t to say that Manhattan Beach lacks breakfast places, it doesn’t, there’s a ton of good breakfast places, but if you are only here for one morning, then the place you go is Uncle Bill’s. Apologies to Uncle Bill’s but I think Charlotte liked my pancakes better or she wasn’t too hungry after her morning bottle.
Now to burn off the breakfast pancake calories with a dip in the Pacific Ocean. I should have known that as soon as Charlotte saw the Pacific Ocean up close that her reaction would be to run full steam ahead into the coming waves but I was still pleasantly surprised to not even see her flinch as she approached the ocean. The first wave knocked her flat on her butt. Undeterred she got back up again and continued her march into the ocean. It was a bit difficult balancing capturing the moment and ensure Charlotte wasn’t carried out to see - if I hadn’t lifted out of the path of the waves I think she would have swam all the way to the Philippines.
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The cold water (it was freezing) had no impact. She stood and giggled as the waves went in and out around her. I lifted her up to return to the hotel and as soon as I placed her down, she did a u-turn straight back into the ocean. A morning here wasn’t enough and now I can’t wait to head to the Jersey Shore in June. It was sad to leave Manhattan Beach. Sad to have this short vacation come to an end. But glad that Charlotte’s first true vacation had many great experiences and that this was just the first of many to come.