So I took one of my besties ( you know who you are Miss J! ) to Southern California this past September….For all the years I have known her, she has heard me go on and on ( and on and on lol ) about how amazing California is. In case you don’t know this by now, Cali is my place…I looooove it and I’m slightly obsessed with it! FYI, Miss J was blown away by the West Coast as well… and she said to me the other day, “I think we are going to spend Christmas in Palm Springs!” Welllllll, my inner self danced for joy, and I immediately started planning the trip for her in my head. Make sure you go to Joshua Tree, ohhhhh and you HAVE to take the tram up the mountain … and while you are there you should ….. then I decided you know what, I have to write all this down. Next up for the blog is So Cal, this one’s for you Miss J!!
Last November my family met up with my kids Godfather and his family in Los Angeles. We flew JetBlue from JFK – LAX. It’s a 5 1/2 – 6 hour flight to California, depending on how strong the headwinds are on any given day. First stop for us when we head to the West Coast is In-n-Out burger, then we hit Manhattan beach. In this community, the houses are right on the beach. It’s a family neighborhood with humongous succulents growing everywhere, children and dogs playing in the sand and surf. On that particular day Santa was on the beach… all the families were shooting their Christmas cards with him. I’ll be honest..Santa was charging a very hefty sitting fee, so we tried to sneak in a few pics with him in the background for our own card, no success however. Manhattan beach is where the National volleyball team practices, and the volleyball nets stretch down the beach as far as you can see. We love just spending some time here walking on the pier, watching the surfers in the lovely rolling waves, and in general just soaking up the sun. Later that afternoon, we drove up to Rancho Palos Verdes to catch the sunset near the Point Vicente Lighthouse. It’s definitely worth the 20-30 minute drive to see these cliffs… there is a beautiful walking trail that leads to the lighthouse all the while looking out over the 130 foot cliffs. This lighthouse was built in 1926 and is pure charm. We missed the tour, but that gives me a reason to go back and visit another day! https://www.atlasobscura.com › places › point-vicente-lighthouse
The next morning we boarded the Catalina Express ferry for the hour long ride to Catalina Island! Tickets for this ferry are pricey…$75 for adults and $60 for kids, so if you make this part of your itinerary, make the most of it and plan to spend a day or two soaking up the sights of this gorgeous island! As most mornings are on the Coast in Cali, the day we took the ferry was foggy…So. Foggy. If you’ve ever been on a ferry in inclement weather, then you are familiar with ferry’s blowing their foghorn every 30 seconds or so to let other boats know they are in the area and on the move. Well, our ferry that morning wasn’t doing that ( I’m still not sure why ) and about 1/2 hour into our journey we came to the hardest stop I have ever experienced. I’m talking people that were standing were suddenly on the floor, and Brian’s Goddaughter, little miss T, was almost thrown right off her mommy’s lap. It was so scary! As it turns out we nearly ran over a small fishing boat because we couldn’t see them in the fog. I’m confused as to why the smaller boat didn’t hear us coming….but either they didn’t hear, or they thought nothing of it, and it was very close to being a disaster. UGH. Thankfully the emergency stop worked….but we were so close to that little boat…we could almost reach off the ferry and touch it when we continued on our way. Needless to say, that foghorn blew right on schedule for the rest of our journey. Once we arrived safely in the city of Avalon’s port, we headed up to a Holiday Inn on the hill. Thankfully they had an on-call shuttle that took us into town anytime we wanted, because that walk was steep! Fine for a general days walk, but with pulling luggage?? No thank you! While on this island we hiked part of the Trans-Catalina trail, which is about 38 miles long…we managed a few of those miles. The trail just weaves its way over the whole island, its really quite spectacular. We toured the botanical gardens, and also took a glass bottomed boat tour! We ate in delicious restaurants right on the water front, and shopped in the cutest little nautical shops ever on Main Street. My favorite being ‘Buoys and Gulls’, an adorable clothing store. It was so cute, I saved the bag from my purchase and have it hanging in my closet with the rest of my favorites collection.
And as usual, we absolutely cannot pass up any opportunity for this Mom to enjoy a glass of wine! On our drive towards Palm Springs we stopped for a night in Temecula. This city is the start of the wine country for the Southern part of California…I’m here to tell you it rivals Napa Valley in its picturesque views and its delicious wines! We stopped quickly at the Wilson Creek Winery, and found it to be a little haven in the desert. Just gorgeous, with some delicious wines! I definitely will be making another trip here, one day was not enough! https://www.wilsoncreekwinery.com
On to Palm Springs! One of my favorite destinations because of it’s close proximity to Los Angeles, and also to adventurous places like Joshua Tree National Park. If you know my family at all, you know we LOVE us a National Park…and this is one of our favorites!! There are a lot more places for us to discover in this park, but a few of our favorites are: 1) The Cholla Cactus garden…absolutely unbelievable..just make sure to stay on the trail! 2) Skull Rock. There are quite a few huge rock formations in the park that are available for viewing pleasure…but that doesn’t really satisfy my kids LOL. We always pull over and spend a good hour or so climbing and exploring…it’s really quite amazing. Skull Rock is our favorite, the huge rock literally looks like a skull, and you can climb right into it! 3) Keys View. The parks highest viewpoint, with Coachella and Palm Springs framing the background. I can’t say enought about that view. And don’t forget, the namesake of the park….4) THE JOSHUA TREES!! They are my favorite, they bring a smile to my face every time I see them :-)) Black Rock Canyon, or Queens Valley both have great stands to view these magnificent trees. But you will also see them right alongside the road as you make your way through the park. Make sure to stop at the Visitors Center when you enter the park, you will learn all sorts of facts about the wildlife and landscape around you. Grab a Junior Ranger packet so the kiddos can fill it out, and earn their Jr Ranger badge when you leave the park!
When in Palm Springs make sure to take a ride up the tram to San Jacinto Peak. It’s 2 1/2 miles up the very rugged cliffs of Chino Canyon…this tram is the largest rotating aerial tram in the world! At the top you are at 8,516 feet and it is COLD up there! Take a jacket and enjoy one of the many hikes and viewpoints available. There are many to choose from, short or long, take your pick, but make sure you get out and do some hiking while you are up there! Inside the lodge at the top of the mountain is a little theater with a short film about the area, a gift store and a restaurant/bar (!!). This can easily be a full day excursion, so make sure to plan accordingly, you won’t be disappointed!
Don’t miss grabbing a dinner in the very cool Art-Deco inspired downtown area… There are farm-to-table bistros, Italian restaurants, and tons of bars with live music. Also the weekly night market VillageFest is always packed with locals and tourists alike. The streets are shut down to cars, and full of different vendors and stalls with art, foods and crafts. Live street performances are also very popular here, you will find a different one on every street corner!
After all the excitement of touring, we took a few days to unwind doing what people do best while in Palm Springs….the boys played golf, and the kids/moms hung out at the pool. You really can’t ask for better weather,or a better scenic backdrop than Southern California. There is so much to see and do here, but that’s it for this trip! Since this is one of my favorite destinations however, you will be seeing lots more of California on this blog in months to come! Until next time!
Around The World With Three Littles 