"Ahoy, Mateys"
Have you ever been going to the same place for years only to discover that there’s way more to it than you ever imagined? It’s fun, exciting and a “duh” kind of moment all at once. We’ve been frequenting Corona del Mar State Beach for quite some time mainly because it’s close to home and I can always find parking. But Corona has everything you need; lifeguards, restrooms, snack shop, and showers. Of course, in the summer, it also has lots of people but that’s the reality of living in Southern California.
Usually we haul all our beach gear across the sand and set up close to a lifeguard station, near the water’s edge. Then we spend hours playing in the surf, boogies boarding, building sand castles and checking out the tide pools. But today it’s winter and we just came with a camera and planned to walk along the beach and get our feet wet. Not many people were around and Nick wanted to show me a cove he saw last time he came with a friend.
We walked through the parking lot to a rocky hillside. Although there was not an obvious path, Nick assured me this was the way. We climbed up to the top of the hill and to my surprise there was a little beach on the other side. A staircase built into the rocks led down to the beach where there was a lifeguard stand.
Wow! I could see brown pelicans diving for dinner, and yachts and sail boats cruising Newport Harbor, and a pirate ship. Screeech! Hold on. Wait a minute. Did I say pirate ship? Yep, a pirate ship, mateys!
I watched in amazement while Jack jumped up and down with excitement and Nick scrambled to get a better view. The pirates ship was sailing right past us out of the harbor to the open ocean. But before it sailed by, a yacht crossed its path and “BOOM!” The pirate ship fired its cannon. There was white smoke coming from the pirate ship and then another cannon fired. “BOOM!” Well, this was all too much for my little guy who was squealing with delight. We stayed until the sun began to set and the pirate ship disappeared out to sea.
Just another cool day in the O.C. Oh, did I say we were just going to get our feet wet? Both boys were completely soaked head to toe by the time we left. Kids just don’t have the word cold in their vocabulary but they do know how to have fun.
