We don’t get out much. With our busy social schedules at home (you know, little league, gymnastics, kiddie parties, returning things to Target) and our lack of funds (hello, our primary breadwinner is a public servant), our kids aren’t exactly familiar with exotic locales. Then, there’s Grandma and Grandpa Colorado who live in, get this, Colorado, so guess where all our summer vacations are spent.
Well, along came a super-cheap weekend getaway package to Palm Desert and we packed our bags quicker than you can say over-chlorinated public pool with rats in the palm trees. Fairfield Inn by Marriot. Whoop, whoop!
You may also know it, as C.J. does, as the place with two beds. Four years of life and never slept in a hotel room with two queen size beds. It blew his mind, really, and we had to allow a good 30 minutes for him to jump from one bed to the other and back again and again and again. While he did that, C.J.’s brother opened and closed the pimping mini-fridge and put my half-full Vitamin Water on the top shelf, then the bottom shelf, then in the door shelf. You’d of thought it was Christmas morning.
And, then we were off! A short driving tour of neighboring Palm Springs and C.J. discovered a city after his own heart.
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
“LOOK AT THE RAINBOW FLAG!” he yelled as he hyper-ventilated.
“ANOTHER ONE!” he gasped.
“THERE’S ANOTHER ONE!” his face turning purple.
“Did you teach him that?” C.J.’s Dad asked me.
“How would I teach him that?” I replied. “They don’t exactly let the rainbow flags fly free in the O.C.”
“I just find it weird that of all the things to see in a new city, that is what he picks up on. What are the chances?” he said, giving me a doubting look.
“Maybe it’s like me being drawn to and liking the Tiffany-green Tiffany & Co. box upon first sight, without even knowing what it stood for. Some passions you just know and feel in your soul,” I reasoned. My husband dropped the subject, as he usually does when I mention Tiffany & Co.
In answer to your question, yes, as a matter fact, there was a continental breakfast. C.J. enjoyed a pink breakfast of waffles with strawberries on top and strawberry yogurt. To my boys, nothing compares to continental breakfast. Nothing.
We ventured to the Living Desert, which was ah-mazing. C.J.’s Dad paid for the VIP shuttle and we rode around in a golf cart while C.J. waved to other visitors like he was Kate Middleton on her wedding day. Later that day, we took the kids to the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway. They were so excited; C.J.’s brother for the right reasons, C.J. for the wrong reasons.
You see, C.J. thought that we said Ariel Tramway, not Aerial Tramway. He thought that he was going to see Ariel (a.k.a The Little Mermaid). He looked all over for her, bless his heart, but couldn’t find her. And, he started crying the saddest quiet tears. What would have been more perfect than a pink breakfast, rainbow flags and The Little Mermaid?
He cheered up as the tram ascended the mountain. Or so I’m told, since I didn’t go on the tram. You see, I don’t do well with closed spaces, heights, being at the mercy of someone else and my ears popping due to altitude. Oh, you have your hang-ups too, so please don’t judge. And, yes, I did consider taking a klonopin just to get myself up the damn mountain and experience it with my family, but that would have meant no margarita at Los Casuelas with dinner, so I let it be a cool “boys-only adventure.”
After dinner C.J. got the souvenir that has not left his head since our return to reality. A fuzzy Viking hat with long blonde braids attached. He takes the braids out, puts them in ponytails, wants braids again, flips the hair over his shoulder like Cher.
“I like my city,” C.J. said as we loaded into the car and started driving home on Sunday.
“A RAINBOW FLAG!” he yelled and pointed as we drove away from Palm Springs.
“ANOTHER ONE!” he screeched in delight, over and over again, until there were none.
JR
P.P.S. A lot of us love your son, as well as his family.
It’s wonderful to hear stories such as yours and to know–even as you sometimes describe the sad, often ignorant responses of other people–that things do change. C.J. may be gay, he may not be gay, but the fact that that doesn’t matter to you is great.
markymaus
Being born and raised in the OC and having just come back from a adult gay boys + 1 straight girl weekend in Palm Springs earlier this month, taking the tram, eating at Las Casuelas, I can say that as an adult, I feel that Palm Springs seems like it’s my city, too.
GreatGatsby2011
I just have to say I love reading your posts. They always leave me feeling delightfully warm inside.
Erich
Raising my Rainbow Mom – I love reading your posts. I imagine a childhood filled with your open-mindedness and fantasize that you were my Mother. Your child has the best Mom possible.
Cam
I love these posts. LOL! If there was a vacation fund to take the family to Saugatuck or Rehoboth Beach or Provincetown I would chip in. LOL!
Glad you, your husband and two boys had a great time~!
TommyOC
@Cam: Rehoboth Beach? Yes… as Wayne & Garth illustrated, there’s nothing exciting in Delaware. “Hi…. I’m in Delaware.”
And besides, West Coast beaches are soooo much better.
As for this mom’s assertion that “the OC” doesn’t have any rainbow flags, i beg to differ. We may not “own” a city like they do in Palm Springs, but Laguna Beach has it’s fair share of rainbow flags outside of shops and houses – and a “gay beach.” South Coast Plaza – where there’s conveniently a Tiffany & Co. Store – is full of preening hipster queens. Neighboring Long Beach (technically in LA County, though OC-adjacent) has a gay ghetto lined with bars and flags.
I applaud this woman’s encouragement of her son and his eccentricities, but the more she writes the more I can’t help but feel she is very ignorant when it comes to the actual gay community – especially that of her own area.
Cam
@TommyOC: said..
“And besides, West Coast beaches are soooo much better.”
___________________________________
I like both, but the WEst Coast beaches pretty much all are freezing cold thanks to that nice current coming down from Alaska and Canada. The same current that gives the West it’s beautiful humidity free weather, is not as fun to swim in. Additionally many of the beaches are rocky.
The beaches in Maine actually in summer have warmer water than the ones in CA. and the sand out on the east is like sugar. Not to say anything about the boardwalks and the entertainment portions that have built up for decades. I just think that a family with kids would have much more to do out on the East Coast beaches. The west are more for just being on the beach. Just my opinion.
Adman
@Cam: sugar sand, warmer water, and no waves! What’s the point of swimming at the beach with no waves? Oh well, it’s for the best since we don’t want more people clogging up the peak anyway.
TheRealAdam
@Cam: West(Best) Coast > East Coast all day, every day. There’s no comparison. Nothing on the East Coast will ever compare to Southern California (although it is nice).
latino
@TommyOC:
Where exactly in South Coast?