Southern California Road Trip

The first week of December Brian and I spent a week in Southern California starting in San Diego and flying back home out of Los Angeles. We love the west coast and the variety of climates, landscape and cuisine that are all in one state! I’ve linked all of my previous California travel guides at the bottom of this post. We really only had half a day in San Diego during this trip since I met Brian on the tail end of his work conference. We packed the time with some good meals and walks around the downtown/Gas Lamp district.  Acai bowls at Nekter Juice Bar (desperately wanting a location to open in the southeast!), the tastiest tacos and mixed ceviche at Oscar’s Mexican Seafood and absolutely delicious ramen at Beshock. All three were so good!

We drove up the coast checking out the seals at Seal Rock, popping in cute shops along the way (like Vuori — now obsessed!) and arrived in Laguna Beach just in time for lunch. We had lunch right on the water at The Deck on Laguna Beach and it was the perfect spot to relax, grab a drink and eat!

We stayed two nights at the beautiful Casa Laguna Hotel and it was so charming! We started with a couples massage at the property and it was followed by a private sunset soak with champagne. It was the perfect way to kick off vacation and just unwind! The property had fresh lemon trees throughout, a year round heated pool, European style breakfast each morning and a beautiful renovation recently completed by Martyn Lawrence. The rooms are on the small side, but it worked for two people!

LAGUNA BEACH/NEWPORT:

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STAY:
Casa Laguna

EAT:
Nick’s – save room for the warm butter cake. It’s insane!
The Deck at Laguna Beach –  loved the local IPA and the shrimp & dungeness salad
Carmelita’s – order the spicy skinny margarita & the marisco trio! 

DO:
1,000 Steps Beach
Tasting at Laguna Beach Beer Company
Walk Balboa Island
Sunset drinks at Montage Laguna Beach
Hike Top of the World

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For our two nights in Venice Beach we rented a cute AirB&B right by the canals and pretty much walked or biked to everything nearby! It poured the first day we were there, so we really just popped in and out of places until the sun came out. Our last day was beautiful and we drove over to the Rancho Palos Verdes area to hike some trails along the coast. It was absolutely breathtaking!

VENICE BEACH:  

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STAY:
AirB&B

EAT:
Great White – must recreate the scramble bowl asap
Gusto – too many good options to choose. Don’t forget to stop by their store a few doors down!
Élephante– if you can get a dinner reservation dine in! We just grabbed sunset drinks and it was a great spot
Salt & Straw– the tastiest ice-cream with some really funky flavors

DO:
bike the Venice boardwalk
walk the canals with your morning coffee
shop on Abbott Kinney
hike around Terranea resort area and the Ocean Trails

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other California travel guides:

Mammoth Mountain
Napa/Sonoma
Napa (older, but still has some of our favorite spots)
Los Angeles to San Francisco road trip
xx