Domestikasyon Z: Location Highlight: Fletcher Cove & Park in Solana Beach, CA

Now that the sun had decided to grace us with its presence in the afternoons lately in San Diego (and, of course, that C has also figured out that he can't inhale water), I've been taking him to the beach more often and introducing him to the gently-sloped shores of the beach at Fletcher Cove in Carmel Valley. This little area is truly a gem, and while the ramp down to the beach from the park seems daunting at first for a 30+week pregnant woman with a two year-old who runs wildly (and unsteadily) down anything that slopes steeply downhill, it's a worthwhile (short) hike to the bottom.

We've never really had any difficulty finding parking here or nearby, which is what attracts me most to the beach when compared to places like Moonlight or D-Street in Encinitas. In fact, when my husband and I first moved to Carmel Valley, we discovered that access to the shoreline along Solana beach wasn't as bad as the surrounding areas, and we also discovered there were a lot of nice surfable peaks along the beach that weren't exactly on the map (we did surf more often in Del Mar, though).

C loves the park/tot lot. The nice thing about it is the fact that there's a nice, wide tunnel slide that he can easily slide on during sunny days (the key: it doesn't get unbearably hot to slide on). Unfortunately, there are no baby swings, but he's big enough to enjoy the big kid swings now, as long as I don't push him too high.

The beach isn't terribly crowded, and it's easy to find somewhere to put up your umbrella for an adequate amount of shade (we're both dark enough already, so we don't need to work on our tans).

The beach is sloped gently so C can run around pretty bravely in the water (although I stay closeby since he's still really small AND lightweight).

There's a small airport closeby in Carlsbad and a Marine base by Oceanside, so there's no shortage of airplanes and helicopters for Caleb to spot in the sky for added entertainment...