Wednesday morning was a slower start than Tuesday. We woke up and had breakfast but since I wrote that LONG blog, I lost track of time and missed my morning work out. Darn. Otto did some laps in the pool and I sat in the jacuzzi and read one of my many unopened mags which I brought along.
After lunch we went to (go ahead and laugh) The Pizza Bakery for round 2. And don't even think that was the last time I'd see The Pizza Bakery this trip.
After stuffing ourselves, we went to Crystal Cove which is this state park beach between Newport Beach and Laguna Beach. It's really neat because they are revitalizing these beach cottages and making them into rental units. It's quite a long walk from the bluff where parking is, down to the state park area. They have a restaurant, visitor's center, snack shack and then these cottages where people can stay, as long as they book about a year in advance! Pretty neat. It has an old-timey, but cute vibe. Almost key west-ish to me for some reason. Otto of course went into the water. I took a nap and caught some rays despite the June Gloom. (The sun barely came out at all yesterday and I still got a little burnt on my back side. )
When we left Crystal Cove, we went back to Park Newport to get the bikes. We planned to ride the bikes down to Balboa and putz around until 5:30 at which point we were going to Otto's friend, Lee's place for dinner. I was a little nervous on the bike at first 1) because it was too tall for me and 2) because I hadn't really ridden a bike any long distance in quite some time. Within the first minute of the ride, leaving Park Newport, we had to ride down this gigantic hill. It was fun, but very fast and again, sort of freaked me out. We rode along the back bay area, through some yacht club parking lot, across a major street or two, through a neighborhood, and then put ourselves and bikes on the Ferry to go across to the peninsula. We rode along the boardwalk, in front of all of the adorable houses, and then down to the beach so Otto could body surf some more. Again, I was photographer and enjoyed the cool breeze and sound of surf. While Otto was out there, a group of about 5 dolphins swam by, within 50 feet of him. That was neat.
When Otto came in, we rode our bikes to the liquor store and the very talented husband I have purchased a 20 pack of beer and carried it while riding his bike to friend, Lee's apartment on PCH (Pacific Coast Highway). We pulled up to Lee's door, saw his scooter parked on the street, so knew we were in the right spot. Lee and his girlfriend came to the door for fear that these two tourists were messing with his scooter. Once he realized it was us, he goes... "I did tell you dinner was TOMORROW night, right?". Otto's face was this grin, like.. "No, you surfer flake, you said tonight". But instead Otto said, "No, I'm pretty sure your text said tonight". (Keyword ="pretty") So both guys got their phones out and started double checking. Sure enough, Lee was actually correct. The text said TOMORROW night. So, we got a good laugh, chatted for a bit, left the beer with them, and headed back for the ferry on our bikes.
It was really fun riding the bikes, but it really is a bit painful in a few areas. haha.
When we arrived back to Park Newport, Connie had finished her work out, so we had some snacks and then hopped in the car to do what were supposed to be the next night's plans. Connie wanted us to visit the Laguna Beach hotel called La Casa del Camino . It has a really spectacular view of the Pacific from their rooftop bar. Although it's the perfect spot to view the sunset, we were a little late for that. On the way to the hotel, we picked up Connie's friend, Nick who recently moved to Laguna. After chatting with him, making another stop, and arriving at the hotel, it was already dark. It was a very nice vibe, however. Beautiful even at night. They had heat lamps for a little added warmth. I ordered a sangria, but had to walk a couple blocks back to the car to get my ID because the waitress said I looked too young. :) The sangria was delicious, as were the fabulous chips and salsa (with seafood chunks in it).
We only had time for 1 drink and the appetizer because they closed at 9pm due to some new city ordinance. Boo. But it was very cool to see and I'd love to go back there sometime. Later, we picked up Otto's sister, Andree, who was just returning from a visit to New York City. We headed home, chatted a while about things to do today and the upcoming trip down to Mexico and hit the sack.
you guys are lookin' so good. summer vacation must be nice.
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