Beverly Hills, That's Where I Want To Be!

Well, we’re back from our fabulous getaway to the west coast. Although it’s good to be home, Toly and I had an amazing time in California, seeing such an array of beautiful sites in a matter of 4 days. I do admit that I was not prepared for the unusual weather. I was assuming that CA would be nothing but sunshine and hot temps, and it actually was right before I arrived. They encountered a heat wave earlier in the week with temps ranging in the 100’s, but the day I arrived, the heat wave ceased and it turned to a breezy, cool 70*. I’m a bit jet lagged now, but not too exhausted to give a recap of the highlights from our trip.

Day 1 (Wednesday, April 22nd)

I arrived at LAX around 4pm and embarked on what turned out to be a 2 hour shuttle ride to the hotel (ughh, nothing worse than waiting on transportation). I finally made it to my waiting husband, at the Marriot in Anaheim. He had one more day of his conference and then our vacation could really begin. I was starving when I got there (a 3 hour time difference really screws with your appetite) so we hit up a nice little restaurant in the hotel to grab some dinner and catch up on our weeks.

(A view from the balcony of our hotel)

Day 2 (Thursday, April 23rd)

Toly had to be at his conference bright and early, but since I couldn’t sleep in past 5am, I was up before the sun and him. I decided to check out the gym and did my usual 5 mile morning run, showered, and then ventured around the hotel to grab some breakfast. Thank goodness for Starbucks! After all of this, I realized it was on 9am! (This time change thing was going to be a pain.) I figured I would take the opportunity to explore Anaheim a bit, and walked the nearby streets. Luckily, there was a cute little shopping center about a mile away. After walking for a few hours, Toly called me and said he would sneak out to meet me for lunch. We grabbed a quick bite at a nearby diner and he was off to finish a few more hours of his conference. I realized I should probably get a nap in if I was going to make it past 5pm and we had plans to attend the Angles game later.
Later that evening, we headed out for our first excursion, the LA Angles game! The game was a lot of fun, a little chilly, and a tad eventful with 3 earthquakes that transpired.
The Angles won, but we couldn’t make it to see their victory. We only lasted until the end of the 7th before I almost passed out from exhaustion.

Day 3 (Friday, April 24th)

No trip to Anaheim would be complete without a stop at the most magical place on earth, Disney Land! I’ve been to Disney World, many many years ago, but Toly has never been to either of the parks, so this would be a new and exciting experience for the both of us.
We hit up as many rides as we could, and surprisingly, did not have to wait nearly as long as we were expecting. We cruised through the Indiana Jones Adventure, blasted little spacemen at the Buzz Light Year ride, and soared on a spaceship at Space Mountain. It was a full day of magical bliss, but needless to say, by 5:00, Toly and I were both beat. We walked back to our hotel to meet the shuttle that would take us to our next stop…LA. For part 2 of our trip, we settled into another Marriot, located right in the center of LA. We were both pretty tired from a long day, so we checked into the hotel, changed, and headed out to dinner. We asked the guy at the front desk if he knew of any good restaurants that were close, and he recommended a great sushi place a few miles up the road. This guy did not lie to us! We ate at a place called Kabuki, (I think this might be a chain out west). The sushi was fantastic! I ordered a tuna roll layered with asparagus and topped with fresh avocado as well as an amazing salad of spring greens and tofu in a sweet sesame ginger dressing. This was such an awesome dinner and a great way to start off our LA experience.

Day 4 (Saturday, April 25th)

Happy Birthday Dad! Of course I remembered to call my dad to wish him a big happy b-day!
We woke up early, at a quick breakfast in the hotel lobby, and set out to the car rental place to pick up the car. It was so nice to finally have a car and not have to rely on public transportation! We set out to cruise the streets of Hollywood, starting off on Hollywood Blvd. Here we saw the Kodak Theater, The Chinese Theater, crazy celebrity imitators on the street and of course, the famous Hollywood sign!
We got our fill on the Blvd. and then decided to move along to Santa Monica for lunch. We arrived at the Santa Monica Pier shortly after and grabbed lunch at another famous beach stop..Bubba Gump’s Shrimp Co. Toly was very excited to eat here, because apparently they quiz you randomly with Forrest Gump trivia while you dine on their famous shrimp dishes. The restaurant was actually pretty cool, because it sat right on the Peir overlooking the ocean. Our waiter was super nice and gave us some good advice on must see sites right around Santa Monica.
After lunch, we walked around a bit and then headed back to the hotel to change and get ready for dinner. When I first mentioned I was going to CA, Bobbi gave me some helpful advice on good restaurants and things to do. She mentioned a restaurant called C&O Trattoria and when I googled it, I realized it was only 15 min. from our hotel.
The restaurant was located in Venice Beach, which was such a neat little area full of art and style. C&O was an adorable little Italian restaurant that had so much authentic flare. The best part was the little Italian men that came around every 10 min with fresh hot homemade garlic knots to refill our bread plate. These were sooooo yummy! We were warned that the portions were HUGE and again, these people do not kid! I ordered the apple chicken sausage and mushroom pasta but subbed spinach for the pasta and Toly had his usual fave, of fettuccini alfredo.
We were pleasantly stuffed after the meal, but on the way back to the hotel, I spotted a Pinkberry and quickly made room. I have heard sooo much about this place and have been dying to try it. We ordered a small original and pomegranate twist with blackberries, mangos, and coconut and it was fantastic!



Day 5 (Sunday, April 26th)

Sunday was probably one of the best days of the trip. We woke up early, ate breakfast in the hotel, and laced up our sneakers for a much anticipate hike up the gorgeous California Mountains. Our waiter at one of the restaurants we ate at recommended that we check out Griffith Park, located in Santa Monica. This park was known for its beautiful trails and amazing views of the coast. Oh my goodness, I can’t even explain how breathtaking this hike was. The trails were steep, but once we made it up the mountain, it was well worth the struggle. This was the most incredible view I have ever seen!
After our wonderful hike, we headed back to the hotel to shower and change and made the scenic drive down the coast to Laguna Beach. It was about an hour drive, but getting there was actually a site in itself. The drive was beautiful and once we entered Laguna, we begin to get the sense of the pristine and unbelievable beauty that California is known for.
Laguna Beach was adorable (just as you would image from the show). We walked along the beach, enjoying the sites of the picturesque ocean and then strolled leisurely throughout the quaint streets. We browsed a few boutique shops and stopped for a nice refreshing gelato along the way. We then decided to drive around the town some more and made our way inland to check out the incredible mansions that were all scattered up the mountainous town.
After a few hours of sightseeing, we decided to take our drive up the coast a bit further. Coastal Highway is literally a highway directly alongside the coast of the Pacific Ocean. We made the drive through Newport and Huntington Beach. Wow, these towns were beautiful! So surreal!
About an hour later, we started to get hungry and Toly said if I spotted anything that looked good just shout and he would stop. Well around the Huntington area, I noticed a nice little restaurant called Dukes. I guess it caught my eye because of the name (Dukes in PA is one of our favorite places to eat in the summer). It sat on the pier overlooking the ocean, and I knew a beach view dinner was just what I wanted. We stopped to check it out and all I can say is, thank goodness we did! This restaurant was incredible! The scenery was beautiful as we sat overlooking the ocean and the menu was out of this world. I ordered the lemongrass pan seared tofu with a pineapple asain slaw and Toly had the coconut shrimp. Oh my goodness, we were in food heaven with these meals. I could barley finish half of the massive piece of tofu but it was so good that it was so hard to stop. If that wasn’t enough, our waiter was so kind as to surprise us with their signature dessert for free….a macadamia nut ice cream pie drenched in hot fudge and whipped cream. Holy cow, even though we were stuffed beyond belief, there is always room for a few bites of heavenly dessert! (Especially when it’s free)

Well that about sums (even though this post hardly qualifies as a sum) up the highlights of our trip. We had such an amazing time in California and do hope to go back someday to see some of the places we did not have a chance to visit. It’s good to be home now enjoying all of the memories and pictures. Hope everyone had a great week!