I admit – the main purpose of this trip was shopping! But I did make one awesome scenic stop. It was the Crystal Cove State Park in Newport Beach. Yes, this neighborhood IS straight out of the TV show The O.C. If you have ever seen the intro, the houses are all on a cliff and they start to look the same – huge!
On my way to the park, I stopped at The Stand in Laguna Beach. It is like the name – a walk up type restaurant with a few tables outside and a view of the ocean. They had an all vegan menu and I couldn’t decide what to get! It all looked great! Good thing they had a take out menu – I saved it for ideas to make at home in Orlando. I decided on the hummus bowl – brown rice, hummus, guacamole, beets, carrots, cabbage and sweet and sour sauce. I got it with a carrot juice to go and headed for the park. Here is my yummy lunch:
And my even yummier view:
A gorgeous day for sailing. Wait – all the days in Southern California are gorgeous. I think mainly because the temperatures are moderate (yes, it was still warmer than I expected) and it never rains. The non-rain thing is pretty sad. Yes, it is the desert. But it is so dry. I can see why fires are a problem out here.
Another great view from my lunch spot:
I took this same shot with my phone and sent it to Chris to make him jealous:
Good motivation for staying thin on the beach – the insane stairs to get down to them and back up when you are done!
I will never go to Southern California and not rent a convertible. It was well worth it! I had the top down 90% of the time (I was worried the other 10% of the time that I didn’t wear enough sunscreen!)
I said mine was the CONVERTIBLE – not the Bentley! Haha!
**edited to add – Jason Davis, our fellow photographer, friend and resident car expert has corrected me. The car is not a Bentley, it is an Aston Martin! Oops! I just saw that it was a fancy car. I had no idea what it was! Funny – while I was out there, I saw quite a few cars that I had no idea what they were. One said “Qvale” or something like that. It was one of the only ones where I could clearly see text on it to remember and look it up. I was beginning to think Honda Accords were not sold in LA. Thanks Jason!
Again, more later!