Socal Mom by Donna Schwartz Mills

It's A Small World After All

 A couple of posts ago, I mentioned that I'd spent Saturday at Disneyland. The occasion was an opportunity to preview the update of the classic ride, "It's a Small World," which reopened today after a renovation that took nearly a year.

Several folks (including writers and bloggers for family websites) were invited to check out the changes... and potentially appear in a Disney promotional video.

"We're going to have to go on the ride three or four times in a row," I warned my 12-year-old. "Are you OK with that?"

She nodded. She figured it was a small price to pay for a shot at fame and fortune on TV... and a day at the park.

"And you need to look like you're enjoying it!" I added.

"Will I be on Disney Channel?" she asked. I indicated it was possible (after all - ANYTHING is possible).

"It's a Small World" is the kind of Disneyland attraction you tend to either love or hate -- with no in-between. You can't argue with its message: that we are all family together on this earth and as such, we need to learn to understand one another and all get along. I know I got that message back in 1965, when I first saw this ride at the New York World's Fair (where it debuted the previous year -- it was transplanted to Disneyland in '66).

But by the time I was my daughter's age, I'd decided that enjoying "It's a Small World" simply wasn't cool. For one thing, there was that song: the mother of all earworms, written by the Sherman Brothers, who are masters of catchy tunes you can't get out of your head. (Listen to a number of 1960's era Disney soundtracks - like "Mary Poppins," "Jungle Book" and "Winnie the Pooh" and you'll know what I mean. If you have small children at home, you likely already do.)

And then there was my mom.

My mom LOVES "It's a Small World," and would have a fit if anyone suggested we skip it one trip. And when you're a teenager, anything your mom loves is AUTOMATICALLY uncool.

I carried those feelings well into adulthood... until I had a child of my own.

Megan was just 18 months old the first time I took her to Disneyland, on a Sunday after I'd finished a particularly grueling week at work. She was still in a stroller, and so young that she got in free... but she was also too little to get much out of any of the rides...

...except for "It's a Small World." I left her stroller outside the attraction, carried her into the little boat, and watched her eyes grow wide as we floated through the gentle ride with the happy music and doll-like figures. She was delighted by it -- and so was I. I was able to experience it with new appreciation.

As the years went by, I discovered something else about "It's a Small World," and this is one of those insider secrets that is the reason people read blogs like mine, so listen closely: The attraction is on the lengthy side, and it's got great air conditioning. So if you've been at the park for hours, and your feet are getting tired and it's a REALLY HOT summer day... "It's a Small World" will allow you to rest in cool, cool comfort for a full 12 minutes (or longer!)

Other rest-your-feet attractions are the Disneyland Railroad that will take you from one land to another around the park... "Honey, I Shrunk the Audience"... and Star Tours.

But I digress. The point of this post is to tell you about the ride.

One of the first things we noticed was that the old fiberglass boats have been replaced by ones of molded plastic (think of the Little Tikes line of backyard play equipment). While I miss the old boats, these are apparently sturdier and easier to maintain. (I saw a post online where someone speculated that the new boats are also bigger to accommodate the fact that Americans on average weigh more than they did in the 1960's. Disney denies that rumor -- but it would make sense.)

The next thing we noticed was that Disney characters now appear among the ride's children of the world: Peter Pan and Tinkerbell in London, Pinocchio in Italy, Lilo and Stich in the South Pacific, etc. Disney says the ride features a total of 29 Disney and Disney Pixar characters. I don't remember seeing nearly that number -- so I suppose that will be my challenge on my next visit to the park.

It is possible that some of the characters had not been placed yet when we saw our preview, as it was obvious that park employees were still putting finishing touches on it... there were cans of paint and brushes, ladders, bubble wrap and other debris scattered in corners around the ride (which I began noticing during the second go-round).

The other huge change is the addition of the United States as one of the countries of the world. In the original version of the ride, the US was represented at the end with (in 1964 vernacular) a little cowboy and Indian. Now, there is a nicely sized representation of a cornfield (I guess they chose the Midwest), as well as a depiction of Hollywood. You can get a feel for how it looks in the video below:

I know people who don't like it when you mess with the classics. Some are complaining that the new configuration negates the original "peace on earth/let's all understand one another" message of the attraction, and accusing Disney of injecting marketing into it by the inclusion of the characters.

I really think folks should lighten up. It's a theme park. It's entertainment. Does Disney integrate the rides with all their other products and market to its guests? Yeah. That's just good business, and the company would be crazy NOT to do that. There is a reason why my parents introduced me to the classic Disney films and that I in turn did the same with my daughter.

That does not mean that I enjoy finding myself in a gift shop before I can exit every attraction, or that I'm being tempted to purchase family photographs whenever we get off a thrill ride... but I'm pretty good at saying "no." Lately, I tell my daughter that she can purchase any souvenirs with her own money, and that works like a charm.

When we'd finished the ride, one of the Disney crew asked my daughter if she wanted to appear on camera for an interview... and she came down with a sudden case of shyness. "I thought you wanted to be on Disney Channel," I coaxed. She changed her mind.

I ended up doing the interview, but I'm pretty sure they won't use it. I told them about thinking the ride was uncool when I was a kid. Somehow, I don't think that's the message they want out there.

Disney On a Diet

We spent Saturday at Disneyland, which might be - as they say - the happiest place on earth... but hasn't always been so for people on a diet. Sure, you can bring your own food into the park and stow it in a rented locker...

... but the place is SO BIG, and you spend so much time walking from one end to the other, that you may not feel like heading back to the locker when hunger strikes. And that tends to occur a lot, because everywhere you turn, there are kiosks selling delightful smelling churros, ice cream, popcorn, hot dogs, etc., etc., etc.

This problem is doubled if you hold a "park-hopper" ticket, which allows you to wander freely from the original Disneyland to its younger sibling, California Adventure.

There are plenty of sit-down dining options, too - which traditionally offered fare like hamburgers, pizza and fries.

But a couple of years ago, the Walt Disney Company announced a new directive to provide healthier kids' meals for their guests. "This is a terrific initiative because it makes it easier for parents, even while on vacation, to provide their children with a well-balanced meal with kid appeal," Jay Rasulo, chairman of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, said at the time. "An overwhelming majority of parents tell us they prefer the more nutritious meals for their children over other options."

The change is noticeable: from fresh fruit cups sold at some of the kiosks alongside the sweets... to a child's spaghetti lunch that includes a nice piece of poached chicken and apple slices.

And from what I've seen, the directive to improve the nutritional offerings for kids has spilled over to adult meals. With a little planning, you can get through an entire day at Disney without straying from your diet... if you so choose.

Below is an informal rundown of your best bets in both parks:

All's Fair for Wine Tasting in Fair Play

I kid my sister for moving to a hick town near Sacramento -- although in the last decade, her Sierra foothills suburb has become a lot more upscale than the one I occupy in the San Fernando Valley.

I kid her anyway. I am, after all, a resident of Los Angeles and therefore, a sophisticate (before you protest, please note the tongue placed firmly in my cheek.)

The majority of the population of her town are conservative white people, both politically and culturally, and it's still just a tiny bastion of civilization in the middle of farmland. (Look - tongue still in cheek.)

But there are some advantages to living in the agriculture capital of California: a lot of those farms are planted with one of our state's most popular crops -- GRAPES.

My sister's home is just a one or two hour drive to some of the best wine regions in the world: Napa and Sonoma, and we often try to squeeze a tasting trip into our holiday visits up there. So I was enthusiastic when Linda suggested it over Thanksgiving weekend, pointing out that Friday was my husband's birthday -- and that it would also be her first opportunity to engage in this little family tradition with her eldest daughter, who had turned 21 a couple of weeks ago.

But with the current state of the economy, Linda suggested we skip Napa and Sonoma this time around, as the tasting rooms there charge as much as $10 (or more!) to sample their offerings. She thought we might enjoy checking out one of the newer wine regions in the area: El Dorado County.

El Dorado County is located to the east of Sacramento and stretches out to Lake Tahoe (as do some of the adjacent state counties). It boasts some of the oldest vineyards in the state and is home to 50 wineries in two different appellations: El Dorado County and Fair Play.

Our visit was to the latter, which had been an appellation only since 2001. As it turns out, my sister has wine club memberships there ("Gives me an excuse to go every quarter to pick up my wine," she says) and there were some bottles waiting for them. 

There are around 20 boutique (mostly family-owned) wineries in Fair Play, and as we did not arrive there until after noon, I think we fared really well by hitting five of them (that's 20% of the total in just four hours!)

Our first stop was the winery at Toogood Estate. Owner Paul Toogood (yes, that's his real name) was a successful veterinarian with a passion for wine. He started building his winery by excavating a huge cave and put the entire operation inside, including the tasting room and a unique Flintstone-style dining room. You enter the winery through a corridor lined with oaken barrels of aging wine (which were merrily decorated for the holidays with cheery Christmas lights).

This is one of the wine clubs my sister belongs to, and she had arranged for our use of the dining area. As long as we were there, we uncorked one of her wine club bottles and enjoyed it with our picnic lunch.

The tasting room at Toogood was packed that day. There must have been close to a hundred people crammed next to the wine bar, all enjoying wine with names like Foreplay, Red Mutt and Who's Your Daddy? I have to hand it to them - they have a great sense of style and humor. I just wish their wine was as much fun as their winery. The ones we sampled were not "too good" -- just OK. We did not buy any bottles to take home.

The next stop was more promising. Shadow Ranch Winery is a gem, in a restored homestead built in 1888 (on one of the state's original land grants). The young owner, Sam Patterson, comes from a winemaking family. Like many vintners in the area, he has a degree in Enology and Viticulture from UC Davis (as well as a degree in business).

Sam is assisted n the tasting room by his sister (drat! I didn't get her name!). Both originally hail from Chatsworth (here in the San Fernando Valley), and we had a lively discussion about how different it is down here.

But as pleasant as it is to hang out with the Pattersons, the real joy is the taste of their wines. Sam is good at what he does. I especially liked the Shadow Ranch Zinfandel -- which is weird, because I'm not usually a big fan of Zins. Sam explained the process he uses that results in fewer tannins in the fruit.

I wish I could remember what that was; by this time I was a little snockered. I had been pretty free about using the spill bucket over at Toogood - but I didn't want to waste a drop of the wines served at Shadow Ranch.

Unfortunately, the winery's website is being overhauled so as of this post, there isn't a lot of information there. I did find an article about them at California Wine Magazine -- and you can email Sam about the Shadow Ranch wine club at wineclub@shadowranchwinery.com.

We hit three more wineries that day: Single Leaf, Oakstone and Iverson -- where we spent a long time chatting with friendly owners Mike and Melodie Iverson, the hospitable tasting room hosts. The Iverson wines were really easy to drink - and Mike was happy to pour us a sample of everything he had (including vintages that were NOT on the tasting menu - yeah, we bought a few of those).

Tasting in Fair Play reminded me of our first forays into this activity -- before it became big business. The wineries were small and the owners themselves poured the wine in the tasting rooms. We didn't have to pay for the privilege of tasting, which left us more cash we could use to buy wines to take home.

It's true that the wine in Fair Play is not as fine as the product they serve in Napa and Sonoma... but it's also a lot more affordable, and you're bringing home vintages that you can drink every day. And ultimately, that makes it a lot more fun.

More Las Vegas: In Praise of Cabana Boys & Laker Girls

Even on vacation, I tend to wake up on the early side. That was actually a good thing on this trip, as my husband was eight time zones away and I wanted to talk to him before we got going - and he went to bed.

The rest of our group was still fast asleep, so I slipped out to find a quiet spot where I could make a phone call - and while I was at it, I did some hotel reconnaissance.

The casino is relatively quiet at 7:00 a.m. - but not quiet enough for good conversation. I made my way past the fine dining restaurants, away from the shopping center to one of the two hotel Starbucks... and found the hallway that leads to the complex's convention center.

Bingo.

Las Vegas: There's Gold in Them Thar Windows!

Our destination was on the other end of the strip, so we decided to take a cab.

"Isn't that our hotel?" my daughter asked.

"No, Megan. That's the Mirage." Her friend Maggie sounded exasperated in the back seat.

I can't blame Megan for mistaking the Mirage for Mandalay Bay - both are huge buildings covered in gold-tinted windows. I'm pretty sure Las Vegas has more gold-tinted windows than any other city in North America.

It was Megan's first visit to the adult playground that is Vegas, and it may as well have been mine. I made a point of gathering up all the quarters sitting in our "Coinstar Box" -- only to discover that today's slots only take bills and credit cards. I'll never repeat the experience of dropping 75 cents into a slot to kill some time -- and ending up with a $150 jackpot. When you use spare change, it doesn't feel like gambling. But sliding a $20 or a credit card into a machine is a commitment; one I am not equipped to make.

So it's a good thing our traveling companions are not the high rolling types, either. This whole shebang was Mary Ellen's idea: She saw a window of opportunity between the time our girls got out of school and next week, when their 30-hour-a-week summer gymnastics program kicks in.

"We can get a cheap room by going Monday through Wednesday," she said. "And it's even cheaper if we share."

As I was feeling a little bit sorry for myself that my husband was visiting his family in Wales without me (a decision we made mutually because of the devalued dollar), this seemed like a great idea. I was in.

Guest Post: SoCal Dad Does Wimbledon

Greetings my fellow peeps and peepettes. This is Gareth, husband to SocalMom. But you can call me Sir.

After many years idling in the background, I have finally been honored with the opportunity to post on here.

I can’t mess this up. So, no bad language or inappropriate innuendo allowed, just intellectual witicisms. Dunno if I can do that. Oh well.

The End.

…….. Gareth.

Uh, for my inaugural post, I am in Wimbledon, on Court Number 1.

But first some background. The only reason I am in Britain at all is because of Wimbledon.

But this post wouldn’t be as entertaining if I didn’t tell you all (I have lots of fans) of the lead-up to my Wimbledon trip. And you know what ? Everything in this post you are about to read is travel-related, which is what Donna’s blog is all about. How thoughtful of that is me !! Um …. how thoughtful of me is that ?

"Ten on Tuesday": Places to Travel

Each week, my friend Florinda publishes a kind of top 10 list. This week, her theme is "10 Places You'd Love to Travel To (That You Haven't Gone to Yet)." And I thought it would be fun to participate, as I spent much of yesterday's post lamenting the fact that I haven't done any travel blogging recently (and am not likely to, given the current economic climate).

So here are my Top 10 (in no particular order):

1. Havana, Cuba. I actually HAVE been here, but as I was an infant at the time, I don't think it counts. It is the city where my mother was born and lived until she was 17. My grandfather is buried there. I still have relatives living there, although I do not know them (and am not likely to have a lot in common with them, as the only ones who stayed were true believers in the revolution). But I have heard so much about the city and the country since I was very young, and should travel restrictions be lifted, I would very much like to go there.

2. Istanbul, Turkey. Another genealogical destination. The grandparents who settled in Havana were born in Constantinople. They were Sephardic Jews, descended from those who were forced to leave Spain during the Inquisition. They lived peacefully there for four centuries, until the end of the Ottoman Empire.

3. Edinburgh, Scotland. In all my many visits to the United Kingdom since I met my British husband, I've seen remarkably little outside his home town of Cardiff, Wales. I have a long, long, list of towns and regions I would like to visit, but based upon the hub's description, I think Edinburgh belongs at the top of that list. Besides, if we go to Scotland, we might be able to indulge in the Scottish version of one of our favorite past times and do a little whiskey tasting.

4. Bordeaux, France. Yes, that favorite past time is wine tasting. This is something we've been able to indulge quite a bit here in California, but I would love to take that show on the road somewhere else. I keep reading about all these cool bicycle tours of the wine regions in France, and the romantic in me thinks that might be fun. (The lazy ass in me would probably die if I tried it, but this whole exercise is a fantasy anyway, so I can imagine having the stamina to do this!) Another benefit of going wine tasting in France would be that I would get to visit a city I HAVE been to and am dying to see again: Paris.

5. Yosemite. I should be ashamed of myself for being a California native who has never been to one of our state's most wondrous spots. The problem is, I am NOT the outdoorsy, camping type. I want to go, but only if I get to stay at the Ahwahnee Lodge.

6. Rome, Italy. Do I have to explain this choice? The history. The architecture. And yes, the food and the wine.

7. New Zealand's Marlborough region. One of my friends is married to an assistant director who worked on both Narnia movies, and the family spent an entire summer here while the first one was being shot. Their photos are spectacular, and yes, this is another wine making region.

8. Santiago, Chile. Oh hell. I may as well turn this into a top ten list of vineyards! Chile is also known for terrific wine. Also, my husband used to work with a woman who was from Santiago, and the photos of the countryside nestled below the Andes were gorgeous.

9. Washington, D.C. I've been to London. I've been to Paris. I've never been to the capital of my own nation. 'Nuff said.

10. Tokyo, Japan. I'm one of those people who loved "Lost in Translation." I want to experience the otherness of Japan, too.

Actually, I can think of lots more places I want to visit! I shall just have to redouble my efforts to win the lottery so I can take that 12-month, round-the-world cruise I dream of.

Momma Needs a Vacation

This space has been woefully short on travel posts the last year, which is sad for a blog whose original URL included the term "travelblog."

Travel is expensive, and lately, we've had to use our family resources to pay for other things.

So how could I say non to the folks from the French Tourism Board, who asked me to participate in a contest to help them promote the joys of Martinique?

Twenty-five travel bloggers have posted some of their funniest experiences on the French site. The blogger who gets the most votes wins a free one-week trip for two to the tropical vacation spot in the Caribbean.

The best part: All who vote for a travel post also become eligible to win their own one-week vacation in Martinique!

Please vote for me here -- even though, to be perfectly honest, my story isn't even close to being the best one on the site. The first draft was a lot more amusing before I cut it down to the requisite 800 word limit. Even then, it was rather tame, next to tales of spa days in Tajikistan and backpacking through Africa.

The truth is, we're not adventurous travelers. We rarely go anywhere that doesn't involve visiting our far-flung family, and we don't tend to put ourselves in situations that might be dangerous for ourselves or our child. So I really had to rack my brain for an incident that might qualify for an entry, and this is what I came up with.

So why should you vote for me and not one of the other, better qualified entrants?

Ummm...

Because a week in Martinique would be the honeymoon my husband and I never had.

Oh, we did go away for a week following our wedding (15 years ago next month). But it wasn't a traditional honeymoon.

You see, when my husband's parents and aunt and brother and his wife flew in to San Francisco to attend our wedding in the Sierra foothills, I could not envision kissing my new husband for the first time and saying to them, "See ya." They came 6,000 miles for our event, had never been to the United States before (and have never been able to get back). How could we then just go on our merry way without them?

We could not. So we borrowed a second car and toted my in-laws around so they could see the best of Northern Calfornia.

We didn't have a lot of money, but we did have sympathetic friends and family. A friend of my dad's lent us the use of his Lake Tahoe cabin for a few days. A friend in Sonoma hosted us while we moseyed around Wine Country. A cousin in Silicon Valley temporarily moved into his girlfriend's house so we could use his home as a Bay Area base.

It was a lot of fun and a vacation I (and my in-laws) will always remember.

But it wasn't a proper honeymoon.

Come to think of it, THIS is the story I should have given the French Tourism people for my entry.

OK. So if you liked THIS POST, please head over to the contest and vote for me.

And who knows? YOU could be the winner.

Winter Wonderland

This was the view outside our window this morning at the Hotel Park City, where we are staying with our friends, Tim and Debbie.

I've been looking forward to this trip in the middle of our family holiday. It's not that I don't love being with my family (because I DO) -- but it has been a while since my husband, daughter and I have been away from home WITHOUT family obligations. My husband and daughter have been looking forward to getting out on the slopes. And I've been looking forward to having some quiet time to myself while they're out there.

The only problem is that by the time I've been able to get away and come here, I've nothing to say. I could talk about our Christmas (nice and uneventful, thank you) or our flight over here (stressful due to weather-related delays), or how funny my husband and daughter are when they fight over what is appropriate to wear in sub-freezing temps (I don't have to fight about it -- you aren't going to find my out there!)... but I had too many margaritas in the Baja Cantina to think clearly... and am too relaxed after my spa pedicure to care.

Perhaps tomorrow, I'll be coherent enough to offer a good report on this lovely resort in the winter. In the meantime, here are some more photos:

Kidsick

I miss my baby.

Between her week at camp and her current visit with her grandparents, I feel like I haven't seen her in ages. True, we were together for the week inbetween when we stayed with my sister, but once my daughter hooks up with her cousins, they flit off into their own little play world, and I don't get my little girl back until we get her home. And that won't be until Sunday.

I had managed to keep myself busy -- until today. Not that I don't have plenty of things on my to do list.... I just can't work up the energy to tackle them. And it occurred to me that one reason I'm being so lethargic is that without my daughter around or the need to get her where she needs to be in the morning -- I don't have much reason to get out of bed.

It's like being homesick, except that I'm where I'm supposed to be, but it doesn't feel right because Megan isn't here with me. I seem to have forgotten how to function without her around, which is a little bit scary, because I did just fine for the first 40 years of my life.

Thank goodness my husband suggested I meet him for lunch today, or I would never have left the house. But now, lunch is over and I'm back here and looking at my list and not feeling like doing any of it. And at this point, I may just leave it be and deal with it tomorrow, when all the items are more urgent.

In a way, my sister is feeling more kidsick than I am. She called to tell me about it this morning.

"How would you like a free three-week trip to Europe?" she asked.

My 19-year-old niece -- who is on a three-week study course in Rome -- is still nursing a broken finger and missing her luggage (lost somewhere between Heathrow and Italy). That would be bad enough, but apparently, her traveling companion is behaving like a spoiled brat about it all. (Her luggage was also lost, but at least, she doesn't have to deal with any broken bones.) She's threatening to go home when the UCLA course is done -- which means that my niece won't have anyone to accompany her on the 3.5 week EuroRail tour they had planned to take. And if that happens, she might have to cancel her trip (and lose all her deposits), too.

My sister does not want that to happen, and is desperate for someone she trusts to join her daughter on the second leg of the trip. Of course, she couldn't possibly want ME to do it.

But as soon as I finished laughing at the image of myself staying with my niece in youth hostels in Prague, I realized that my sister is serious. She ticked off all the reasons why no one else in the family would be available (starting with herself -- she is an anxious flyer and no matter how much she's been urged by all of us, she doesn't have a passport).

"You know, they only arrived in Rome on Sunday night," my husband pointed out. "Carly's friend may mellow out once she gets a good night's sleep."

That could be. I hope so. Gareth had a lot of good ideas to help my sister track the girls' lost luggage; some avenues she hasn't tried yet.  When I called my sister back, she was feeling somewhat calmer, or as good as a mother can feel when she is too far away to help her child.

Which isn't good at all.