Thursday morning we decided to forego our little jaunt into LA, and make our way to Oceanside. The traffic and craziness of the city was NOT what our souls needed that morning. After a great breakfast at the hotel, we chose to take the Pacific Coast Hwy instead of the interstate, and we are so glad that we did!! We saw so many great little beach communities that we never would have seen otherwise. The scenery was just majestic; hills on the left, the beach on the right. Jason directed us to take a road that overlooks Redondo Beach. As we twisted up through the hills, the air was getting foggier and foggier. When we got to the top, to a cliff that typically overlooks the ocean, all we could see was nothingness. A very cool, yet eerie experience. We stood on the edge of the cliff, and there was nothing. Just white/gray clouds. We couldn’t see down; the only way we knew the ocean existed was the sound of the waves hundreds of feet below. No picture could capture that experience, but it’s a moment I hope I will remember forever.
We continued our drive along the shore, and happened upon a Trader Joe’s. I’ve heard people talk about this store, but I had no idea what it was. So we pulled off and went in to find a great little organic grocer, that was surprisingly inexpensive. We gathered some items for a picnic: cheese, summer sausage, crackers, figs and sparkling pomegranate juice, and went on our way, longing for a Trader Joe’s in Texas!!
We passed Trump National Golf Course and jumped out so Jason could take in the view and a few pictures!
Not too far up the road we came across a beautiful overlook, Palo Verde. We pulled off to find the cutest little picnic area, complete with beautiful flowers, and a picnic table overlooking the beautiful ocean crashing into the cliffs and some dolphins playing in the water. Absolutely breathtaking. It was still early, and we weren’t hungry yet, so we saved our picnic for later.
Our next stop was Seal Beach, a quaint little beach community, perfect for a picnic. We found ourselves a bench, and enjoyed our lunch while the sun warmed us and the breeze kept us from getting too hot. An absolute perfect day.
When we got to Laguna Beach, I absolutely had to seek out a gelato shop that I fell in love with four years ago. I saw online that it was closed, but I was hoping for wrong information!! We found the shop immediately, and I was delighted to see a “Gelato” sign outside, and a “welcome” sign in the window! My excitement soon turned to disappointment when I found out that it had been sold a couple of years ago, and the new gelato was not near as magical as I remembered. ;D
We finally made it to Oceanside, and were so pleased with our resort!! Thanks to our friends Angie and David, we were hooked up at the Wyndham Resort and Spa, right on the coast and in front of the pier in Oceanside! The town was super cute and small – not near as crowded as LA. There was a beautiful sunset that we watched from the pool. Since it was still drizzling rain, the sunset was paired with a rainbow! Gorgeous!
That night we ate at a tiny Italian restaurant and shared a meal and salad. There was only one other couple in the dining room, but the food was really good! There was also a sweet little man playing the guitar which entertained us our entire meal.
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