San Diego/Joshua Tree/Palm Spring and LA

 5/25/2022

We left Charlotte on 5/25 at 9:07am, with the time change our 5 hour flight got us in to San Diego at 11am. 

We picked up our rental (got upgraded for free to a BMW) and headed to La Jolla.

Ryan and Amy recommended Don Bravos for lunch. It was so delish-highly recommend the lobster burrito! (I was only able to have a couple of bites due to awful morning sickness). From there we followed their next rec of going to 5757-5799 Chelsea Ave for a great overlook.

We then went to 6207 Camino De La Costa. This was a secluded secret beach in front of some amazing houses. There was a public walkway down to the beach. In CA, even the wealthiest can't own beaches in front of their houses. Definitely would rec stopping here for photos or even bringing beach towels and toys and making a day of it! It's tiny and quiet.

We went to Children's pool and La Jolla cove to see the seals/sea lions.

We met Matt and Jillian Kochan for dinner at Catania. I was too sick to eat anything but it was great to see them. We got icecream and poor Beckett could barely keep his eyes open. He did so well, considering it was 10pm our time! He passed out immediately in the car on the way to the hotel. We stayed at the Manchester Grand Hyatt (used our free night with one of our credit cards). We brought his toddler airmattress. He was so tired that he slept through us carrying him in and getting him dressed.

I packed our first night and day in packing pods-which was SO nice to just have to open those cubes and not mess up the whole suitcase.

5/26

Beckett woke up at 3am, confused where he was, since he slept through us getting to the hotel. I put him in our bed and after demanding to only sleep in undies and "short sleeves up" he finally fell back asleep.

We walked to Spill the Beans for bagels and coffee then walked along the water to see the yachts, before heading to pick up Dan and Kayla at the airport.

From the airport, we went right to Torrey Pines and did the 0.7 mile Guy Fleming loop for some great views. Beckett did about 0.25 mi in the hiking backpack then insisted on walking, of course.

We met Erin in Coronado and went to The Henry for lunch. The non preggo's had an afternoon car bomb in an Irish pub..which we will forever do to commemorate Anthony. Beckett loved having a "shot" like the big kids.

We played Duck Duck Goose at Hotel Del Coronado.  Beckett loved the garbage cans and fancy sandcastles, "I wanna go crush it!" We had gelato before cruising around the island then checking into our adorable Airbnb-which had a toddler bed, so perfect! We walked to a Thai restaurant for dinner then went home to bed!

5/27

We had so much fun at the zoo! Erin got a 9:27am margarita. We witnessed quite the elephant scuffle. We even saw a Koala named "Simba" which was ironic because Beckett has made up a name called "Simba Gungabee"

Beckett fell on soft ground then walked around with a fake limp for a bit.

We went to the Japanese gardens to have some tea but it was closed so we just enjoyed the grounds for a bit.

We met up with a college friend/sorority sister of mine (Ashley Spoto) and her partner Julie for pizza at Tavola Nostra then ice cream. We had a great time!

went back to the house, did some laundry then went to bed!

5/28

Erin met us for breakfast at Breakfast Republic before we drove to Joshua Tree (2 hr 45 min) - Beckett talked to Kayla, non-stop, the entire drive.

We met Kayla's brother and girlfriend for an early dinner at The Ground Squirrel and stayed at their airbnb.They have their very own roadrunner that stays by their front door - we named him Beanz.

We headed into the park before sunset and hiked about a mile at Skull Rock and around Jumbo rocks. Beckett had so much fun hiking, climbing and running around.

Kayla and I were taking a bump pic with our baby girls and then Beckett yelled "BOYS TURN!" and kept posing with his belly sticking out LOL

We got icecream as we waited for it to get dark before heading back into the park to see the stars. (I didn't take this picture.) B was starting to lose it, as he was exhausted, so we just went to a little pull off but it was absolutely incredible.

5/29

The next morning, we got up (I finally didn't feel as nauseous) and headed back into the park to hike Hidden Valley Loop (1m). We met Jelly the iguana, got some more fun pics with Joshua trees then got Becks his Jr Ranger badge.

Next we headed to Palm Springs (an hour drive), so we grabbed a quick lunch of grab and go sandwiches and headed to David and Thelene's house. We got there and felt like we were in a tropical paradise, their house is so nicely done! We went swimming and they treated us to a delicious meal of chicken/steak, palm salad and tomatoes, potato salad and broccoli salad!

We went for an evening walk around their neighborhood. The last time Michael visited was 2000.

We hung out in their outdoor oasis before calling it a day. They kindly let us have their bedroom/guest room and they slept in their motor coach.

5/30

We went to a golf course for breakfast, everyone's meals were delish and I'm happy to say that I was finally able to eat more things, as I had been eating bagels and cream cheese every day my entire pregnancy thus far!

It was so beatiful there, we enjoyed chatting while Beckett colored. After breakfast, we packed up and dropped D and K off at the airport on our way to LA.

We drove the 2.5 hours right to Echo Park and miraculously got an amazing VIP spot right at the playground, we did the swan boats, got a scruptious fruit cup for $8, filled with mango, watermelon and pineapple. Mike was almost bitten by a duck! B played on the playground for a while then we went to little Tokyo. (secret tip: park in Asai garage, super cheap!)

We debated between Daikokuya (ramen/gyoza) & Marugame (udon/tempora). Decided on Marugame and OMG the shrimp tempura udon was so good! Rec going early, we got there at 5 and still waited for about 30 minutes.

We got an upgraded room at the Andaz West Hollywood - right on Sunset Boulevard.

5/31

I repeated something Beckett said and he responded with, "you coffin me"

We had Rawberri Acai bowls for breakfast then walked around Hollywood squares and the Chinese Theatre. We drove around Beverly Hills and met my friend/sorority sister Jess for lunch at Soho House. Bex ate almost an entire pizza by himself, I had a heart of palm salad and Mike had shrimp tacos. We drove around Rodeo drive and Sunset Blvd before heading to Malibu.

We went to the Malibu pier then met Maren and Tom for dinner at Duke's. Mike and I split a seafood rice hotpot and got mac and cheese for Becks. While driving around B said he "needs the washing machine on" instead of the air conditioning. He continued confusing the two for a while haha.

6/1

We had bagels then walked around Abbot Kinney Blvd before heading to Santa Monica Pier. We had clam chowder bowls at The Albright (B had a hotdog). We drove by Venice beach and the Venice canals then went home to finish laundry and pack up...well we accidentally washed Beckett's pull up and omg that was SUCH a mess to clean up!!! We had dinner at Moto Azabu.