Day 3. April 15th (Friday)
We slept in (a rarity on one of our Disney vacations, to be sure!) today, because it was going to be our beach day.
The boys again ate doughnut holes and drank juice, and I enjoyed Raisin Bran in my awesome new mug.
After saying goodbye to Jeff, who was off to the conference again, we left the hotel, pausing to take a photo in front because we seem to forget to get pictures of the outside of our hotels on vacation. The hotel definitely has a convention-hotel feel inside, but I think it is great for families, too.
It was a pleasant walk to get to our rental car. At the end it looked like this, which I thought was pretty.
We arrived at the Alamo on Katella Ave., where a Dodge Charger was all ready for us (at a cost of about $30 for the day).
We had been advised by Mary Jo on the podcast to depart Anaheim at about 10am and return at about 4pm in order to avoid rush hour. We left right on schedule and headed to Huntington Beach for the day.
It was a nice, easy drive with a dramatic ending as we were treated to a view of the ocean and turned onto the Pacific Coast Highway.
We found a parking space next to Duke’s, where we had a lunch reservation. We were so happy to be at the ocean!
I had requested a table with an ocean view, but also wanted to arrive early to hopefully ensure success. Duke’s was mentioned on a “Day 6” podcast show I’d heard. (Since Disneyland only offers a maximum of 5-day tickets, the podcast team regularly does shows highlighting different options for what they call “Day 6” outings.) We jumped at the chance to go to Duke's in Huntington Beach after hearing of it, because we had eaten at Duke’s in Waikiki two years ago and just loved the setting and the food. Thankfully, the Duke’s on Huntington Beach had a nice ocean-side table for us and the feel of the restaurant was similar to the one in Hawaii.
There were surfboards all around.
Yummy, warm rolls arrived along with my strawberry lemonade and the boys' drinks.
Our lunch was very good, except that I accidentally ordered fish.
Specifically, it was Parmesan & Herb-Crusted Opah.
It was pretty, and it had tasty breading and capers, but sadly it was still fish... By that I mean that my problem was that I don’t really like fish much at all. Sometimes I order it anyway if a restaurant is known for fresh, tasty fish, though, because I feel like I should do it. This is admittedly a poor dining strategy, so it is a little embarrassing to admit. My point here is really just that it was not Duke’s fault that I didn't like the fish. I guess I should just grow up and admit that I’m not a fish person.
After I was done with (about half of) the fish, I needed a chaser to take care of the fishy taste, so I had to order a slice of key lime pie. Everyone should do this at Duke's. Fish-lover or not.
Okay, the presentation is a bit perplexing. Why is the whipped cream and lime slice looking so aloof over there on the left? I don't know. But it was spectacular - the best key lime pie I have ever had!
The boys ignored my fish drama and enjoyed their food. Sam had a charbroiled cheeseburger. From the “Keiki” (child) menu, Kevin had pizza, and Benji had chicken tenders. Pretty standard stuff, but they said it was tasty.
The view from our table:
After lunch was over, we rented bikes and rode along the path next to the ocean.
We needed to try two different places to find someone who had helmets for us to go along with the bikes. I know we’re on vacation and apparently people on vacation don’t really use helmets, but as they advised me on Makinac Island, MI, last fall when we rented bikes, the asphalt on vacation is just as hard as the stuff at home. Plus, I'm just careful. Maybe over-careful, but that's how I am and it doesn't look like it's gonna change.
We enjoyed the biking, but I think the bikes we got were pretty old and not well-maintained. A couple of us found our bikes strangely hard to control. The steering just felt loose and wobbly. This didn’t prevent us from enjoying ourselves, but did result in a shorter bike ride than we would have had if it was smoother.
After we returned our bikes and paid for the rental ($10 per bike for an hour, so $40 total), we walked along the beach. Kevin and Benji took off their sandals and played on the shoreline a long time, enjoying the huge waves.
Afterward, we walked on the pier a while, stopping in the little shops and seeing stuff like this guy, which we did not purchase.
Then the boys wanted to stop because they said it was too windy, so we left the pier and just sat for a few minutes and enjoyed the sun, the view, and the nice breeze.
We took a few more pictures and wandered into a few more shops and then headed back to the car, because we had to get on the road to make it back for our dinner reservation.
The ride back was easy. I pulled up at the Marriott where Jeff’s smiling face greeted us, and we all drove to Disney’s Paradise Pier Hotel for the Beach Side Bonfire Dinner Buffet at PCH Grill. The boys were excited to see the hotel. A couple of them wanted to stay there actually, instead of the Disneyland Hotel. (I think it was due to the beach ball pillows.)
Up Next: Some Disney fun, as we continue with today's beach theme!
so very much for your kind words & thank you for reading my report! I promise to get back to writing. It's been a busy week and I certainly have been a slacker in keeping up with my writing. 
. I take pretty much whatever I can get, so long as they're having a nice time. I do remember when they were really little and it would be tough to even get them to look, let alone smile normally. That's okay, though...
And yay about your November plans. I bet late November would be a pretty time to go, because perhaps it would be decorated for the holidays. And hopefully not too crowded, but anytime is a great time for Disney, right?!Only 118 more sleeps until I am back
