Not Another LA Blonde

Blog

Catalina Island – 4th of July

It’s another TRAVEL TUESDAY over here at Not Another LA Blonde! So for those of you who are unfamiliar, Catalina is an Island about hour boat ride from the Port of Los Angeles and Long Beach. My family and I have been going pretty much every summer since I was just a few weeks old. My grandparents have 2 houses on the island, so we always have somewhere to stay.

Hubby and I went over with my dad for 4th of July in 2019 and met my dads brother (with his wife and daughter) and my dads sister (she lives on the island part time and works there) over there. I can’t remember why my mom and brother didn’t come with us.

July 3:

We left out of the Port of Long Beach (you can leave out of either port but Long Beach tends to have more boats and better hours) and upgraded our tickets to sit in the Commodore Lounge on the Catalina Express.

We got there at about 9pm and dropped our bags at the house and went to grab some dinner with my aunt. We ate at the Lobster Trap and all 4 of us enjoyed our dinners. After dinner we met up with my aunt, uncle and cousin at the El Galleon where they do karaoke after 9pm.

July 4:

Hubby and I took a walk out to the casino before meeting my dad for breakfast at Toyon Grill (this is where my aunt was working at the time).

I got the avocado toast with bacon & egg and my dad and Robert got the Toyon Bay burrito (breakfast burrito).

During the day, the city of Avalon puts on a parade so we watched for a little bit before going to find a space on the beach. Hubby and I spent the rest of the day on the beach getting some sun before heading back to the house to meet up with my dad.

We bbq’d with the family and then went to watch the fireworks on the rooftop of the restaurant where my aunt worked. She reserved us a table and met us when she got off of work.

July 5:

We spent the day at the beach and then decided to go parasailing. My dad didn’t want to go up so just Robert and I did it, but luckily he was able to come on the boat with us and watch.

We ate dinner at Bluewater Grill which is located right on the water. We sat outside and had an amazing view. We took the last boat out that night and headed home.

There are so many great places to eat and to stay in Avalon. I highly recommend going once things are safe and open again. A lot of the restaurants are closed right now during the winter months and won’t open again until mid March. This is a great place for a weekend getaway or even a day trip if you plan it out right! I also highly recommend the Descanso Beach Club if you want to spend the day on the beach but have the resort experience. You can rent a day bed or a cabana where you can enjoy food and drink all day on site.

If you need any recs on things to do/places to go/food to eat, feel free to ask! I’ve been going every summer with the exception of summer 2020.

XOXO

March 1, 2021
San Diego – Brewery Day Trip

Good Morning friends! I have been meaning to post this FOREVER! Literally. For Robert’s 29th birthday, we decided to take a little day trip down to San Diego to do a little beer tasting at a few breweries that he was interested in. We woke up super early Saturday morning (March 2, 2019) and drove to San Diego.

First Stop: Green Flash Brewing Co.

We made it just in time to snag a spot on the brewery tour. At the start of the tour, they gave us a taste of their special beer they were promoting that weekend. During the tour we learned about how they make all the beers in house and the process that each one goes through.

After the tour, we grabbed a drink and then decided to head out to our second spot as it was getting a little crowded. They had a large selection of beers and I felt like they had something for everyone’s tastes. I’m not a huge beer fan, but they had something that even I enjoyed. I believe Robert got the Hoppy Birthday and I got the Passion Fruit Kicker.

Second Stop: Saint Archer Brewing

This was my favorite stop hands down. We chose to do two flights instead of just one regular drink. In my flight, I got: Razzleberry, Peach, Sour IPA, and Chocolate Strawberry Stout. The Razzleberry was my favorite as it reminded me of a cider (my favorite drinks). I ended up getting a case to go and am super bummed that I finished them over the summer. We didn’t stay here very long as it was raining so all of their outdoor seating was unavailable and they didn’t have a ton of indoor seating.

Third Stop: Iron Fist Brewing Company

UPDATE: They have permanently closed their doors due to COVID.

This stop was not what we were expecting; it was in more of a shopping center and had apartments above it. I think the location was fairly new when we went.

Fourth Stop: Mission Brewery

It was closer to dinner time by the time we got here and were getting pretty hungry so we only grabbed one drink each before leaving for dinner. I liked the options at this brewery and liked that they had the option to purchase a sampler size (the small glass in the picture). They had games that you could play and gave off more of a bar vibe.

Dinner: BarleyMash

Robert had been here before while on a Bachelor Trip in San Diego but this was my first time. It was all delicious! I would definitely go back. The restaurant is located in the Gaslamp District, so it’s super close to all the bars and nightlife. If we had planned better, we should have stayed the night so we didn’t have to drive the two hours home.

These are all places I would recommend stopping at if you are ever in the SD area. If you are not planning on traveling anytime soon, definitely bookmark this and save it for later. If you do plan on heading to SD, I would call ahead to make sure they’re open and to see what they’re COVID protocol is! If you have any questions feel free to let me know and I’ll do my best to answer!

XOXO

February 9, 2021
Santa Ynez – Weekend Trip

Good Morning friends! Happy Tuesday, I hope y’all had a great weekend! Mine started a little rocky (woke up Friday feeling sooo sick, but still went into work since we are short staffed and then had to go to my high school football game to watch my girls cheer) but then got a little better. Robert and I woke up super early Saturday morning and drove up to Santa Ynez (a little past Santa Barbara) for his cousins 30th Birthday Bash.

Our weekend started by waking up at 4:30 and driving 2.5 hours up the coast of California to meet the rest of the family for a 30th Birthday. We arrived at the hotel and got settled in and then at about 10:30am the festivities for the day started. Our transportation included a private bus that took us to each stop and then dropped us off at dinner at the end of the day. The bus was a redone school bus that was super cool!

Our first stop: Babcock Winery

This winery had a super vintage feel to it. Anything in the winery could be purchased including the décor on the walls. Here we had a private tasting and sampled 3 whites and 3 reds.

Whites:

2016 Soulstruck, Grenache Blanc

Unfortunately, I can’t remember the other 2 whites we tried.

Reds:

2016 Pinot Noir “Ocean’s Ghost”

2016 Rita’s Earth Pinot Noir

2016 Pinot Noir Sta. Rita Hills

To be honest, I wasn’t a huge fan of any of the 6 we tried, but in all fairness I really only like sweet wines and tend to shy away from anything too dry. The birthday girl got her own sample of a sweet wine and it was DELICIOUS! I had to buy a bottle for myself to bring home, it’s the 2014 Late Harvest Pinot Gris “Naughty Little Nectar” .

Second Stop: Figueroa Mountain Brewing Co.

There are 5 locations for the is Brewery, we stopped at the one in Los Olivos. This is where we had lunch which was actually really good. We had the upstairs room all to ourselves with a private bartender. For lunch we had salad, tri-tip, bbq chicken, garlic bread, chili, and a potato salad. I’m not a huge craft beer kinda gal, so I opted for a flight of beers. My beers included:

Fig Mtn Light, FMB “101” Blonde Ale, Gibraltor, and Hoppy Poppy IPA

Third Stop: Beckmen Vinyards

We got to this stop at about 3:30 in the afternoon and to be honest, everyone was pretty much done. I think that everyone went a little too hard at lunch with the beers! This winery was a little bit different and didn’t offer a group tasting. We sat outside in a gazebo and someone from the winery came out with 6 different types of wines. He explained them to us and then left us to pour our own tasting. I didn’t really feel like this was a good sales tactic and no one from our group bought any wines here. The grounds were nice, and there were some late harvest grapes still on the vines.

Fourth Stop: Maverick Saloon

This was our last stop for the day. We went in for happy hour, then walked a few doors down for a private dinner (I can’t remember the name of the place we had dinner). This is totally a dive bar type place. They have dollar bills hanging from the ceiling that customers can put up themselves. After dinner we came back and there was a live band playing. Since it was the Saturday before Halloween, they were having a costume party!

Sunday morning we packed up, had lunch at Sandbar in Santa Barbara. The mexican food was actually pretty good and the watermelon margaritas were to die for!

I love being able to do quick weekend getaways like this one and would love to be able to go back up and stay the weekend in Solvang (super cute looking Danish town). I hope you all had an amazing weekend. Let me know if you have any questions about anthing I did this weekend; I’m happy to answer anything you might want to know!

XOXO

February 4, 2021