West Coast is the Best Coast

Are your eyes ready for some west coast action? Welcome to:

CALIFORNIA

…the land of the expensive and home of the famous.

I’m going to give you a visual, more like written, picture of my trip. We flew into Los Angeles in two flights, because Papi is terrified of being in planes.

Once we got to the airport, we picked up our rental car and went off to our merry little way.

Get ready for the good stuff:

S A T U R D A Y – Los Angeles

We stayed at The Charlie Hotel, the CUTEST little thing ever. It was also my mom’s favorite stay ever. We had breakfast at Urth Caffé, which was actually pretty good. The ambiance reminded me of Green Street in Miami, with a small inside but a plant-based large outdoor part. We had some pretty delicious food there to start our day!

Then, we wandered around Rodeo Drive with its branded, aka expensive, shops, walked through Beverly Hills and through the famous palm trees that you see in the movie, Shrek (my 10-year old self couldn’t believe it!!!).

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We passed by The Chinese Theater, but the line was too long to go in. Drove to our secret spot in the Hollywood Sign and took some family shots. We obviously ate at In-N-Out Burger for lunch and dinner at Public School. Hit the right spot on the first day!!!

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S U N D A Y – Los Angeles

The early bird gets the worm!! We checked out and drove to Malibu first thing in the morning. Guess where breakfast was? Malibu Farm! I had a cute frosé and a wrap. After breakfast, we walked around the pier and drove to Santa Monica Pier for another round of tourism fun.

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My love for traveling is like a ferris wheel, never ending. Here’s pun-intended proof:

My cousin and his wife met us at Din Tai Fung for lunch and the dumplings reminded me of the little commercial before the Incredibles 2. Probably not the best quality but it’s pretty close. Check it out here. #NotAnAD

Dessert was at Milk– very recommended before the trip and it did not disappoint!

M O N D A Y – San Diego

Our stay was at the Ramada in Costa Mesa. We had a quick breakfast at Jack in the Box and a snack at Chic-Fil-A for our long drive to San Diego. We felt like major tourists because we wandered in La Jolla and in Hotel del Coronado‘s beach! Basically sneaked into the beach as guests. AND the only thing my dad could focus on was the seagull… it was a “you had to be there” moment.

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That night, we had dinner at Tony’s Fresh Mexican Food and arrived at Santa Clarita for our stay at a family member’s house.

T U E S D A Y – Santa Clarita

So before we came on this trip, we had some random recommendations but they seemed like a lot of must-do’s. One of them became one of my favorite cities ever. It’s called Solvang. A cute little danish town on the coast of California. We ate breakfast at Mortensen’s Danish Bakery, walked around the town and it just reminded me of Europe.

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After some calories were burned, we drove to Santa Barbara and had dinner at the Boathouse. It was a restaurant along the beach, which reminded me a lot of Scott’s in the Grove at Miami. The scenery was spectacular because there was a side beach part next to where we were and it just reminded me of a cute little date spot.

And then hit some dessert at Creamistry! If you’ve been to Miami, it’s similar to Chill’N but better! You could pile ice cream in a cup, not only in a cone! And the ingredients were so cool, or at least the way they sorted it out to create the experiment.

W E D N E S D A Y – On the Road

Guess what!! We stopped at San Luis Obispo at the gum wall!!! If you read my Alaska post, you’ll see we visited another gum wall! Check it out here for our fun adventure.

We had lunch at Pizza Solo and drove to Ragged Point Inn, where we were staying the night. So this place was also recommended because it’s kind of like a pit stop for rest. You stay a night and drive to the next place. The sunset was BEAUTIFUL and it was just so amazing to see it beyond the ocean and cliffs. I’d recommend it ANY day!!!

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T H U R S D A Y – Pebble Beach

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On our way to the next stop at Carmel by the Sea. We had lunch at Dametra Café and drove through the 17-mile Pebble Beach. It was $10.25 to drive by it but SO worth it!

So this is actually where you get a GREAT view of the Golden Gate Bridge. It gets better!!! My parents and brother didn’t want to come on this adventure, so my sister and I walked the beach to the rocks to take some photos. I WAS NOT READY FOR THE FACT THAT IT WAS A NUDE BEACH. Ew. Not my style…

But story time for real: My sister and I walked across the beach, to the rocks, crossed some ocean-opening area to other rocks and got to where we needed to be. I took my pictures and had a blast with the view. My sister took her pictures and

WHOOSH!!!

ALL THE WATER FELL ON HER LIKE IN THE MOVIES, that the waves sneak up from behind and WHOOOOSH! AND she was in white pants!! It was hilarious!!! One of the best memories I’ll cherish forever.

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F R I D A Y – San Francisco

We went to Ghiradelli Chocolate Marketplace and later through Pier 39 and Fisherman’s Wharf. They seem far apart but it was only walking distance. We saw the sea lions and took some cute photos.

Last day lunch special!!! At In-N-Out and walked through Lombard Street to burn off that fast food calorie mark. Especially before coming home and mentally preparing myself.

I finally took my family shot at Alamo Square by the Painted Ladies, basically where the Full House theme song was filmed, literally before driving to the airport. SO cute!

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I honestly had a blast in California. This time, we saw SO much and drove through only a bit of the west coast. Maybe next time we’ll drive through the rest of the coast. Who knows!

If you read to the bottom, I want to first off thank you from the bottom of my heart… and give you the best tips!!!

• The FAMOUS Hollywood Sign!! You will thank me later for this address. Follow it to the tee, because it takes you along the area that ALL humans take photos with the sign behind them and you can parallel park SO close to it. The address is: 3160 Canyon Lake Dr. Los Angeles, CA 90068. YOU. ARE. WELCOME.
• If you don’t usually plan trips, I’d recommend at least an outline of what you want to do before going, so you have an idea of what you should be expecting. It gives an opportunity to adapt to any situation but also have fun!
• Get out of your comfort zone!! Even if it means walking through a nude beach and getting wet by the waves. It’s the experience and memories that come from it that you’ll speak of forever.

HAVE A GREAT TRIP!!