Day Four at Oceanside: Market to Market

It's no secret that vacations can be exhausting. So on Thursday we rested. Charlotte got to sleep in as much as she wanted, and we all had a light breakfast of toast, fruit, and yogurt when she woke up.

After getting cleaned up, we walked to downtown Oceanside to check out the morning's Farmers' Market.

The market ran up one street, and the crowd wasn't too big.

Daphne bought a couple of dresses, and Char got a huge cookie.

I was looking for meat products, but since this was California, my choices seemed limited.

In retrospect I should have at least tried the mushroom jerky, but my inner Iowa Boy just wouldn't let me.

For lunch we drove over to Carlsbad and stopped at Senior Grubby's for a photo op and some grub.

The rest of the afternoon was spent at the beach, but as I said, I left our camera at home. Around 5 we left the sand to wash it off our ourselves, and then we walked downtown again to see the Sunset Market. This market was an entirely different animal. The Sunset Market was all about food. Spanning an X of city streets, there were easily over 50 vendors, and the streets were packed.

This time finding meat was no problem.

The people at LA Gourmet Sausages did a great job of artistically dressing my first meal.

While I was scarfing down my sausage, Charlotte spotted a "balloon artist". Dang! I hate those guys. But Daphne wanted Char to have fun, so she volunteered to stand in line while I brought her food stuff. The first stand I spotted was selling the "Best Fries!" in Oceanside, so I bought our trooper some. Daphne loves fries, and buying these for her made me feel less guilty about not standing in line for a stupid balloon.

The "balloon artist" claimed he could make Disney characters, so I was a bit apprehensive when Char asked for Ariel. But I have to admit, the guy delivered.

More than once a passerby remarked to Charlotte, "That's the coolest balloon I have ever seen!" Each time Char swelled with pride.

Even the Star Wars characters nodded their approval!

(Not really. I just needed a way to weave these guys into this narrative.)

After some mango juice,

and some time spent listening to the live band,

it was time to walk the beach on our way back home and get ready for tomorrow. 

Legoland, here we come! 

sigh.