Bucket List Nation

 

Whenever friends and family come to visit, they always want to eat somewhere unique to California. And one of the best, unique experiences is being able to eat outside on the beach anytime of the year. So, this past weekend, I decided to take a trial run (for future visitors, of course!) at The Beachcomber Cafe, a cottage-style restaurant located inside of the Crystal Cove state park in Newport Beach.

I loved that this restaurant (and state park) doesn’t feel touristy at all, it has a very local vibe to it and who doesn’t love being able to relax on the beach while waiting for a table? The best part is the parking lot, because you can park all day and enjoy the beach, for free, with your Beachcomber receipt. I can guarantee you won’t find that at any other restaurant on the beach.

The restaurant really does think of all of the details a guest might need, including fleece blankets for the chillier parts of the day, since the restaurant is pretty much open air.

And now, on to the meal portion which was pretty mind blowing when it comes to dessert. To start though, I decided to try the blue crab cake with grapefruit, yuzu aioli and a homemade crouton. This was very light and refreshing, definitely put me in the mood for Summer.

I also choose the Lobster Roll with bacon and avocado on brioche bread. I loved that they used brioche instead of the traditional rolls and also punched up the flavor with bacon. It was very filling and I found myself only able to eat half. The drink menu, in itself, is a reason to stop by The Beachcomber. They have a cute bar area on the side that reminded me of previous Caribbean vacations. I tried the signature drink with island blue pucker, citrus vodka, and lemon/lime juice.

Now, on to the best part of the meal: beignets with powdered sugar, chocolate sauce, and vanilla bean ice cram. One of the managers recommended this as their most popular dessert and mentioned that guests claim these are better then The Cafe Dumonde’s beignets in New Orleans. Pretty big claim, but these were honestly the best dessert I have had in a long time.

The cutest part about The Beachcomber? They also offer beach chair rentals for the day and reserve a space for you while you are eating. I could see myself easily spending an entire day here without the need to lug an umbrella, towels and chairs with me.

I never thought of myself as a desert girl. Given the choice between a beach vacation and a desert vacation, I would ALWAYS choose the beach. But there’s a reason that so many people are enamored with Palm Springs.

Most people venture out to the Palm Springs area for the Coachella music festival, to enjoy the resort pools and shopping (nothing wrong there), and even a few hardcore outlet shoppers come for the crazy deals. But I found a few more unique reasons to come here if you’re into trying new things and want to escape the city:

1. Try taking a sound bath at the Integratron: I plan a full post of this experience in the future, but The Integratron has public sound baths, twice a month that promise to realign your chakras and help you have an outer body cosmic experience while meditating. Even if you aren’t into the meditation part, the backstory about the owner being directed by aliens to build the temple is interesting enough.

2. Try a rock climbing course at Joshua Tree:  This national park doesn’t get enough credit, its basically eclipsed by Yosemite and most people skip it over during their time in the desert. You will find the most interesting rock formations here, including Skull Road shown above. While the park is pretty big, its an easy half day trip filled with mini-hikes and viewing points.

3. Take a ride on the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway: Desert to snow in 30 minutes while you ride in a rotating glass bubble up the mountain?! Bring a sled and a winter coat, because once you’re at the top, it is quite a temperature change. I love that you can stay at the top for as long as you like, and the tram has a ride down every 20 minutes.

 4. Check out Carendas Market for horchata and fresh Mexican tres leche. Checking out ethnic grocery stores is a great way to become immersed in the local culture and try authentic goods. I love that this chain has a fresh juice station where you can get shaved ice topped with fruit, and a station where they make tacos and homemade tortilla chips. The produce sections is also interesting (and dirt cheap) with things like yucca root and pomelos.

5. Take pictures of the famous windmills at the Palm Springs Visitor Center. As you’re driving in, you might feel compelled to try and snap pictures outside your window as you pass hundreds of windmills. Wait until you get into Palm Springs, and stop at the mid-century modern visitor center. You can get some great shots from there while you get more ideas on things to do!

 

This was just a taste of a few things I was able to fit into my trip. I wish I had more time to do on a mid-century modern home tour or go on some of the famous hikes, but I plan to share more about my recent trip to the desert, so please check back for an upcoming series this week!

This past October, I finally had the chance to visit Napa for the first time. Besides being a longish drive from Los Angeles, it always felt like more of a weekend getaway/side trip to me, versus a longer trip. But since we are already up at Yosemite, we decided to add on to the road trip and make the plunge!

Fall is the best season to go.

We learned from all of the locals that fall is definitely the best time to visit Napa. Harvest happens during this time, so there is a lot of action and excitement on the vineyards. The leaves are beginning to change color, there’s a crisp chill in the air, and its the perfect weather for riding bikes/taking walks.

Even if you can’t dine at The French Laundry, good food is everywhere. 

One notable dining experience was The Bardessono’s restaurant Lucy. They have their own organic vegetable garden where the chef will prepare daily dishes based on what is available. We had the seven-way carrot salad, which isn’t on the menu. (How do you even find seven ways to cook carrots?) I love how the restaurant customizes creative dishes for their guests based on seasonal produce.

The halibut sliders with homemade potato chips were easily my favorite dish of the trip. We also tried the chocolate cake with beet ice cream. This one surprised me, because I wasn’t sure how well the vegetables would pair with chocolate. Trust me and try it!

Even beyond the uber-rich wineries, there are unique options including a medieval themed castle and a hippie house with goats. 

Castell di Amorosa is the most visited winery in the country with a complete replica of a Tuscany castle and winery. We took the VIP tour which gives you a peak inside the castle grounds and samplings of the wine. I expected it to be a little cheesy, but it felt so authentic with a lot of attention to detail. More on that later!

Napa is mainly known for red wines. Expect that going in and try some unusual combinations. 

Going into the trip, I was expecting wine wines to be everywhere, but found out that Napa focuses mainly on reds. While there were whites available, the red blends are more complex and offer a lot of variety. I wasn’t a huge fan going in, but quickly found my favorites with all of the options. Food pairing is strongly encouraged- like combining a port with a york peppermint.

As long as you like wine and good food, you will like Napa. One of my traveling companions wasn’t a huge wino, and even she caught the bug after a few nights of being there. 

Yosemite was never on my bucket list until my mom mentioned it last year. I started asking fellow Californians and was surprised to hear that hardly anyone has been there! I blame it on all of the options we have in California, but considering it is only five hours away, I am not sure why its off the radar for most people, but I am here to spread the good word.

Besides being the second national park (inducted after Yellowstone), Yosemite is full of fascinating history. Teddy Roosevelt spent time here with John Muir (naturalist and the main reason that Yosemite is a national park) and even spent a few days on a rogue camping trip to discover the park. President Lincoln started protecting this park without even seeing it! You can judge for yourself that he made the right decision.

Glacier point was my favorite lookout. It is about an hour drive from the valley floor, but totally worth the killer views and photo opportunities. The only bad part is that it is closed during the fall/winter, once there is any sign of snow.

We thought this guy was crazy until we realized that the rock only “appears” to be jutting over the edge. There is a viewing area below him that makes it slightly safer. While I wanted to take a similar flying pose, there was quite the line to get this shot.

Riding horses or mules (in my case) is one of the more popular activities at the park. I arranged for a two hour ride through Mirror Lake and somehow ended up on a mule. I learned that mules are much stronger then horses, albeit way more stubborn, and that they don’t get along with horses at all. During my ride, it was somewhat treacherous trying to watch out for kicking horses and climbing up rocky ledges. While I enjoyed my ride for the most part, I wouldn’t recommend anything longer then two hours, unless you ride on a regular basis. The ride was rough in parts and uncomfortable towards the end.

The tunnel view as you come in the valley floor is amazing and one of the most recognizable shots of the entire park. Come in the early morning or evening to avoid throngs of tourists blocking your shot.

Half-dome is another one of the main sights of the park. The cliffs are made of huge sheets of granite and have withstood the test of time due to their strength. You can actually hike half-dome and I’ve heard from many that its life changing, but make sure you are in good shape first. It takes the average person 16 hours!

If you’re planning a trip to California or already live here, consider visiting the park. I think 2-3 days is a perfect amount of time to see everything, but I recommend avoid coming in winter. Most of the roads will be closed and the waterfalls are only visible in the spring-summer.