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!

San Diego Week Two

I’m starting to feel like a local! Another fun week here in Southern California. I have walked a ton of miles! It’s a reminder to me everyday of how fortunate I am to be in good health. I don’t take it lightly. There will come a day when I am not able - but today is not that day! So here are the highlights of places I have been this week.

I spent most of a day at the Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve. It is located right next to the famous golf course but doesn’t overlap. It is almost 2000 acres and named after our nation’s rarest pine tree. Beautiful hiking trails with gorgeous views of the Pacific Ocean, sandstone cliffs, natural vegetation and beach access. Some of the trails are fairly flat and easy to navigate but there are significant stairs and an uphill climb for others. Totally worth the time. I love this view of the trail to the beach.

That’s me standing on Flat Rock which is at the very southern end of the reserve. Not as easy as you might think to get up on it! Bottom left is the Torrey Pine tree.

From Flat Rock I headed south walking down the beach, and was a bit nervous that everyone else was heading back north. First thing I saw was a sign that said “Unstable Cliffs Stay Back”. Well my option was walk by the unstable cliffs or stay really close to the water and hope I didn’t get hit by a big wave. I had thankfully checked on the tide before concocting this plan and was assured it was low tide until later in the afternoon. At high tide there is no beach at all. My plan was to end up at the Cliff Hanger Cafe about a mile and a half down the beach and get a bite to eat while watching people much braver than I paragliding. So while I was definitely the only person on the beach I continued my trek. This is not an idol threat as just last week on the news in this exact area there was an area of cliff that crumbled onto the beach. Here is a picture of the unstable cliff I was walking by.

My next concern as I walked along under these cliffs was once I hopefully made it to the cafe up on the bluff, what if there is no way to get up the cliff? Well I could start to see the gliders in the sky above me so I knew I was close. I was looking intently to try and find a way up and finally spotted what appeared to be a set of stairs. The worst set of stairs ever! There was a sign at the stairs that said “Unstable Stay Back”. My question was is that the cliff or the stairs? Or both? But I had no choice so started to ascend. They were patched together with old tires, railroad stakes, broken slabs of concrete, and a very steep climb. I exhaled when I finally got to the top safely and lo and behold was exactly where I wanted to be at the cafe. Success! I had soup and a sandwich and it was fine but the food is really irrelevant. Sitting there watching people strap into what are basically kites and ascend is amazing. You can pay for a tandem ride and someone will take you up, but a lot of the people doing it had their own equipment and clearly knew what they were doing. Not something I aspire to do but very cool to see it up close. The Cliff Hanger Cafe is right behind the University of CA San Diego campus right above the ocean.

I spent another good part of a day at the Old Town San Diego State Historic Park. Considered to be the birth of San Diego the park contains restored and reconstructed buildings that are now museums, shops and restaurants that illustrate the community between 1821 and 1872. I specifically planned to go on a day when a free one hour walking tour was offered and really found that to be a huge contribution to my enjoyment of the park. The dates the tours are offered are listed on the website and the other benefit is that typically on those days areas that aren’t always open are available. For instance the Blacksmith Shop was open and had demonstrations happening all day. The guide was very knowledgeable and interesting and we got to go into buildings that aren’t open if you’re there on your own. Only 18 people allowed on the tour so get there before as you need to sign up for it. Tour is at 11AM so arrive by 10:30 as a number of people after that were turned away.

I wandered into a number of the cute shops many of which had beautiful pottery from Mexico, candles, clothing, sweets, jewelry etc. There were a number of restaurants and so I decided to go with Casa De Reyes which my Uber driver had recommended. Not the best Mexican food I’ve ever had but it was fine - just soup and a side of beans and rice - but an outside space that was lovely and the staff couldn’t have been nicer.

After lunch I walked around the area and just happened upon Heritage County Park. As someone who loves architecture and historic homes I felt like I had hit a jackpot. San Diego County purchased the land in 1970 after concerned citizens realized that downtown’s rapid growth threatened the many fine Victorian homes with destruction. Private and public funds were used to acquire, move and restore these endangered Victorian structures. There are 7 structures in this park - 6 homes and Temple Beth Israel. In reading about each home I was struck by the dates of construction coinciding with the dates of the start of the career of Frank Lloyd Wright - an architect near and dear to my heart. It confirmed again how Wright was such a ground breaking architect and had such an impact on the evolution of an American style of architecture.

It’s not really a Patti Part Two adventure if there isn’t at least one stop at an art museum - so that was next on my list. I spent a couple of hours at the Museum of Contemporary Art in La Jolla, and it vastly exceeded my expectations. I’m not an art of any kind expert, and even less so of contemporary art - but this is a really beautiful museum. It is a fabulous building that overlooks the Pacific Ocean right above the La Jolla Cove so that alone is worth a visit. The rooms overlooking the ocean have windows with breathtaking views so you see amazing art and then nature at its finest. It was so much larger than I expected and when talking to one of the employees and expressing how impressed I was she told me the museum had just reopened after a very large expansion making it five times larger than before. So if you have visited in the past it’s definitely worth another stop.

Now for some food I enjoyed this week. In my quest for the best fish tacos I think I found them. At the Fish Shop. Three locations in the San Diego area. The BEST! (Survey of one😬) Usually when you order fish tacos you don’t get to pick what kind of fish. Not here. They have 11 different kinds of fish always and sometimes even more. You can get your fish in a taco, salad, sandwich or on a plate. Don’t come looking for a burger here. You pick your fish, marinade, and then how you want it. Need a side with your fish? They have some great choices. Halibut in a taco with Fish Shop Seasoning in a flour tortilla please! Delicious! Going back again soon!

You say you want to eat breakfast at the beach? Try Woody’s! You can’t get any closer to the beach, and I’ve walked by it 20 times and it’s always busy. Breakfast or burger - that’s your choice. No inside dining. Boardwalk or roof. I went with Popeye’s Scramble. Eggs with spinach (duh!) mushrooms, onions and peppers. Delicious rosemary potatoes and an English muffin. Their slogan is “eat some breakfast, then change the world”. Well ok! A great place to people and surfer watch.

Another awesome place I ate at was Sugar and Scribe. A bakery and restaurant in downtown La Jolla. Open for breakfast and lunch and on a Sunday morning was a mob scene. One of the benefits of being a party of one is that sometimes they can squeeze you in asap if you’re willing to sit at a counter. And I was so got seated immediately for brunch. So many great things to choose from. Also an amazing coffee bar and the bakery items were gorgeous. I got another type of scrambled eggs with a side salad and incredible Irish toast that came with made from scratch blackberry jam. Also a delicious latte. Another spot I want to return to again. A number of their menu items were Irish but the decor was really more French to me. So pretty and a great outdoor space too.

Another cute bakery - The Olive Baking Company located just off the boardwalk in Pacific Beach. Touts their cinnamon rolls which were delicious but I also got a blueberry muffin that I liked even better. A large selection of sweet and savory kolaches as well.

The açaí bowl of the week was from Vili’s Health Bar. Equally as delicious as the one from the Ocean Cafe last week so not necessarily worth the extra $5 it cost. But I do love all their yellow decor. So cheerful.

Now just a few random pics. Walking down the street I noticed my first every tsunami sign. Unclear as to which way to run but I’m guessing away from the ocean?🤔

The view from one of the windows at the art museum overlooking La Jolla Cove. Spectacular!

The most adorable house ever in La Jolla that looked like something out of a fairy tale. Zoom in to see the pink hose hanging from the spigot and a glass gazebo filled with flowers on the inside. If I ever win the lottery (which first I would need to start buying tickets) I am going to buy this house. Magic💕

Sunset is even pretty on a cloudy day if it’s over the ocean. Thanks for coming along on my trip!

Solo San Diego

I totally love where I live 10 months of the year. Post holidays can be a long string of gray cold sometimes snowy days, so a change of scenery can help a lot. So I found what I hoped was a cute AirBNB in the San Diego area and headed out for some warmer weather and sunshine. The first couple of weeks I will be here by myself, and then later in the month I have friends coming out to share the fun. I was very pleased to get to my place and find it exactly as pictured - which is always a relief. Since I’m not renting a car till my friends arrive location was key. I’m just about a 10 minute walk to the beach and tons of cute restaurants and coffee shops close by in addition to at least 4 grocery stores. So far my feet have held up nicely and I have walked lots of miles. I frequently make the mistake of forgetting to turn around because there is always something right around the corner that I would hate to miss. Then I realize I have to walk back too! But if you have a cell phone Uber or Lyft is just a click away. I haven’t had to resort to that….yet!

Since I’m here for a number of weeks I don’t feel compelled to squeeze everything that I want to do into a short amount of time. So I’m having a good mix of activities and relaxation. Definitely taking a long walk along the beach everyday, and I’ve already eaten my share of fish tacos. So just going to post some pics of things I have done so far and some of the food I’ve eaten.

I spent a good chunk of a day at Balboa Park. It’s where the quite famous San Diego Zoo is located, but there is a whole additional area full of museums and gardens. Built in 1915 for the Panama-California Expo the architecture is Spanish Colonial Revival. Originally meant to be taken down after the event, but people loved it so much they reinforced many of the buildings and it stands to this day.

I visited the zoo many years ago, and since I’m not really a zoo person decided to focus on the gardens and museums. There is also a beautiful theater there called the Old Globe that is modeled after the Old Globe in London. I purchased a ticket a few weeks ago for the performance of “The Notebooks of Leonardo Da Vinci” that is running now, so planned the day around that event. It was a beautiful day so I walked all over that area of the park and enjoyed the different gardens and some of the museums. The play was very interesting. All dialogue actually excerpts from the notebooks of a genius and artist. Different vignettes of topics Da Vinci wrote about. The set and actors were all incredible so I was glad I had made the effort to see it.

There is also a wonderful restaurant there called Prado. So pretty inside and the food was excellent. Fish tacos of course for me😂

Lots of beautiful gardens but this tree was amazing to me so just going to post one picture. The Japanese Garden was really cool too.

Another fun thing I did was take a kayaking guided tour of the La Jolla area. I love to kayak and also learn so this accomplished both goals. There were about 20 people in our group with two knowledgeable guides. We were on the water for about two hours so admittedly I was a bit sore the next day. My upper body is not used to paddling for that amount of time against the ocean waves, but the good news is that I didn’t capsize. I also didn’t bring my phone to take pics for fear of doing exactly that so you’ll just have to believe me that I did it. There are a number of different companies you can do this with and they were all similarly priced so I just picked this one. I did need to make a reservation and was glad I did because at least the time slot I picked was sold out. The water was pretty rough so we didn’t get to go into the cave. That was fine with me because crashing into a rocky cliff wasn’t on my bucket list and there was plenty to see outside the cave. This was the group that went out before us so just pretend I’m standing here with a life jacket and helmet on too.

Now for some fun food. I tend to like to eat out at lunch and just have something lighter for dinner which has worked out great here. So many cute places to try. More fish tacos. These are from the Pacific Beach Ale House. A cute place really close to the ocean with a nice rooftop deck. They were delicious. They came with a fantastic corn and black bean dish of wonderful.

Is it a trip to California without a few stops at IN-N-OUT? Not for me it’s not! One of the few places I enjoy a burger and fries. Ok and I did have a chocolate shake that day too. Treat yourself Tuesday! (Not sure it was Tuesday🤷🏼‍♀️)

Before the kayaking I headed to Scripps Beach and a place I had read about called Caroline’s Cafe. Overlooking the beach I had a fantastic tuna sandwich and salad. Eating and looking at the ocean never gets old.

A cute place in downtown La Jolla called The Cottage spoke to me so I had lunch there one day while browsing the cute stores in that area. Another beautiful day to eat outside.

Breakfast for lunch and a delicious scone to enjoy later.

If you know me at all then you know few things make me happier food wise than a good bakery or even better coffee shop/ bakery. The Wayfarer did not disappoint and I tried a ham and cheese croissant. Going back again soon to try the almond croissant.

In Hawaii I became obsessed with Açaí bowls so I’m on a quest here to see how the California ones stack up. First up the Ocean Cafe. Nothing fancy just the traditional açaí, granola, fruit and honey. This one was as good as the ones in Hawaii minus the sweet flower they put on it there.

On one or two of my walks I spent some time at the tide pools. Fascinating! Snails, anemones, tiny fish and who knows what else!

Lots of birds and animals we don’t routinely see in the Midwest. Like Pelicans!

Seals laying on the beach in La Jolla at the Children’s Pool. Actually was made for human children but the seals have taken over as a place to nurture their babies so humans can only observe from above now. That’s fair.

And Sea Lions! So many Sea Lions! Literally hundreds and they can make quite a racket. Seeing them get themselves out of the water and up on those rocks makes absolutely no sense. Their bodies are big and they have tiny flippers by contrast. They must be so strong and agile to accomplish it. Luckily the wind was blowing out to sea or might have been less pleasant to observe them.

So many beautiful beach and cove and wave pictures to choose from. I pick this one!

Someone with so much more patience and imagination made this cool sand labyrinth.

My best EVER sunset picture. No filter. Just in the right place at the right time. Feels exactly like my life right now. That’s week one. Hopefully I’ll do a few fun things this week too! Make it a great week for yourself💕 (Also today is Super Bowl Sunday. Eat some barbecue. GO CHIEFS❤️💛❤️)