Local Travels

Once upon a time, as all good stories begin………………….(ahem) before we were grandparents!

We used to jump in the car and go on long road trips, just the 2 of us. These days, our road trips mostly involve where can we wear out 2 little girls, close enough to home for sleep, but is still an adventure to them.

Here’s what we have done lately.

Golden Gate Park, San Francisco. (afterall we are East Bay natives)

We took the girls (ages 7 and 3) to everything we could squeeze into the day. We went to the Rose Garden,The Botanical garden where they had a blast imagining being in different parts of the world represented by the flora. The Tea House and Gardens (they loved the high bridge and the tea), the Band shell where we ate clam chowder and sausage rolls, the DeYoung Museum…..not the best place for kids not into art as of yet. We listened to freelance musicians at the Band shell and by the end of the day 2 sleeping girls were belted into their seats for the drive home.

Next came a trip to Santa Cruz since we are unseasonably warm in California this year. It was also the clam chowder festival / cook-off, which I don’t eat but the rest of them do. We played on the boardwalk, taking turns riding the bigger kid rides with the older granddaughter. We all went on the Cave Train ride, its silly but so much fun, think of the Flintstones and there you go. Eventually we made our way to the pier for a decent lunch of shrimp and crab, then back for more rides on the boardwalk. Ending the day with 2 tired but sun kissed girls.

Finally for the first quarter of this year, this past Saturday we went to the St. Patrick’s day Festival in Dublin, CA. Which for us is a 10 minute drive, but still fun none the less. I have lived in the Bay Area all of my life and had never been to this festival until now. We had a great time. The weather was good, there was unique art, and rides for the kids. The best part…..all of this surrounded the Dublin library, where the older kid asked if we could go in, so we did…and she proceeded to read to us for over an hour. Not a bad way to spend a day.