For spring break this year, my family and I went to California. This was my second time in California, however, the first time I was there I was one year old, so I don’t count it. I went with my family and we flew from Denver to San Diego. On the plane, we started our descent and I looked out the window and saw nothing but a bright variety of lights and pitch black spots which were water. The place we stayed is called Oceanside and it was about forty or forty five minutes north of San Diego if you disregard the traffic.
In Oceanside, we had a room at the Marbella, which is a boutique right next to the beach. I loved the Marbella. The morning after we arrived, my family and I ate donuts for breakfast in the community lounge. The lounge was right next to The Strand, which was a one way street that went along the beach. That morning as I devoured my donuts, I watched cars, bikers and people make their way down The Strand. I couldn’t get enough of it. That morning as I was sitting overlooking the passerbys a man with no shirt on came riding by on his bike. As I looked over his character, I noticed he had a carrot in his right hand and I could not contain myself. Another night sitting at the lounge, right before the sun set, a line of lowriders came down the strand. Some of the cars would bounce along the street and others would cruise, while others had their speakers blaring. I took a real liking to this form of chaos, but apart from that, I could not get over the water.
At the lounge of the Marbella there were two seats that sat higher than any others. I loved to sit in the seat on the right and from there the view was amazing. From that seat you could see all the passerbys, the water, and the pier. Throughout the trip, I would sit there and watch the waves. The way the water slowly grew and began to curl before it slapped the surface mesmerized me. The Marbella has a surf rack with a variety of surf and boogie boards for you to use out on the water, and that I did. I had little to no knowledge of surfing so to create an idea for it I did some scrolling on TikTok. The first day I went out to surf, I paddled out and did my best to catch a wave. After missing a handful of waves, I slowly started to catch some, and after that, with the TikTok knowledge, I started to stand up. I fell a lot, but once I started getting used to standing up, I ended up riding a couple of waves. I loved it; the cool water was very refreshing, but I had been surfing for an hour or two and I was starting to get hungry.
When I first heard that my family was going to California for spring break I was super excited for a number of reasons and one of them was the food that a very well cultured area offered. I was with one of my friends from home whose family decided to stay in Oceanside as well. We went on a search to find some good food and we decided on a place called the fish shop. The fish shop had a wide variety of choices and I ended up getting fish and chips and a taco. I started with the taco which had dorado and a number of other toppings. The fish was soft with a crispy fried batter and all the toppings gave it a super fresh flavor. The same went for the fish and chips but this time it was alaskan cod, and I really enjoyed it. Another night, my family and I went to a restaurant called Tanner’s Prime Burgers. I got a burger, queso fries, and a dutch chocolate milkshake. The patties were the perfect level of thin and had a great smokey flavor.
Throughout the trip, I had a lot of food and really enjoyed each place that I went to.
It was really cool being able to see California and I had a lot of fun experiences staying in Oceanside. The view of the ocean was stunning and the location of the Marbella made going out easy. I don’t think I will ever forget the variety of characters I saw from The Strand and I wouldn’t want to. I’m hoping to go back to Oceanside and if I do, I could see myself going to the Fish Shop and Tanner’s Prime Burgers again. Unlike when I was one, I’m happy to say that I will be remembering my big trip to California.
