Hometown Tourists: Alice's Breakfast in the Park, Huntington Central Park

Hey. I'm back. I'd ask if you missed me, but my guess is no because a) you have a life; b) Ben is a great writer (although upon reading his posts I noticed a lot of grammar mistakes, which I'm not going to fix because I don't feel like it, and you can't judge him anyway because he's two and it's pretty remarkable that he typed anyway). But maybe you did miss me...I'm witty, talented, and quite good looking.

Anyway, it's time to cover our next Adventure: Alice's Breakfast in the Park, a restaurant seated on the lake in Huntington Central Park. Ben and I have been to the park before, but I've been really wanting to try the restaurant for quite some time. I had a roommate in college that worked there; she never actually said what it was called, I don't think, I just remember her mentioning it was in a park and that you could bring your dogs.

It's a beautiful setting. they have a great menu for people, and there's one for dogs, too! The food is reasonably priced, and the service is reasonable as well. We ended up sitting inside because there was no one sitting outside and I was too chicken to ask if we could sit out there. I was kicking myself later because as we were leaving some other people, who did have guts, asked, and they got to sit right out in the grass. It's cooler than a regular restaurant's outdoor seating because it's in the park--so you're right by the lake, on a picnic-style table, and there are no boundaries. So, had I not been a chicken, Ben could have run around and chased the ducks and played in the grass and thrown sticks into the lake while we were waiting for our food instead of climbing the chair and table and walls like they were a jungle gym. That would have been helpful. And please don't ask why he wasn't sitting in a high-chair or booster. He refuses. And since he wasn't hurting anyone (except for maybe my image, which, let's be honest, hasn't been in tip-top shape since my mom neglected to tell me in sixth grade that I was supposed to shave and the boys called me "Pits"), I put this one on the list of "battles I don't care to fight." Besides, it was kinda cute, and all the little old ladies in the restaurant (which was every person in there but us) and our server were kinda in love with him. I got the egg breakfast with biscuits and gravy (I'm a big fan) and Ben got pancakes, which he ordered himself, although he says "cancakes," which sounds a lot like cupcakes, which is what the server thought he was ordering. The food was pretty good, although the biscuit was pretty hard and not that great. But otherwise we really liked it.

After breakfast we roamed the park. We didn't make it far from the restaurant, though, because all Ben really wanted to do was hang out at the dock like 100 feet from the place and collect sticks. Whatever. He was happy. And crazy adorable.

The Journey: Well, it's pretty deep into Huntington, so while we're just seconds away from the city, it's a pretty long drive for us, especially since no freeways really go there. But the park is awesome, so it's worth it for the occasional treat.

The Price: Meals range from $7-$9, so it's pretty reasonably priced. You can find the menu here. Note: they only take cash.

The Highlights: They have what is apparently an extraordinary bakery (according to themselves). However, the only baked item I had, the biscuit, wasn't very good. I'm hoping the cinnamon roles, etc. are much better. For me, though, the highlight is the park.

The Downsides: My lack of social skills, which inhibited us from sitting outside. And that biscuit. I was pretty disappointed, if you can't tell.

Note: I overheard a conversation the server was having with another patron. It sounds like the restaurant is actually closing inside of a month. So if you want to try it, you gotta do it soon.

Hometown Tourists: Atlantis Park

Subtitle: "A Comedy of Errors"

It's me, Ben, again. I woke up at 4:15 this morning, so I have some time. I wanted to tell you about a recent Adventure we had at Atlantis Park in Garden Grove. It was one of my favorite's so far. But it was also a challenge. But hey, let's be honest here--I'm two, so everything's kind of a challenge.

We drove all the way to Garden Grove on a crisp August morning. I say "all the way" because I don't like being in the car for more than 10 seconds, so for me it was kind of far. The directions were kind of strange, asking us to turn left onto a street when there was a concrete divider in the middle of the road. Since it apparently breaks some kind of law to drive across those things, we had to make a few turns and find our way back to the street we were supposed to turn left on. We were obviously at some kind of park, but we couldn't see the Atlantis Play Center anywhere. While we'd never been there, the park we were looking at didn't look anything like what we were expecting based on descriptions. So we drove around for a while and never actually found what we thought we were looking for. But again, since we'd never been there (or even seen pictures), we thought maybe we were misled. This looked like just a regular park. After a solid 15 minutes, we gave up and parked next to a little playground. There was an enclosure off to the side that was under construction, so we suspected that maybe that was the cool part and that it was off-limits for the time being. My mom was getting kinda frustrated and annoyed that we drove all this way for what was pretty much the same park as we have across the street, but I didn't really care. I just like parks. So we got out, grabbed the camera, and walked over to the playground. After a minute the battery died on the camera, so we walked back to the car to change the battery. I was perfectly content with playing in this little playground, but my mom was positive there had to be more to this lame park than just this little playground. So she decided to walk a little bit to find it. I didn't want to walk, so I made her carry me.

 

Well, we found the cool part! It was all the way at the end of the road on the backside of the park. After walking about a half mile to it, in my mommy's arms of course, we saw that it cost $1 to get in. Well, we didn't have our money because it was in the car, which was of course on the other side of the park. So mommy said we had to walk all the way back to the car and drive back here. I thought that was ridiculous. I wanted to stay and go in because I'm two and I have no concept of money. I also didn't want to walk back to the car. So I made my mommy carry me. She wasn't too happy about that, especially since she had the big camera in her pocket and it was making her pants fall down because she's lost some weight and the camera is heavy (and so am I).

Well, eventually we made it back to the car. My mom strapped me in and we drive down to the park. So did a big yellow bus full of day-campers. Turns out there were a lot of day-campers there that day. Oh well. I love watching big kids play and trying to be like them. So we paid our $1 and went in.

It was heaven. There were several play areas with fun sea creatures to climb on, slides, grass to run and play in, a boat, a giant sea-serpent slide, and an awesome bridge with a tunnel underneath. I love tunnels. I just ran and ran and played and played. Coolest. Park. Ever.

The Journey: Not too bad. It probably would have only taken us 15 minutes from door to door if we hadn't explored the entire city of Garden Grove first. Just make sure you drive all the way to the end of the street that you can't turn left on.

The Price: $1. I think it's kind of silly to have to pay to go to a public park, but whatever. It's only $1.

The Highlights: To whole dang thing. But my favorite part was the wild bunny that I got to chase around for a while. I love bunnies. Also the Neptune statue. I wouldn't sit on his lap, but I liked to sit at his feet.

The Downsides: All of the walking. But that's not really Atlantis's fault--that's all my mom.

Dear Readers;

Hi, it's me, Benjamin. I'm writing because my mom obviously isn't. She's been very bad about posting lately, and she feels kind of bad, but not really, because let's be honest, who reads this thing anyway? She hasn't been feeling well lately and hasn't really felt much like writing, so I decided to take over for the time being. As my PR rep, I feel like she should be doing a better job of getting my name and face out there. But I guess I'll cut her some slack, especially since I haven't really been maintaining a good image, what with the poop and the tooth and all. She used to spend mornings blogging, but lately I've been getting up really early, so she doesn't have that time anymore. I make her watch Handy Manny with me because it's my favorite, and she does it because she's my favorite and bestest mom. Then we play a lot. She also used to blog during my nap, but lately she's been using that time to read, sleep, watch Secret Life of the American Teenager documentaries on the History Channel...let's just say the creative juices have been stagnant. I think her lack of effort is appalling. But I also keep her running all day, so...I guess to be fair she should get some time to herself, especially since she has to go back to work in four days. Boooo.

Anyway, here are the things that we have been doing: Wild Rivers (although I guess she told you about that), Atlantis Park, the beach, the dentist (I guess she told you about that one, too), Huntington Central Park, Disneyland, the Lagoon, and swimming, just to name a few. I will tell you all about Atlantis Park, Alice's Breakfast in the Park, and Wild Rivers (my side of the story). Those have been our Hometown Tourist destinations recently. We have two more days together (not including this weekend), so we have one more destination left before mommy goes back. We haven't picked yet. Lots of people have been telling us that they are inspired by our adventures. I hope that's true, because we have so much fun, and I think everyone should stop whining about how boring and hum-de-dum their lives are, get off the couch, and play! It doesn't even have to be really expensive. We are super-savers, and we do loads of fun things for hardly any money at all.


Anyway, we've also been doing lots of things that aren't New Adventures. Lately we've been visiting old favorites. Since the sun finally came out we've gone to the beach a lot. And now that our Disneyland passes aren't blocked out we've gone twice in the last week, and we're going back to tomorrow!

One of the things my mommy has been telling me lately is that we are very blessed. Blessed is when Jesus gives you presents--and not just the kind that you open on your birthday, like cars, but the kind that define you and your life. We pay a lot of money to live where we live (mommy says we could buy a house in Oklahoma with tons of bedrooms and a huge backyard for what we pay in rent, but then we'd have to live in Oklahoma), but we have lots of perks. Like how it's only 10 minutes to the beach, which is pretty cheap and always fun, and 15 minutes from Disneyland, which we can go to a lot. Mommy and daddy are also blessed because they have me, and I'm awesome. I'm super cute, fun, funny, sweet, and kind. I also nap and go to bed like a champ, which means mommy and daddy get to spend time together wearing their jammies and watching Friday Night Lights. Mommy says that all of our adventures and Hometown Tourism has made her appreciate her life and where she lives more. This is a good thing, because I think she worries that if I grow up here I will become selfish and entitled (which is when you think you deserve to have everything). I think that's silly. Okay, maybe I overreact a little when we leave the Mickey Mouse Store in the mall and I have to leave the Handy Manny toolbox there, and maybe that doesn't help. But it's just because I'm only two and I don't know how to articulate my feelings very well. So instead of saying, "Mother, I am really enjoying playing with this Handy Manny toolbox. May we please purchase it?" I throw myself face-down onto the floor and scream. But what she doesn't understand is that I do this because I'm two, not because I'm materialistic from living in a predominately wealthy county.


If you're wondering what I'm like these days, I'll tell you. I like Madagascar, but I call it Gascar. I used to call it Move It, because that's my favorite song from the movie, which I like to dance to. But that was babyish. I'm older now, and I know what it's actually called. Speaking of talking, I talk all the time. I love to tell stories. Because my vocabulary is still fairly limited, I use a lot of gestures, facial expressions, and vocal intonation to get my point across. Speaking of vocabulary, I can say truck now. But sometimes I still say it the other way, just for old time's sake. Speaking of trucks, I love them. I love cars, trucks, planes, trains...if it moves, I love it. Speaking of moving, dancing's my favorite. I especially love to do the "move it" dance from Madagascar and the "hot dog dance" from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Speaking of songs, I love those too. I know all the words to "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" and "Jesus Loves Me," which I call the "Bible Song." It goes like this: "Bible bible bible song; bible bible bible song." I love it when my mommy sings to me. I often start singing a song and then after a couple of words I say, "mommy turn!" and make her sing the rest, over and over. I also love books. I love to read them, and I love having my mommy read them to me. Daddy's my favorite playmate. He does all the voices for my toys, and we do what mommy calls "horsing around." We turn on music and get crazy. My favorite bands are The Killers, Death Cab for Cutie, and Ingrid Michaelson.

Well, that's enough for now. I want to go watch Gascar. We can talk later about our Adventures.

Love, Benjamin