I clearly remember going to visit Dad at El Toro during Desert Storm, but the base is no more and in its place is the Orange County Great Park, billed as the “first great metropolitan park of the 21st century”. I don’t know that it quite lives up to its impressive title, at least not in terms of its playground facilities, but it appears that large parts of it are still in progress/awaiting construction. What is there,though, is fun, unusual, and free!
Naomi was immediately enchanted by the carousel but we had picked up a buzzer for the balloon ride on the way in and it went off immediately. (Even though it’s free, you have to sign up for the balloon. I’m sure it’s for crowd control, although it was not crowded at all the day we were there.)
The helium-filled balloon rises 400 feet into the air, giving you wonderful views of the park and the surrounding area, including the playground, carousel, and the length of one of the old runways. I tried to determine which of the few remaining buildings might have been the BOQ but nothing I saw resembled what I remember so I’m guessing it’s been torn down.
After descending, Naomi appears to look back and reflect on exactly how high we were.
Apparently so does Logan.
We were able to ride it twice in a row because the line was so short, then we rode it again right before we left the park.
The playground was small but interesting, with local “animals” making appearances in hidden corners, like the bat cave the kids are sitting in in the center shot. Noticeably missing, in my opinion, were those squirrels that had been all over the base; I still remember them running right up and stealing Jonathan’s ball.
Almost as though they were making up for my brother’s lost ball so many years ago, the park had a big basket of balls that anyone can grab and play with.
All in all, not a bad place to spend the morning and reminisce a little about the past.
