Tuesday, August 9, 2022
Today we were off on a new adventure - Segway tour of Huntington Beach State Park. Emily had been wanting to do a segway tour for some time now. The last one we really wanted to do was at The Homestead a few years ago, but she was still too little. Now she was finally old enough and weighed enough so off we went!
We all got right up with no problem and we were off! Our first stop was Atalaya Castle. Atalaya Castle was the winter home of Archer and Anna Hyatt Huntington. Anna Hyatt (yes like the hotels) Huntington was a sculptor and philanthropist in her day. As part of her legacy she left this castle and the adjacent Brookgreen Gardens to the city.
We also had the chance to see if we could max out our speed on the segways while riding down the driveway of Atalaya Castle toward Brook Green Gardens. It was a really beautiful ride!
Our next stop on the tour was down in the marsh area to see if we could see any alligators...and we did! A baby one! See if you can spot it in this picture! We also got to see a little net where more alligator eggs were just waiting to hatch!
Our next stop was at the nature center they have at the park. It was really neat and gave us a much needed air conditioning break! They had some tanks with some of the local animals in them so we could see them up close.
After our quick break we were back on the segways. This time we were off roading through the trees and forest. It was really fun and not as hard as I thought it might be.
This was one of the best excursions we have done on a vacation. It was really fun and we learned a lot about the history of Huntington Beach. I would definitely do this tour again. When it was over, we got a great recommendation from our tour guide for a local lunch spot called Drunken Jack's. They had a huge menu and everyone found something that they liked. Best of all we had a great spot outside on the patio and right on the water! Perfect end to a great adventure!
After we finished our segway fun, we headed over to the outlets for a quick spin around a few shops. Emily was able to find some jeans for back to school and a few other things. With purchases in hand, we returned to the hotel for some pool time, dinner and then - ice cream at Kirk's!!!
