With growing feelings of burnout at work, we made a last-minute decision to take a family trip to Santa Cruz for Memorial Day weekend. I pulled a late night on Thursday to work on a paper, and felt more caught up by Friday as we packed for our mini-getaway. Due to a dearth of AirBnb options, we spent our Chase points for a family-friendly hotel that included free breakfast. We set out after Westley’s Saturday dance class, fueled on black garlic ramen and XLB from San Jose’s DTF, and arrived at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk by late afternoon to soak up the carnival atmosphere before taking a turn on the carousel. The 1911 Looff Carousel is a national historic landmark, featuring hand-carved wooden horses, a ring-dispenser, and an original Ruth & Sohn organ that was a step above the pedal-powered merry-go-round at the Davis Farmer’s Market. Westley still fits in a Pack-n-Play, so we were able to indulge in season 1 of the Umbrella Academy in bed next to him with the lights out. On Sunday, we wandered among greenhouse seedlings at UC Santa Cruz’s Life Lab, piloted a submarine at the Monterey Bay Marine Exploration Center, barked at sea lions over chowder at the Santa Cruz Wharf, then enjoyed chicken salad and roasted beet sandwiches at the Picnic Basket. After nap time, we visited the touch pond at the Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History and strolled along Seabright Beach on the way to a mediocre dinner and fantastic ice cream. We awoke early on Monday for another go on the carousel before grabbing sandwiches to take on the Dixiana Redwood Forest Steam Train at Roaring Camp. The Memorial Day train also featured a Civil War skirmish reenactment, complete with dramatic deaths and musket salutes. Westley napped until our afternoon stop at Pacific East Mall, where we stocked up at 99 Ranch Market and stuffed ourselves with pancake balls and Sichuan cuisine before driving home. Our spontaneous family trip at least cleared away our mental doldrums – hopefully the effects will last until our trip to Croatia next month.