Balboa Island

About a month ago Jack and I took a little trip to Balboa Island. I had planned it ahead of time and it was supposed to be a surprise, but of course I had told him that there would be a surprise, which is the first mistake. Surprises are so much better when you don't even know there's going to be one.  And I talked about it so much that by the time it came around he was probably more excited for me to stop talking about the surprise than he was to actually find out what it was. Live and learn. 

Anyways, I picked him up from work on a Friday night and we drove down and stayed at a hotel in Newport. I love hotels. I really love hotels. It wasn't super fancy, but I'm easy to please. 

In the morning, we found a place called the Galley Cafe for breakfast. Jack loved that place! This is when I knew that Jack was having a great time. You see, Jack doesn't really get excited about a lot of things. He does, but he doesn't show it outwardly. Not like me - I cry if the baby sitting in front of us in church is cute. I freak out over all good food. I routinely lecture Jack on various joys of life - good weather, yummy dinners, a quality movie, etc. "Isn't this the best meal you've ever had?" "Aren't you SO EXCITED for this weekend?" "Ah! This is the best day of my life!" These are the types of things I say. Many times, I think if Jack is not showing appropriate joy that he is not enjoying himself at all, when in fact he is simply more reserved about the simple joys of life. 

Anyways, Jack was showing outward joy at the Galley Cafe, which pleased me greatly. It was a great place - right on the water, a jolly fat owner, lots of old people who you could tell were regulars, and in the best neighborhood in the country, but that's just my opinion. 

After breakfast we jaunted on over to Balboa Peninsula and rented some beach cruisers. Nothing better than a beach cruiser. We took the ferry over to Balboa Island and coveted the houses. We got sodas and thought about getting Balboa bars, but we weren't hungry enough to justify it - weird for me, I can almost always justify spending money on dessert. 

We met this cat named Mia who was perfectly happy to socialize with the passers-by. Not like Phoebe at all. Phoebe wouldn't dare step foot outdoors, even if we let her, and definitely would not lounge out in public, letting all creatures of our God and King get all up in her business. I went home and told Phoebe to carpe diem, and that Mia was living the good life while she sat at home and hid under the bed. Mia is my inspiration. 

We took the ferry back and rode our bikes from the Balboa pier to the Newport pier and back again. Saw some great sights, felt the sun on our pasty skin (in February, mind you) and had a grand old time. We've decided that someday one of our families must have a reunion here, with maybe some Disneyland involved.

I've got some Holga pictures coming from our Balboa trip, and I hope they turned out great! Of course Jack teased me for being a hipster and taking all the cliche shots of palm trees and the lifeguard stand and the ferris wheel, etc. Sorry you married someone with hipster tendencies, Jack, but which one of us was the film major? Eh? I think we all know who the real hipster is in this situation.