A Rainy Day in Cardiff by the Sea

It was raining hard the day we woke up with plans to drive to Carlsbad, CA. I wondered if our plans would change to staying home and watching a DVD and eating a bowl of popcorn! The rain stopped and the sun peeked out mid morning for about a minute and it was all we needed to get in the car and we were on our way for a pleasant drive up north. My day in Carlsbad will forever be one of those special memories of my life. The day was a gift to me, an early Mother’s Day gift, and one of those “mother-daughter” times we moms cherish. I’m blessed!

Besides walking through the mall, we went to The Flower Fields where the flowers extended forever like blankets of color as far as the eye can see. Hay rides take you through acres of flowers. We were thankful the rain held off, but it was cold. There’s a park for children that looked like fun and we got lost in the Sweet Pea Maze. It was wonderful to see the Poinsettias growing in the greenhouse; it made me think of Christmas.



When we left Carlsbad, we drove south along the ocean. Then it poured! We ate a late lunch at The Beach House in Cardiff by the Sea. It was fun to watch the rain fall, and see the big waves from the ocean roll onto the beach. The ambiance was beautiful and the food delicious! My daughter ordered a chicken salad and I had the chicken sandwich with roasted peppers and mozzarella cheese, and french fries, too! Hey, it was my day.








Comments

  1. So beautiful! Thank you for taking the time to share your travels, though now I'm hungry, and heading off to make a salad!

    Blessings,
    Kathleen

    ReplyDelete

  2. What a fun day, especially since you got to spend it with your daughter. Btw, both the salad and sandwich looked yummy! Nothing like a blogger taking photos of her food. I do it all the time; lol.

    Mary, there's something special about the ocean. I love to hear the sound of the breaking waves and smell the salt air. That is the one thing I miss living in Phoenix. However, I guess it's just an hour plane ride, right?

    Blessings and love,
    Debbie

    ReplyDelete

  3. Beautiful. Love those overcast rainy days. Those french fries look mighty good as well. Blessings.

    ReplyDelete

  4. Mary:
    This was like a visit back to my mom and dads place in San Juan Capistrano. We had so many wonderful trips out there and we did the same beach things that you shared with your daughter! And the food... we loved trying new things and there isn't any place better for that than southern California. Even the waves you had playing in the background. When we grew up there, we spent every day we could at the beach. Texas beaches are NOT like California!!
    This was such a treat! Thanks for letting us share your wonderful time.

    Love,
    Sonja

    ReplyDelete

  5. That's San Diego! Still enjoyable and lots of fun even if rain is falling :) Beautiful pics! And that food! Oh my! Yummy! Have a great weekend sister Mary and God bless you and protect you and your family.

    ReplyDelete

  6. It sounds like you had an amazing day!! You got some really great pictures! Thanks for sharing them with us!

    ReplyDelete

  7. Loved your post today, Mary. Thank you so much for sharing the wonderful pictures with us. Glad you had the opportunity to spend this day with your daughter.

    ReplyDelete

  8. Oh Mary what a wonderful day you were blessed with :) Your sweet daughter, the OCEAN, and a wonderful yummy meal! Sounds Divine!!! So happy you were able this special day together!

    Bless you my friend!

    ReplyDelete

  10. Mary, sounds like you had a beautiful day with your daughter. Thank you for sharing it with us. Have a beautiful weekend.

    Blessings,
    Sandi

    ReplyDelete

  11. A beautiful, delicious day indeed! I love seeing the flowers laid out like an endless piece of carpet. Flowers are the fingerprints of God, another way of letting us know that he's around and has not forgotten us.

    peace~elaine

    ReplyDelete

  12. What a lovely time! I'm so glad she blessed you with such a nice trip.

    I love the ocean so much though I rarely get to see it. :o) We usually head west (which means MOUNTAINS for us).

    I just posted about my conference.

    Love & hugs!
    bETH

    ReplyDelete

  13. I love hearing about travels, especially in beautiful CA! A few years ago we drove up the coast (from San Francisco). It was the most beautiful drive we ever took!

    Sounds like your trip was heavenly...

    ReplyDelete

  14. Love Carlsbad - have you ever been in the caves? Beautiful pictures.

    Love to you
    kelly

    ReplyDelete

  15. Your photos are beautiful! It looks like you had a lovely day with your daughter. I love the flowers...so beautiful! Thank you for sharing your day.

    ReplyDelete

  16. Oh how wonderful! Thank you for sharing! I love the views. I miss the ocean. I was just thinking about how much I love California - just this morning! Mmmmm . . . french fries - way to go!

    ReplyDelete

  17. What a beautiful day!

    I wanted to thank you for being a part of my first year of blogging! What a wonderful year it has been. I'm throwing a little party and as an honored guest, I would love for you to stop by and share a highlight of your year with all of us.

    http://justsarahdawn.blogspot.com/2010/04/cactus-happy.html

    Cactus Happy,
    Sara

    ReplyDelete

  18. Hi there,
    My name is Jane and I'm with Dwellable.
    I was looking for blogs about Cardiff-by-the-Sea to share on our site and I came across your post...If you're open to it, shoot me an email at jane(at)dwellable(dot)com.
    Hope to hear from you soon!
    Jane

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Father's Back

Image
Mark’s dad died in a work-related accident.  A steel girder fell on his head during construction of a bridge.   He left three children, all under the age of four.  My son-in-law, Mark, the oldest, has two younger sisters. 
When I think of family love, I see the upside of this tragedy.  Mark’s family grew up in a large Victorian home with other family members.  Also, cousins lived close by.  The family did life together and, even today, lives in close proximity.  I enjoy them on Facebook; my feed rolls with photos of their antics and laughter.
Mark and Amy asked us to drop by their house to feed their cat when they drove up to the mountains to spend the weekend with his siblings and cousins.  They celebrated a cousin’s birthday.  One heartfelt present brought tears to Amy’s eyes when she told us about it when they came home.
The gift, a box of old photos, entertained the group as they each reached in and grabbed a handful of memories from their youth.  Gail, the youngest sister, broke in…
Read more

Whisper in My Ear One More Time

Image
He woos me to His side and I listen carefully to clues I hear about His direction for me in the coming year.  I love September.  It is a special time for me.  I look for Him in a word or phrase; He speaks in the quiet hours.  He weaves my life’s days together in such a way that I see a glimpse of him in everything.  I look at my simple days and that word pops up like a revelation and I know He is near.
The fall Jewish feast days explode with meaning for me as a Christ follower pursuing my Jewish roots.  The forty days of Teshuvah, or time of return, depict God calling us back to Him spiritually for a deeper relationship.  The sound of the shofar every morning, a wake-up call warns me not to miss what God is about to do.  That shofar blast scatters my enemies releasing breakthrough where needed.  Then comes Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, a brand new start.   Yom Kippur follows, a time of deep repentance and fasting.  It then leads into the Feast of Tabernacles depicting how God car…
Read more

Feeling the Love

Image
It’s our wedding anniversary today.  We’ve been celebrating all weekend!  Yesterday we woke up early, got dressed and headed to the Sedona Red Rocks.  I climbed up those red rock hills determined, even in my dress, to breathe in the fresh morning air.   The sturdy jagged mountains, copper colored, spotlighted from the warm morning sun surrounded us; I experienced a rush of gratitude.  God blessed us generously over the last forty-five years!
Our trek in the steep red elevation exhilarated us.  We drove through town and found a cute cafe for breakfast.  A burly, outgoing man, the owner, welcomed us while the woman drinking coffee at his table complimented my dress. 
“We’re celebrating today.  It’s our 45th wedding anniversary,” I replied.
The little cafe filled up quickly and we were surprised when the owner stopped by our table and loudly exclaimed that he had an idea to make “our” day special!  He burst into song: “Happy Anniversary to you…”
Everyone chimed in and serenaded us, clapped…
Read more