I loved going to bed Wednesday night knowing that in the morning 1) we didn't have to get up super early to hit a theme park and 2) we didn't have to catch a super early flight home yet either! Thursday was our transition day - we slept in, emptied our hotel drawers and closets and reorganized our bags, took baths and showers, and were ready to hit the road to the coast! Because check-out was at 11 and we weren't scheduled to check in to our Airbnb until 3, we took one last stroll in Downtown Disney and let the kids shop until their hearts were content at the biggest Disney Store we'd ever seen.
After Cruz picked out a Mickey Mouse emoji fidget spinner and Mila chose a baby Minnie, complete with a blanket and everything, we said our goodbyes to Disneyland and hit the road toward Pacific Coast Highway. Although Beau and I each admitted that we totally would have done the park another day, we were also ready to say goodbye to busy and get a good dose of Southern California before we made our way home. And by Southern California, we meant the beach!
The first thing we did when we got our wheels back was stop at the first In-N-Out Burger we found, which wasn't hard to do! We had thee best fast food burgers of all time, more than enough fries, and four chocolate shakes, praised a restaurant bill that was no longer Disney priced, and were ready to head west. Without much on the agenda, we skipped the freeway and found our way to the famous Pacific Coast Highway to scope out the beaches and take our time to Long Beach. I loved this. The kids slept and Beau and I listened to beachy tunes and marveled at the miles upon miles of gorgeous coastline.
I knew Southern California was known for its beaches, but had no idea it was literally bordered by them! Every few miles we would hit yet another beach town, each with its own vibe, commercial presence, and character. There was Newport Beach with its miles of public parking and beach, the lively and touristy Huntington with its towering hotels and open aired beach front restaurants, the much smaller and slower paced Seal Beach, and finally Long Beach. The palm trees lined the bustling highway and stood much taller than their friends on the Florida coast, we saw several stereotypically shirtless California surfer boys making their way to the sand with surfboards on their blond curly heads. Our first acquaintances in Long Beach included a sweet girl at a hip little coffee shop that gave Mila a glass of water when she got all gaggy over Daddy's watermelon juice, and a waiter at Belmont Brewing Company who gave us good beer, as well as a post-it note full of his recommendations of things to see while we were here. I had the best strawberry beer of my life at that brewery and felt the beach life fill my bones just as we got a text from Jan that our house was ready and waiting for us.
Our last stop of the afternoon would be our home away from home for the week, our little treetop bungalow right in the heart of Long Beach. Jan and Dale, the airbnb owners of the house, greeted us when we arrived, and instantly welcomed us and made us feel at home. The house was cozy and quaint, an upstairs loft with big windows, lots of natural light, a pretty bathroom, and a fully stocked fridge full of Trader Joe's treats for us to enjoy all week. Jan had a bottle of wine, crackers, and goat cheese ready for us when we arrived, had muffins, bagels, and fruit ready for our mornings, and encouraged us to use their beach chairs, umbrella, and boogie boards as much as we wanted. The kids had heard there would be a hot tub, and immediately began begging us to put their suits on and try it out.
It took us all of about five minutes in that backyard to decide it might be the best decision to stay put and relax for a night. And it ended up being one of my favorite nights of vacation. We made a picnic supper for the kids, peanut butter and jellies, fruit, and chips, cracked open a bottle of red, and relaxed in our hot tub amidst tropical vegetation we could never grow in Iowa. And as much as the kids loved every bit of Disney, they loved this night all the same. There we were, the four of us in this hot tub, playing name that tune or name that princess/superhero, sipping on juice boxes and red wine, enjoying the slow pace and each other. The beach could surely wait another day...
After they got their fill of the hot tub, it was pajamas, a bowl of popcorn, and a cartoon before we tucked them in their cozy little pull-out couch for the first of our three sleeps. Afterwards, Beau and I scoped out the sushi takeout menus in Long Beach, ordered in, and enjoyed ourselves a little date night, with our chopsticks and the season premier of Game of Thrones. Doing normal things a thousand miles away from home made this night sweet and special.
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