Week 3 - Newport Beach!

Time to wrap up my time in Pacific Beach and head to Newport Beach for a few days with some great fun friends. Cheryl had arrived for the last few days to hang out with me in Pacific Beach at my AirBNB and it was fun to take her to all the fun spots I had discovered. The BEST fish tacos, ice cream, brunch and places to visit the seals and sea lions.

We picked up the rental car and decided to stop on the way to Newport to check out a donut shop I had read about that was supposedly legendary in Cardiff By The Sea. Is 30 miles too far to go for a donut? Nope! And it definitely did not disappoint. It was a Saturday and appeared that every human within a 15 mile radius was there in spite of the rain. Packed! But clearly not a first for the staff and they very efficiently kept the line moving. But what to get? We picked a cinnamon roll, a few donuts and some gorgeous cookies to share with the friends we were picking up in Newport. It is a beautiful town right on the coast but sadly due to the torrential rain we headed to Newport after the stop.

We stayed at the beautiful Marriott Newport Coast Villas and they were great. We had a two bedroom villa with a living room and full kitchen so plenty of room to spread out. It was chillier than normal but all the pools were heated to a very comfortable temperature and plenty of hot tubs which we managed to enjoy.

Sunday was a beautiful day so we wanted to make the most of it and did just that. Started out at Wilma’s Patio on Balboa Island for a delicious brunch. You might call those drinks Bloody Mary’s but we prefer to think of them as salads 😂

Then a walk all around Balboa Island. The homes are so cute and really sandwiched into every possible space and a beautiful harbor. Lots of cute shops and amazing landscaping.

After Balboa Island we headed to Inspiration Point. A beautiful spot in Corona Del Mar. A gorgeous point overlooking Newport Harbor and the beach. A great place to look at tide pools and dodge the waves. Oops one of the waves got Cheryl and the water was COLD! Love these ladies! We always have a great time when we are together💕

We had a fabulous dinner at Gulfstream in Corona Del Mar. Awesome fire-pits outside to have a nice glass of wine while waiting for your table. I love this picture of Harriett (second from left). She has the best laugh and it comes from her soul. She always says no one has it better than we do and she is right! I didn’t do a great job of taking pictures of our food. It’s a lovely restaurant but the lighting wasn’t conducive to great pictures - or more likely I’m just not a professional photographer so trust me the food was excellent. If you eat there I highly recommend the biscuits on the appetizer menu. Order twice as many as you think you can eat and you will finish them. And the roasted artichoke. Best ever! Everything we had was delicious and we each had a bite of the lemon meringue pie for dessert. One bite was all we had room for. Yumm!

We ended a great day in the hot tub! The next morning sadly it was raining again - but it didn’t deter us from our reservation at The Beachcomber in Crystal Cove. I have never visited this area without making sure to have breakfast there. So much history! There is an enclave of 46 vintage cottages that date back to the 1930’s that are being renovated by the California State Parks and the Crystal Cove Conservancy many of which you can rent out. The food is great at this little spot but reservations essential. Beignet appetizer to start! Why not?

Profile pics for everyone on this cool beach right in the tide pools. Clockwise starting top left: Cheryl, Deidre, me, Harriett. I have such great friends!

For our last night together we picked another awesome restaurant I have been to before - The Bungalow again in Corona Del Mar. We went for happy hour and ended up just making it our dinner place too. Shared a good bottle of Champagne and some yummy appetizers and sandwich specials and finished by sharing a dessert that was called butter cake - but was like a St Louis Gooey Butter Cake made better with ice cream and whipped cream. Yes even better!

That was it for our time together in Newport Beach. But my time in California was not over yet. We took Cheryl and Harriett to the airport and then Deidre and I headed up the coast to Santa Barbara. Girls Gone Wild Part Two! Well not really but check back soon as we did a lot there and had another great time!