An Anniversary To Remember
Last weekend, my wife and I celebrated our 10-year wedding anniversary. To celebrate, we took a mini-vacation to Laguna Beach, California.
Laguna Beach has been a favorite getaway destination for us for many years. We enjoy the arts and culture, and the food is absolutely exquisite.
Usually, when we travel to Laguna Beach, we are visiting friends or attending the Pageant of the Masters. This trip, we had no schedule or agenda.
We flew into John Wayne Airport in Orange County and made our way through Newport and on to Laguna Beach late Friday night. We usually stay at the historic Hotel Laguna, and this trip we had a wonderful garden-view room with an amazing view of the ocean.
Saturday morning, we woke and had breakfast, only to see a pod of dolphins swimming just a few hundred feet offshore. It was amazing to watch the surfers, swimmers, and paddle boarders follow the dolphins back and forth for most of the morning. It was an amazing experience that I will treasure forever.
One of the things we love to do when traveling is to get out and walk and experience the local flavor of wherever we are. This trip was no different.
We decided to take a walk on the beach and, after walking about a mile to the north, we passed many tide pools and saw a plethora of marine life. Once we reached Crescent Bay, we walked back along the Pacific Coast Highway and window shopped on the way back to the hotel.
Having worked up a bit of an appetite, we stopped at a great Mexican restaurant called Las Brisas. After a wonderful meal, we continued on our way back to the hotel until we reached the main beach, then walked along the boardwalk.
It was great to see the sand volleyball courts with games going on. Roller-bladers and joggers were getting their exercise in the warm afternoon sun. And yes, even the dolphins were still frolicking offshore.
We spent the rest of the day exploring the shops in downtown Laguna Beach, then enjoyed dinner and cocktails on the patio of the Hotel Laguna as we watched the sun set over the water. It was an amazing end to a wonderful day.
On Sunday, we spent a majority of the day relaxing on the beach and exploring a few shops we had missed the day before.
One of the highlights for me was finding a pocket park with a small deck overlooking the Pacific Ocean.
On Monday, we explored the beaches south of the hotel in the morning before checking out of the hotel after lunch. That afternoon, we drove a few miles north to visit Crystal Cove State Park, then, as the sun began to set, we had to leave for the airport and catch the last flight home.
I have to say it was an amazing anniversary trip filled with memories to last a lifetime. I can’t wait to see what the future holds for us and I look forward to many more amazing years of blissful marriage.
Do you have a favorite vacation spot filled with memories that you will always treasure? If so, I’d love to hear about it. Feel free to leave a comment below, send me a tweet, or even an email. I look forward to hearing from you.
Have a great weekend!
Boyd Coleman is a landscape architect in Phoenix, Arizona. He can be reached on twitter at @CDGLA or email: bcoleman001@gmail.com.