By Mona AlvaradoFrazier / Guest contributor
School is out, summer is officially here, and the kids want to go on vacation. What do you do when you have limited resources and time? You ‘staycation.’ “What’s that?” the kids said when I introduced this concept.
“A staycation is where we take mini-vacations here in our own county, without having to stay overnight in a hotel. You know, local fun.” My daughter’s eyebrows raised; my son ducked his head back behind the computer.
“Hey, it’s on Wikipedia, I didn’t make this up. There are lots of things we can do in this county.” I smiled like it was the best concept since streaming television over the web. It did not lower my daughter’s eyebrows.
“We’ve done everything in this county, we’ve lived here all our life,” daughter said.
“Did you know we have a lighthouse at the Port Hueneme Beach and there’s Paradise Cove in Malibu?” Brows down, she’s listening.
“We can get to L.A. in an hour, can we go there?” daughter asked.
“Sure, you can plan a trip there for us.” A smile curves up on one side of her mouth.
“Mijo, any ideas?”
Head bobs while he looks at the computer screen. “I liked San Francisco when we went there years ago. Let’s go back.”
He did not get the concept of a staycation. “Local places, or L.A. or Santa Barbara,” I reiterate.
“Ah, then no, no ideas.” He puts in his earphones.
I forgot about the conversation until recently. Daughter read about the Los Angeles County Museum of Art exhibit on Tim Burton. “Can we go?” I nod my head, I’m so proud of her for choosing a museum, until I remember, that Tim Burton has those movies like Sweeny Todd and Beetlejuice.
Admission is usually reasonable and we can go and come back within a day so I say “Yes.” Then I look at LACMA’s site: admission is $20 bucks for over 17 years old and parking is $10. Doors open at noon, so that means we won’t be back on the road until 5 p.m traffic, which means we have to stay later, like 7:30 p.m.to avoid said traffic, which means we not only have to eat lunch out but dinner too. And gas is still $3.89 a gallon at Costco. I don’t want to figure out the total right now.
“I think I forgot to mention an important concept in the staycation definition,” I say to daughter. “It’s supposed to be low cost, like walks to a lighthouse, hiking or biking in Sycamore Canyon, beaches, picnics, festivals-that kind of stuff.” But it’s too late. Daughter already picked a day that she had free. She tells brother about the Tim Burton exhibit. He removes the earphones. “Cool.” He bobs his head again. “If we go to San Francisco on the train, we don’t have to spend money on a hotel, or gas.”
It appears he did not get the concept or maybe I need to make sure the earplugs are out whenever I have a conversation with him.
A great staycation is available this weekend at the Santa Barbara Summer Solstice Festival June 24-26, 2011. Besides the parade on Saturday, the festival features art, jazz, a children’s area, a drum circle, and the completion of a community mural. For the schedule, see www.solsticeparade.com
Now go out and celebrate the beginning of summer.
— Mona AlvaradoFrazier is the writer of two manuscripts: working titles “A Mariposa Heart” and “Strong Women Grow Here.” To see more of her work, visit www.latinapen.blogspot.com
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