Newport Beach, California

Is this thing the Table Rock?

Newport Beach: I embarked upon the trip with low expectations and emerged a convert. How great could four days and three nights be in SoCal in winter? What the heck is there to do out there?

Whale watched.

Well, according to Groupon, plenty! I learned that I could Segway tour, Jetpack, watch whales, get my nails done, watch the sunset, and eat on the cheap-ish. I ultimately purchased three Groupons prior to heading west: a whale-watching cruise, a sunset cruise and a dining Groupon to Woody's Wharf. While we ended up having to cancel the whale watching tour, which would have had us out on open water, we did manage to see plenty of whales, dolphins, sea lions, and a skate from the shore.

Sea lion.

We booked a room at the Little Inn by the Bay, which had equal numbers of terrific and terrible reviews. They ranged from "The horror, it's next to a liquor store!" to "This place is fantastic, it's next to a liquor store!" While the hotel was close to the restaurant district, at over $200 a night on Hotels.com, I was leaning towards a nicer looker, but less walkable Holiday Inn. By chance, we found the same hotel on Priceline for $50 less per night and ended up taking a gamble on the Little Inn by the Bay. 

SO GLAD WE DID! This little place was awesome. Yes, it looks like a motel on the outside, and there is no free breakfast, but other than that, I couldn't have asked for more. (Ok, maybe a better laid out bathroom, but really, that's it.) The linens weren't rough, the towels were new, there was a fridge and microwave in the room, and the AC worked. There were free bikes. The Inn was a block and a half from the beach. The water pressure was strong and the water was hot. I will definitely be back. Ok, enough with the hotel accolades. What did we do, see and eat?

The pass at The Crab Cooker

Thursday: After four flight delays that threatened to leave me despondent in Dallas, I finally arrived in Huntington Beach at around 3:30 pm. I got a free upgrade from National, and was soon tooling around HB in a cute little white hybrid Passat. This took getting used to, because every time the car went silent, I feared that I had stalled out. We ended up catching the sunset on the beach and grabbing drinks and some ceviche at Sandy's. Great start! After our snacks, we headed south towards our hotel in Newport Beach, passing by a giant Woody's Diner (not Woody's Wharf of Groupon fame..), and locating our hotel. It was, as the reviews promised, right next to a liquor store and across the street from a donut shop. We threw on some evening attire (flip flops and a tank top) and decided to explore the area. Not two blocks away from the hotel, we stumbled upon Woody's Wharf! All in all, we got a seat by the window, the waiter was great, the food was decent, but nothing to write home about. We grabbed some drinks at the "liquor store" on the way back to the hotel. It was basically any gas station convenience store you'd find with two refrigerated cases in the back. It wasn't at all the alcoholic gathering place certain TripAdvisor reviews led me to believe.

Bluewater Grill's bar menu. Don't stray from it!

Friday: Headed out by foot to find The Stuft Surfer, a place recommended for it's authentic burrito-type fair. On the way there,we stumbled across one of the must-eat places, The Crab Cooker, and decided to change course. Unfortunately, we were there half an hour before they opened. Back to Plan A it was. Unfortunately, we were there too early for anything other than breakfast food. We grabbed a frozen cappucino, some pictures, and headed back to the Crab Cooker. At the Crab Cooker, we had some soft shell crabs, some fish(?) and some Dungeness crab. I couldn't convince the waitress to give me the shell with the tomalley inside though. :(

82 during the day, chillier at night.

Afterwards, we headed to Balboa Peninsula where we caught a ferry to Balboa island and dreamed about retirement. After some strolling and FitBit step accumulation, we headed down to the NB pier to catch the last moments of the sunset and to game plan for dinner. Unfortunately, our trip's proximity to Valentine's day meant that most restaurants were packed. We did manage to get into the Bluewater Grill, near Lido. The meal started off strong with a fantastic Tuna Poke and Fanny Bay Oysters, but the entrees were lackluster. I ended up sending back a red snapper that tasted and felt suspiciously like a much oilier cod. After dinner we headed back to the hotel to get changed for some harbor watching.

Birdlife at Mozambique.

Saturday: Laguna Beach, Table Rock Beach, Mozambique, magical delicious peri-peri sauce, exotic birds. funnel cake, biking on the boardwalk, free drink and chips at Sharkeez, oysters at Oceanfront 21. Strolling under the stars. Soundtrack: Coldplay's Yellow.
Sad, sad Sunday: With a noon flight, we didn't have time to see much, and our early flight meant we'd have to miss the HB brunch we'd been contemplating. AYCE king crab? Yes please, next time! We ended up at a well-rated local breakfast joint called My Galley where I grabbed a lox bagel to eat on the beach and horsed around in the lifeguard stands. Also, a lime popsicle for the road at a small grocer next door. 

Best bagel backdrop I've experienced.

8/10 on the form...

Recent pup shots

Sweatshirt Singer

Get-together Singer

Pooped get-together Singer and bestie

Hello, Autumn.

NOLA v.2

Food pics and other such things.  I was a little light on pictures this trip around, but more to come!

This was the calm meal before the storm.  After I ate my late breakfast, I walked over to the gate, where I promptly heard my name over the PA system.  Apparently, I'd left my ID "where I came from" and had 20 minutes to get to Terminal A and back to Terminal C if I wanted to make my flight.

Bojangles in Charlotte.
-1 for the breading color.  +1 for flavor.

 Sushi chirashi entree at Rock-n-Sake.  Two bowls of soup (sub for the side dish of rice), a salad and this monster was a lot for one person.  Even a famished person.  My plea for an ikura substitution went unheeded.

No ikura.

Google chat session with Singer from the hotel room.  "Where's mommy?"  was met with a trot to the stairway, and then confusion.  :(

Aww, those bat ears.

The after-hours dinners at the conference were second to none.  The first night was spent at Muriel's, where they had a photo booth, tarot card reader and palm reader.  The second night was spent at a private dinner at Domenica's.

Fried Kale, roasted cauliflower
and lamb shank at Domenica. (c) Laura C.

Post-conference adventures.  One of our first meals on the town: Butcher!

Muffaletta @ Butcher.  Pays to know the butcher!

Halloween dinner at Irene's.  Great restaurant, even better service, and surrounded by fine diners in fine costumes!

Menu @ Irene's.  Probably the best service
I've ever had at a restaurant.

Winter Caprese.  I took the picture too late.

What's the soup du jour?
It's the soup of the day.  

Cioppino. And a julep.

Soft shell crab pappardelle.  

Camera shy people, places and things: Coop's Place, Cafe du Monde x2, Cooter Brown's.  The upper lobby at the Westin.  The Mississippi River.  The "Friday or Halloween" game.  Gator bites.  Sauteed frogs legs.  The muffaletta at Central Grocer.  The Halloween party... Wakin' Bakin'.

Rorie is one of my favorite things in New Orleans.  I was sad to have to say goodbye again.  :(

Yes, Rorie.  I love you too.

On the way back.

Dallas.  And soon after, frantically running
through the terminals at Dallas. 

Kart fail

Fourth race in a row ending in mechanical failure... Peace out, plastic trophy.  It was nice almost getting to know you.

Never even got to the first qualifying heat.

Piston chunks.

Beautiful Bermuda

Not too shabby!

A few months ago over drinks at Cuvee, we hatched a plan to reward ourselves for making progress on the living room and kitchen.  At the time, that meant paint, furniture and organization.  The conversation went something like:

Land of relaxation and mediocre food.

"After we make some real progress, let's take some time away."
"OK!  Where do you want to go?"
"Up to  you!"
Travel junkie that I am, I upped the ante: "Does it have to be driving distance?"
"No.  My friend just went to XYZ hotel, he liked it."
... "I've already been to SD a few times.  If we're flying 6 hrs west, why not 6 hours east?  Want to go to Europe?"
"Sure!"
"You like beach vacations, right?"
"Yeah, I like relaxing ones."
"Ever been to Greece?  Beaches!"
... and so the plan to go to Greece was hatched.  As all plans go, the Greece plan eventually went out the window and we ended up in lovely Bermuda.

Farewell Feet @ Fairmont

We ended up splitting our time between two different hotels: The Grotto Bay and the Fairmont Southampton, which has its [much nicer] private beach adjacent to the famed Horseshoe Bay.   Reviews of both hotels will probably come in a later post.

Why does it taste

like dust?

Birthday sunset... before the epic public transportation fail.

Embellished. ;)

By circumstance only, the trip coincided with my birthday, making it the third year in a row that I've been out of the country on, or very close to my cake day.  Unlike last year, the hotel did not spring for a
surprise cake.  I did, however, receive the best and most awkward birthday serenade ever while being presented with the driest, thinnest slice of birthday cake known to man a very shy Indian waiter at a British themed Bermudan pub specializing in sushi, with a three piece band covering Train's "Marry Me" with Irish 50-somethings dancing their butts off.  Cake pic or it didn't happen:

View along the Railway Trail

BTW, if you ever find yourself thinking about a trip to Bermuda, go ahead and take a picture at Horseshoe Bay, then take a 5 minute walk westward.  Unless you really really want to relive the Jersey Shore experience, it will be worth your while.  Since the cruise ships don't dock in Hamilton anymore, cruisers have limited time to hit the beaches.  Nearly every one will spend their precious shore excursion time at Horseshoe Bay.  EVERY SINGLE OTHER BEACH to the west of Horseshoe will be less crowded.  If you're there during the shoulder season, you'll have your own private beach to do as you please. Want to make a tent out of towels?  Go for it.  Want to run into the beach wearing nothing but a hat?  No one will see you.  Want to collect all of the pink sand to make sand art when you go home?  That too.

Birthday explorations: Coney Island Park

My precious....

Highlights of the trip included snagging the best table, and view at The Pointe, swimming in a cave (a real live cave!), feeding and catching fish, John Smith's beach, enjoying a swizzle on a pirate ship, hitchhiking with a pair of semi-locals, getting stranded in St. David's on my birthday, reenacting "Wipeout" on the water skillet of death (and then conquering my fear of drowning). The drinks at Port O' Call.  Skip their fish chowder.  Being given a free ride by a kindly cab driver.

Nope.

Definitely worth mentioning: Jamaican Grill (the best bang for your buck on the island that will remind your taste buds to keep fighting the good fight), the fish chowder at the Frog & Onion and the free ferry ride between the Fairmonts.

Lowlights: All of the other
food.  Oh, the food.  Go ahead and skip most restaurants that have been highly recommended.  I won't name names. Snorkeling at Church Bay.  If you've been snorkeling before and have seen tons of colorful coral and fish, you might be disappointed.  I saw two parrot fish. They looked tasty.

All in all, it was quite a memorable trip, even if it was not my typical vacation. 

Not great, but way better than
"the best sushi on the island".

Gorgeous views, fantastic server.  $33 of
"does your stomach feel funny too?"

Virgin sand.

The Tough Mudder and Maine

The Mudder was a lot easier than I thought it would be, but I probably would have had a lot more fun and been in less pain if I'd actually trained.  The jaunt to Portland brought a visit with my new nephew Silas, Eventide (the BEST lobster rolls ever to touch my lips), Glidden Point, and the Lobster Shack at Two Lights.

Great Northeast - August 2014

My adopted boys!

Lobster with a view.  And shockingly expensive clams.
You know when the bill comes and
you think you've been given the wrong check?
Never order the large tray of clams.  

Heaven.

More heaven.  Or Maine is heaven.  I'm not sure.