Road trip!
B wanted to have a quick road trip to celebrate Easter and all the great things that are happening in our lives lately; so we ended up choosing Carlsbad instead since it's only an overnight trip. We were planning to leave on Friday night the night before, but we met up with his mom for a party in Riverside at a restaurant/bar called Law's; where B belted out a Phil Collins song at the karaoke side. He did very well, and everyone cheered on. But that's another story.
So Saturday, we left mid-morning, and stopped by
Trestles Beach which was on the border of San Clemente/San Diego County, called San Onofre State Beach. The exit off the I-5 is Basilone Road I believe. Then you walk for about a mile and a half to get to the beach. The
Trestle walk is long, with really intersting scriptures written all over the road by the local surfers and visitors alike. But the payoff is nice of the beach, just as you pass the train/Trestle bridge. The website describes the beach as about 3 1/2 miles long, and it's beautiful. The waves are great too. B said this spot was made really famous by the 60's movie
Endless Summer , which featured famous surfers like Robert August who surfed all over the world. I got to see it over a decade ago because it also featured North Shore in Hawaii, but now I am curious to see the movie again so I can see this place in the movie.
Since it's not a really dog-friendly spot per say (dogs are not allowed on beach, and the only place they are allowed is the trail area and the road sides), we just hung around for a few minutes to get some sun and watch the lined-up ants of guys in their black wetsuits catching the waves side-by-side. This can be tricky if you're not a local, but it looks like everyone got along really well. They are within a few hundred feet of the shore, so it made for a great spot to view surfers. The place reminds me of Sandy Beach in Hawaii, since for the most part, the (great) waves in Hawaii is pretty far out there. So after a few minutes of this, we continued on our treak south to Carlsbad.
We had an enjoyable walk up and down the
Carlsbad Village. There were cute shops, and really good restaurants here. We stopped by Angelo's for a quick pic of B since he had great memories of him surfing and eating here afterwards during his surfing days. There was a street art fair today too, and the place is packed of holiday visitors. B's sister got married two years ago at the
Carlsbad Inn, and we stayed there for a night. It was a nice hotel, but they were not dog-friendly. So we stayed at
Ramada instead because they are indeed, dog friendly and are within our budget. They were on the side of I-5 further south on Poinsettia Road, but with a car, this was not a problem for us. They put us up on a 1 BR suite on the third floor so there's less foot traffic, and the hotel also offered free breakfast - which was a plus for our budget trip.
Carlsbad is great for families because it's where Legoland is at, and one of my favorite outlet malls is just across the I-5 freeway. But with the dog, we just spent a few hours walking up and down the village, and settled on a patio dining at Norte, which is next to Carlsbad Inn. B got to take a picture of him and the XX guy's cutout, whom we love because of his 'stay thirsty my friend' commercial spots.
At around 4, we checked in, and watched a little HGTV/Bravo TV because we're cable-deprived at home, and then we all took a short drive to
Encinitas, a busy port town in San Diego. The population is about 60K, so if we are to live in North Coast San Diego county, this is it for us. The restaurant choices up and down the street is amazing, and the shops are aplenty. We can hang out here for a few days alone. They are also building a new Whole Foods, and new condo/lofts all around, so this place is going to be booming even more in the next few years.
Downtown Encinitas is pretty dog-friendly; but we would have loved to check out some of the bars and restaurants here, like D Street Bar, E Street Cafe, Giovanni's, Lumberyard Tavern, Trattoria I Trulli, etc. But we settled on a take out at Siamese Thai, and not only is the cashier unfriendly, the food is bleh. Dog ownership does change your lifestyle, but it prepares us for when we have a kid or two. Partying and fine dining on your vacations are no longer an option, and does not even come to our minds anymore. But it's definitely a must-visit spot again for B and I later sans dog.
The next day, after lounging around the hotel room for more cable TV time and a quick free breakfast, we packed up and headed south to Solana Beach/Del Mar area.
Del Mar is great. They have the race track that opens their season in early July, and the county fair happens here in the summer too. So those are the places that B and I will definitely check out sans dog as well. I've been in the county fair, which happens on the parking lot of the race track, but betting on the race is another experience that I won't mind doing with B here. I've been at the Santa Anita race track years ago for an office annual summer trip, and that was an experience. But the coastal county race track people are a different breed on their own, think "Real Housewives of Orange County" types with fancy hats and high-heeled shoes. That would be cool to see.
We ran into a dog beach on the 101 across from the race track, and we had a ball hanging out there for a few hours. This is one of the most fun dog beach I've ever encountered. There were caves, moss, stairs, volleyball players, surfers, dogs all around, nice stretch of sand, and inch-or-two deep more of sandy shore, and sea gulls up the sky, and anemones- it was a fun-filled, exhaustive beach fun all around.
We then hung out at Starbucks on PCH in Del Mar for a few minutes to catch our breath, since we looked and smelled like crap from the beach. We originally planned to go further south to La Jolla, but we ran out of time and energy. We headed home, and stopped by Irvine Spectrum for a quick lunch at Corner Bakery. It was an exhaustive weekend, so we took a quick nap, and prepared a late dinner get-together for our dear friend Bea. Overall, it was an endless weekend of fun, family and friendship.
It was a dog-gone great weekend.
