Spring Break with the Wongs

It's pretty rare when I need to twist my wife's arm, but as Spring Break approached, a family vacation was on the docket and I needed to push my proposal through Congress and fast... For once, in what seems a very long time, The Twins (Evan and McKenna) and my oldest son (Nash) had vacation time on the same exact week and we simply needed to capitalize on this opportunity.

Our story begins with our Hero nearing Spring Break and he is tired and hungry for "arm twisting" can take a terrible toll. Finally, the Evil Queen relents and agrees to a "little" vacation. Victory is so sweet...

Like so many other families these days, budget is an issue, so we agree to a destination that is within driving distance. San Diego is in the "been there, done that" category so it was time to head back up North. As every family in LA will attest, there are really only 3 vacations within driving distance. South to San Diego, East to Las Vegas, or North to San Francisco. There are things in between like Palm Springs and Mammoth and the like, but with a family with smaller kids, surely these are the options that lie before us. San Francisco was the choice this time as the Twins have never been north and Nash has never been higher than Monterey (Nash was 2 at the time so I don't think he remembers much anyways)

I enjoy seeking out new adventures for myself and my family on our trips and not just doing the same things over and over. So when you think of "New Adventures", what immediately comes to mind? Gilroy, California of course. Hey, don't knock it, many adventures await us in the Garlic Capital of the World.

There are many reasons to visit the alluring and seductive town known as Gilroy, (the Gilroy Outlets, the ubiquitous smell of Garlic) but my main reason to visit the illustrious Gilroy is that this town is home to a theme park I have been eyeballing for a while now called Gilroy Gardens. Over the years, I have become a theme park enthusiast and Gilroy Gardens came onto my radar as one of the best theme parks in California for kids and the only horticulturally based theme park. Let me tell you that this park lived up to my expectations and more, but more on that later. Let's start at the beginning...

Day one started like any other day, an alarm clock that rings at 5 AM and bloodshot eyes. I would like to say that we were in the car and driving by 5:30, but alas, what road trip ever starts at the appointed time? 45 minutes or so later, we were officially on our way, and with 3 kids under 7, that is a feat worth applauding! As a sidebar, getting our kids up in the wee hours was surprisingly easy for the fact that my kids simply adore vacations and going places. Yes I know, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, I get it... Drinking my prerequisite early morning Diet Coke we head up the 5 toward Sunny Bakersfield. My kids are yammering about Pokemon while unbeknownst to them, the Journey has officially begun. Sidebar #2, for the foreseeable future, I don't see myself getting away with any family vacations that do not include "rides" in some way or fashion. My kids just love "rides" and theme parks and they do no consider any trip a "Real" vacation without "rides." Yes, Apple... Tree... Got it.

Day One continues uneventfully with the occasional threat of "Do you want to go home?" "I can turn around right now if you guys don't start behaving" but other than the idle threat-making, the drive was pretty smooth. Why do we parents continue to make these idle threats? And what offense seriously constitutes the act of actually turning around and going home? Good thing, the kids don't know that I already booked and prepaid my hotel stays and theme park tickets. Slightly off topic, I must comment that, in my number of years driving, I have never seen so many cops and speed traps on the road. City budgets must be low... Be careful out there.

We arrive at Gilroy Gardens in decent time and thank God for GPS for the signage to the park was not very helpful. We finally find the entrance to the park and are immediately put off by the large sign that is weather beaten and badly needing some paint. Usually this is an ominous sign like in Scream, when the caller tells Drew Barrymore to turn on the backyard lights... However my disappointment is short lived as I pull into the parking lot and a beautiful world unfolds before my eyes. This property is lush and gorgeous. Set back up against a tree filled mountain, this park is situated in a true Wonderland. Only Busch Gardens in Virgina can match the natural beauty surrounding this park. As I read the literature on the place, Mr. Bonfante wanted to create a place to host his beautiful gardens, but he also knew that financially, it didn't make sense. In order for his dream to become a reality, "rides" would need to be added and the result is a perfect mix of flora, fauna, and fun. If you have kids under 10, I highly recommend this place for your next trip. In my mind, it comes very close to rivalling Legoland as the best park for younger kids in California. Legoland has more money behind it and some better rides, but Gilroy Gardens makes up for it in charm and a hometown feel. I can't help but think that with a little TLC, this place could be one step short of amazing. I salivate at the idea of Disney buying it and putting their dollars behind this little park. It would make a fine sister park under the Disney umbrella. That idea of course is pure Fantasyland... I could get into the details of this park, but that would make this blog 10 pages, so let if suffice to say that I adored this park and my kids did too. Nash is already asking to go back there for his birthday...

The rest of the day is spent catching some Mexican food at Victoria's. Decent food, but Americanized Mexican food is not making my Hot List. We chose to stay at the Best Western Forest Park Inn, Tripadvisor's #1 rated hotel in Gilroy! Whoo Hoo! Basically a motel, but it was very clean, beds comfortable and lacking any detracting smells I get from similar motels at this price point, so I recommend the place. 89 bucks a night to stay here.

The next morning, the kids arise from their newly acquired sleeping bags raring to go. The plan is to hit the Monterey Bay Aquarium when it opens to avoid the crowds. After a distinctly mediocre hotel provided breakfast, we pile into the car and drive south to Monterey. We arrive early and Lily does the math and decides that street parking is a cheaper option to parking in a pay lot. The meter devours every last quarter in my car . I have a bag of quarters on my dresser from a long lost poker game that would have been greatly utilized on this trip, but hindsight is 20/20. If you trip up north, bring quarters. The meters up here are much hungrier than its counterparts in LA.


As our quest continues, we find our Heroes entering the museum flashing their AAA Card around like Wayne and Garth only to be told that discount tickets can be purchased by AAA members at a AAA office, but not here at the museum. Kyle pays full price... As an Asian, I am offended to pay full price, but for the kids I suck it up and bite the bullet. For the kids man... for the kids. The Aquarium is nice and empty and we head straight to the kids area as that particular area gets very nutty very quickly. We enjoy our time there as the crowds start to swell. There is a whole new side to the aquarium and it is very welcome as I have always considered the Monterey Bay Aquarium rather small. We enjoy our time and Lily takes the kids for the last few exhibits while I use the Yelp app on my phone to search for some clam chowdery goodness. Yelp leads me to Old Fisherman's Grotto on the Wharf. We head there and immediately hawkers and dime store merchants accost me, I wonder what I am doing in this tourist trap. With only a shred of my sanity left, I finally set my eyes upon a ghastly yellow building and on the sign out front read "Old Fisherman's Grotto" I want to turn and run and find my mommy, but I found a good parking space and I can't give it up. We decide to stay and after a short wait, we order a Lobster, Combo plate, Linguine and Clams and receive a free appetizer by mentioning Yelp. True to my over-indulgent history, I order way too much food, but the food we had was surprisingly darn good considering good food never exists in tourist trap hells like this. Portions were large and the Clam Chowder was very tasty, a little light on clams, but very tasty. It was served in a huge clam shell and I felt like asking for 2 straws, some liquor and some little umbrellas to put in it and then light it on fire. I definitely can recommend this place if you are looking for that typical tourist seafood restaurant. Big portions, solid food. Overpriced, of course, but that's what you expect from these kind of places.

With full bellies, we want to do one more activity and work off lunch so we head to Dennis the Menace Park not 5 minutes from the Wharf. This park is certainly impressive from the street with it's rope bridge and giant archway. There's even a full size locomotive (Train) in front of the park that the kids can climb all over. My kids did indeed climb all over it, but I was right behind them because this thing is full size and some 20 feet tall. I don't recommend young people on the train, I cringe at thought of someone falling from that height. We spend over an hour here as my kids slide down hills, climb rock walls and run through a small maze. Great park with not your run of the mill playground equipment. Definitely worth stopping by and it's completely free!

Head back to the hotel and it starts pouring rain. Still need to eat dinner so I go back to my trusty Yelp app and find Famous Dave's Barbecue. Famous Dave's is a chain and most you know, I am allergic to most chains outside of maybe Houstons. I break out into hives when someone even mentions Applebees... Using extreme caution, I put my allergic reactions aside and we proceed to have a terrific meal. Baby back Ribs, Barbecue Chicken, Brisket, Baked Beans with Bacon, Garlic Mashed Potatoes, and some really good Corn Bread Muffins. This was a rare meal where every dish that hit our table was bordering on delicious. Sometimes with chain restaurants, locations vary in quality, so can't speak for all the Famous Dave's locations, but I can tell you that they have won numerous awards for their barbecue and this location lived up to the hype. They have location in Long Beach and I'm planning a trip there very soon.

During every vacation Lily and I take, there will come a time in the trip where we simply must have Chinese Food. I don't know exactly what it is, maybe it's in our blood, but eventually rice and greasy MSG ridden food call out to me. As San Francisco Chinese restaurants sing their Siren's Song, the next day we make our way to San Francisco and Hong Kong Lounge for Dim Sum. We arrive at 9:30 or so and the darn place doesn't open till 11. We call an audible and head to the Exploratorium. The Exploratorium is closed on Mondays. This day is going swimmingly... Another audible is called and we head back to Hong Kong Lounge. It is now 11:30 and there is a considerable wait for tables now. My intolerance for waiting is legendary, but I really want to try this place so I stay, and I am happy I did. Dim Sum in San Francisco is always a little different than LA. I'm not sure why, but different things are served here. My head was on a swivel as I walked in to the restaurant looking at everybody else's food. As I gawked at every table like Charlie Bucket in the Candy Shop, everything looked so delicious and it was. Hong Kong Lounge actually still use Bamboo Steamers to serve their food. I haven't seen Bamboo Steamers since I was a child. Even on my trip to Hong Kong, we never saw a hint of bamboo so we were very pleased and left satisfied. I can definitely recommend the place as well, but go right at 11.

With the Exploratorium closed and being in San Francisco, we decide to ride the cable cars down to the Wharf. The kids really enjoyed the first 5 minutes, but after that, it just became a bumpy, uncomfortable ride. We get to the Wharf and immediately again wonder what the heck we are doing here. We walk for a bit, hit a candy store to appease the tykes and head back to the cable car station. The line is long and the a cable car employee told us that it will be an hour wait. After waiting some 40 minutes, a cable car breaks down and we give up and take a taxi back to our car. My kids enjoy the "crazy taxi ride" way more than the cable car. Go figure.

We have time for one more quick jaunt and Lily has a hankering for Ice Cream. Lily has done her research so we head to Mitchell's. This is really a small unassuming place and thank goodness there wasn't a long line like we expected. This is some of the best Ice Cream I or Lily has ever consumed. Better than Blue Bell, much better than Fosselmans. It was creamy without being too rich and it was just Ice Cream perfection. We will be back. Full of ice creamy goodness, we head to the Bay Landing Hotel and check in. We decide to stay by the airport as we were only in the city one day. An added bonus was the cheaper rate, 99 bucks and free parking. The hotel was located right on the bay and had a great view of airplanes landing at SFO. The kids loved watching the planes land against the setting sun of another great day.

That night, I leave the kids with Lily and head back into the city. Angels and Airwaves are playing tonight in San Francisco for their First date on the American Tour. Funny coincidence don't you think? Somehow my vacation perfectly syncs up with a show I really want to attend and already hold tickets for... Hmmm. Well, I'll let that mystery go unsolved so I park the car and immediately head to Blondies for a huge slice of pepperoni pizza. Who doesn't love Blondies? The show was very good and it felt good to be out on the town eating pizza and rocking out without the kids for one night. My kids go down at 7:30, 8:30 at the latest on vacations, so with one room, I am forced to go to sleep then as well. I find it torture to go to bed that early and it was nice to be back on some sort of adult sleeping schedule if only for one night. Next time, a suite will be in order.


The last day of our quest arrives and the Little Heroes are begging for "more vacation" I consider it, but Lily needs to get back to work. I google search an activity we can do on the way down and I find the Coyote Point Park in San Mateo. This park is only minutes from the hotel and not in the middle like I was hoping, but it looks super cool so we head there. 5 bucks to park a car and we find a beautiful park with a playground, museum, beach access and a golf course that I pined for, but could not partake. The playground here is called Magic Mountain Playground. I don't get the name, but either way, it's one of the best playgrounds I have ever taken my kids to. It is awesome with a tall 3 story castle in the middle of the playground. Coming out of that castle is a tube slide running all the way down from the top level. Nothing in LA like this exists period. I wonder why No Cal has all the good parks? Nash made a friend as he so often does and the kid even gave Nash his phone number so he could call him for future playdates. My kids thanked me profusely for bringing them here and McKenna kisses me on the cheek. We should have hit the road, but the explorer in me wouldn't quit without at least taking a look at the museum. This little museum is part small zoo and part kids museum. My kids loved all the science exhibits and the little zoo was landscaped in such a way that nature and functionality flowed seamlessly. Throughout this trip, I have really noticed a connection to nature that Northern Cal has and that Southern Cal seemingly does not. Oh well, I shan't dwell over it lest I become bereft... Overall, it was a pleasant and unexpected experience and one that I am so happy to have stumbled upon. Well, at this point we really needed to hit the road, but of course, we need to eat first. I saw a In N Out a mile back so we head there. The line is 20 cars long so we go to L+L Hawaiian BBQ next door. L+L is super hit and miss with me, but this location in Burlingame was spot on. Chicken Katsu Curry... My tummy is still warm just thinking about it. Things works out perfectly as full kids get food coma, and food coma leads to napping in the car. The silence was golden as we drove right on down the road.

After many pee breaks, we finally return home to spoiled milk and a house that smelled like old laundry. Ahhh... Home sweet home. This was a wonderful trip and like all of our trips, a gastronomic adventure even with kids. Kids definitely limit your food choices, but good food can be had with kids in tow and my belly is living proof.

Eat on everybody, eat on.

K