I flew out early Friday morning and just returned late last night from one of the funnest weekends of my life! Sarah and I had so much fun cruising around Orange County in an amazing, cherry red, convertible Camaro visiting my favorite beaches and several of my favorite restaurants. It was so fun to show her some of my favorite haunts that I had discovered while living down there and it was the perfect blend of activity and relaxation. We laughed our heads off like we were still in high school and I felt so rejuvenated and rested when I returned home to three little faces peering through the windows of my front door last night. If only I could do this kind of thing every month!
Since Sarah arrived at the Orange County airport a few hours before me, she was able to pick up the rental car and show up at the baggage claim in this shiny and flashy convertible! I just couldn't believe my eyes!
Since Sarah hadn't eaten lunch, I took her to In & Out Burgers in HB so that she could experience this quintessential, California burger and fries for the first time.
At Sarah's request, we then stopped at Walmart for her to purchase almost $50 in candies and soda for her to snack on over the weekend. As hilarious as this was, this really didn't surprise me as this is exactly how Sarah ate when we were in high school!
Since Sarah has always wondered where I lived during all of her trips to HB, she asked me to take her by my old apartment to show her. Since In & Out is literally down the street, we were able to stop by and walk around my old apartment complex on the way to our hotel. It was so fun to be able to show here where I lived and just relive some of the wonderful memories that I had living in this place for several years. Here I am standing in front of my old garage door with my bedroom window in the left hand corner above me.
We then checked into the amazing and luxurious Hyatt resort that is located right on PCH across the street from the beach. It was so much fun for me to stay here since I literally watched this hotel be built during the time I lived in HB.
After checking into our room, we headed out for a walk along the beach to visit the Farmer's Market that is still going on each Friday afternoon at the end of the pier.
Since Sarah is a pro at taking selfies (unlike me), we took many over the week with her amazing, new iphone 12. Here we are about to walk on the skybridge that goes over the PCH and straight onto the beach.
We enjoyed wandering around the many vendors looking at all of the handmade finery.
Sarah and me with a vendor and the Pacific Ocean in the background. Oh, how I loved living in this town for four years!
We then wandered down Main Street which has now been closed off to traffic so that the restaurants can provide more outdoor seating on the street due to Covid restrictions. It sure looked and felt different.
I took Sarah into the infamous, Huntington Surf and Sport shop to buy a t-shirt for Lia. Here is a hilarious selfie Sarah took of us while we were walking down the street.
We then walked back to our hotel and got all dolled up for our dinner out. Sarah had offered to treat me to a birthday dinner at the fancy Duke's restaurant right on the beach. Here is a great picture of Sarah cruising down PCH with the palm trees in the background.
We managed to get a seat with a view and enjoyed a delicious dinner. Sarah told me that I could pick anything off of the menu, so I ordered Surf & Turf for the first time in years!
Although it was rather windy and chilly, we walked all the way to the end of the HB pier.
Some hilarious teenage girls cruising on their skateboards stopped and offered to take our picture.
After staying up late talking in our hotel room, we headed out by 9:30 Saturday morning to Laguna Beach so that I could share my favorite town, restaurant, and beach in Southern California with Sarah. Since she had never been to Laguna before, it was so fun to show her this incredibly beautiful town. Here we are enjoying our breakfast with a view at Las Brisas.
After stuffing ourselves with delicious food, we walked around the beautiful grounds outside Las Brisas for several minutes and took a few pictures. Here we are in the gazebo that overlooks the Pacific Ocean.
And standing at the lookout point.
We walked down a ways to check out the beach before turning around and heading back to our car...
so that we could drive farther south to my all-time favorite beach, Thousands Steps, where we spent five hours talking, relaxing, reading/beading, and playing in the water. I told Sarah that I have never spent five hours at this beach at one time in my life. It was so relaxing and wonderful!
Two bathing beauties posing with the ocean in the background.
We took several selfies of us with Sarah's phone before a giant, rogue wave came in and took us out. I managed to escape, but Sarah got swept away and, luckily, did not drop her waterproof phone!
Here we are taking a picture before the giant wave came up behind us and took Sarah away! As funny as it was, a lifeguard came running over to "rescue" her. Needless to say, it gave us quite a few laughs.
Running in the surf!
Although the cave at the end of the beach is now permanently closed due to too many people getting injured, we still walked down to the end of the beach so that Sarah could see it up close.
We then drove the hour back to HB in Saturday, evening traffic. We stopped by Wahoo's on our way into town to pick up their infamous, fish tacos to eat back at the hotel for dinner. It was the perfect way to end the day after being gone for 10 hours!
To bask in some of the Hyatt luxury, we dawned our white bathrobes and ate dinner out on the veranda with a view of the Pacific Ocean.
After dinner, we put on our swimsuits and went down to finish off the evening in the hot tub as the sun went down.
Sarah brought down a bunch of her goodies and soda to munch on. Although I did not partake, we still had to take a hilarious picture of some of her treats that she ate in the water! Oh, that girl. We finished off the night by returning to our hotel room and renting a movie that we weren't able to finish due to falling asleep around midnight!
We started off Sunday morning by heading to a famous, breakfast restaurant in HB called the Sugar Shack Cafe. We were able to be seated right away (which is amazing on the weekends) due to their expanded, outdoor seating area.
After eating a delicious breakfast, I took Sarah on a little tour of the cute neighborhood right off of the beach that I always called the "numbered streets" when I lived there. I first had to take her down my favorite, HB road, appropriately named Palm Avenue.
Me and the leaning palms of Palm Avenue.
After exploring several numbered streets in HB and admiring many of the darling houses and yards, we headed back south down PCH to the darling beach town of Corona Del Mar to spend the afternoon at my second favorite beach, Little Corona.
A picture of the free-standing arch off the beach of Little Corona.
Since it was low tide, we were able to get some cool pictures of the rock formations and the arch at the far end of the beach.
While Sarah beachcombed for over an hour, I laid on my towel and read a book--a real luxury in my life these days.
The clouds eventually blew off and the sun came out allowing us to enjoy some swimsuit time on the sand and in the water.
After a few hours, we packed up our belongings and headed back up the hill to our car.
We then cruised almost an hour north to Seal Beach so that I could take Sarah to my favorite bakery, Sweet Jill's. Here we are about to pull out of the darling neighborhood in CDM where we parked.
Although Ron and I typically went to the Sweet Jill's bakery in Long Beach, I chose to take Sarah to the other one in Seal Beach since it is closer to HB. Here is the picture that I had Sarah take of me so that I could send it to Ron! Oh, how we loved visiting this place after dinner out on Friday evenings.
Although I only bought three baked items, Sarah went CRAZY and bought enough goodies to fill up two pink, bakery boxes. It was so funny to watch her shopping in there! Here she is standing outside the bakery carrying her two boxes of delicious treats.
We then drove back to our hotel in HB to get ready for our final outing of Sunday--to visit one of my old roommates, Heather, who now lives in Placentia with her husband and SEVEN kids. After learning that she just had baby #7 at the age of 46 years old, I just couldn't resist looking her up. Luckily, Sarah was a good sport and went with me. We spent a great evening with Heather and her family and I really enjoyed seeing her and her husband after 14 years and getting to know here wonderful children. It really was a sight to behold and was actually sad to say 'goodbye' to her at 10 o'clock that night!
Since we had spent very little time enjoying the amazing amenities that this Hyatt has to offer, Sarah insisted that we spend Monday morning at the pool. Although it was pretty cloudy and cold, we were still able to enjoy the heated pool!
After an hour or so in the pool, I insisted that we get out, pack, and check out so that we would not be rushed during our final adventure before heading to the airport!
Checking out of our beloved Room #4505 that was such a wonderful host to us all weekend long.
After checking out of our hotel, we drove off to Anaheim to spend lunch and the early afternoon at Downtown Disney. Although Disneyland just opened up two weeks ago for the first time in almost 14 months, only California residents are allowed to go at this time. As much as a bummer as this was for me (since I would have LOVED to have spent one day in the park with Sarah without children), I convinced Sarah to go with me to Downtown Disney just so I could be close to my beloved park and experience the Disney magic for a few hours.
We enjoyed wandering through several shops when we first arrived. Here we are secretly trying on Minnie ears in the back of one store since I am sure this is not allowed due to Covid restrictions.
We then spent quite a bit of time in the amazingly huge Disney store where we bought souvenirs for some of our kids.
Checking out some new Minnie ears that are covered in periwinkle sequins.
At my request, we walked all the way to the entrance of Disneyland just so I could look through the gates and then take this picture with a frown on my face.
Sarah and I with the Magic Kingdom behind us. So close, yet so far...
We then said sad 'goodbye' to Disneyland and walked back to Downtown Disney where we ate lunch at Black Tap which is famous for its outrageous shakes! This was the same restaurant that Lia and I tried to eat at during our one night in NYC and failed miserably due to both of the Black Taps being closed. So, it was fun to finally experience this restaurant and try out their delicious Cookies 'N Cream Supreme Shake!
Sarah and I enjoying this over-the-top, Oreo shake.
Happily eating away at Black Tap.
We then stopped by the amazing, Lego store on our way out of Downtown Disney to buy a few more items for our kids.
Taking a final selfie as we heading out of Downtown Disney with a giant balloon bouquet in the background. Although we were not able to go into the park, I am so glad that we visited this place during out final few hours in Orange County. Thanks again, Sarah, for treating me to the best birthday weekend ever! It was the perfect way to celebrate my 45th birthday!
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