What Wonders Await the Wandering Ones: Little Summer Outings: 3, 4

GREAT PARK

Hot. Flat. Adolescent trees that can't grow shade. It's getting there...

Timeline painted on an air strip

Kids play area with Balloon in the background

Carousel

Tandem Bicycle near the airstrip, aka the "recycled-use
cement parking lot". H ow eco-friendly of them!

Orange County's Great Park is a work in progress - after all, turning acres of cement into a park is no easy feat! The Great Park will only take up less than 30% of the decommissioned Marine Corps Air Station, which means over 1,347 acres are allotted for OC's biggest park.
The first order of business was a big orange balloon, set up in 2007 to take visitors 500 feet up in the air for panoramic views of the county, free of charge. Since then the park has added a kids play area, a great lawn, sports fields, organic gardens, a small museum, carousel, and they even have Farmer's Markets every Sunday morning.
Mostly I wanted to go up in the big balloon, and recruited my sister to meet me at the park for a look around. After getting lost in the suburbahell of south orange county (it's hard to figure out where you are when everything looks the SAME), I finally made it to the entrance of the park. My sister and I were almost the only ones in the parking lot on this hot July day, where none of the trees are big enough to park under, unfortunately. So we made our way across the shadeless parking lot and along the shadeless fields, over the shadeless timeline (painted on an air strip) to the shadeless entrance for the balloon. However, the was no line, and the gates were closed! We found an information tent, air conditioned thank heavens, where they told us the balloon was under inspection until the next week. This was grim news, but we decided to explore anyways. We rode the carousel (it was free) walked through the museum (interesting, albeit very small), found some shade at the Kids Rock park, and searched in vain for anything cold to drink or eat. We wanted to find the botanical gardens but the July asphalt and our hunger drove us to call it a day. We ended up going down the freeway to the Irvine Spectrum to sit in the AC and drink a smoothie.
My consensus is that this up-and-coming park will be awesome in a few years. Right now it's pretty hot, flat, not that exciting and there's no food or vending machines (a cold water or Coke would have been amazing). However, now that the balloon is offering rides again, I'll have to give it another shot. Plus, now I know that you should bring your own food and drinks, and hats and sunscreen (or come during Farmers). And if you ever have an inkling for an Ultimate Frisbee showdown, their fields would be a perfect spot!

Redondo Beach

Redondo Beach - on the Esplanade, looking South towards Palos Verdes

Yellow Vase - my favorite!

I didn't expect visiting Redondo to be quite so emotional. This was our spot. We lived in the Village of Redondo Beach, nestled up to the hills of Palos Verdes, lights criss crossing the streets of downtown, and the wide white bike path along the flat beach that disappears in the distance, going all the way to Malibu. This was our street, with the green grass divider, trees all the way down, where we put out all our junk and acquired all our treasures. I remember waking up on weekend mornings to the sounds of cyclists and their loud snippets of conversation while whizzing by: "AND HAVE YOU SEEN GARY'S DOG" or "COULDN'T BELIEVE HIS MOM WOULD SAY"

Anyways, we hadn't visited in far too long, not since living in San Clemente. It's like a past relationship, where you know why you had to go your separate ways, but you still appreciate the great qualities that made you fall in love in the first place.

Things like our magical little spot in the middle of LA-ness, our three minute walk to the ocean, how the beach ended and the cliffs began, breakfasts at Yellow Vase, riding our bikes to Penguins Frozen Yogurt, meandering the craziness of the pier and harbor, biking along the coast to Manhattan Beach for Sunday morning coffee and newspapers.

We lived here during some of the hardest times of our life - newly married, my family recovering from a recent tragedy, we didn't know a single person, I had trouble finding a job, Jordi hated his commute to Hollywood and I hated his long, long hours. It was lonely and hard at times, but eventually we did make some friends, I found a job, and we got to know and love our area - Redondo Beach had become our home.

So the other week, when we finally went back for a visit and I found myself crying into my coffee cup at Yellow Vase, I thought something must be wrong with me. But when I started thinking about it, Redondo holds a lot of memories. Some of the hardest memories of our married life, and some of the sweetest. The first place we both called home still holds a very special place in our hearts. And although your trip might not be filled with walks down memory lane, everyone can find it enjoyable, and it's definitely a town I highly recommend visiting.

Take your bike, and cycle along the coast to the pier.
Go to Yellow Vase for breakfast, or stop in at one of the many cute restaurants in town.
Go up into Palos Verdes and take in the stunning views
Rent a kayak, or take your own down at Torrance Beach
Get a beer from Naja's Place at the Harbor - they have 88 on tap!