Today I'm reminiscing about the road trip I took near the end of summer. I (and two of my favorite people) traveled to San Diego, Los Angeles, and Las Vegas. Though these are all places I have been before, I loved visiting them again. I am a planner, and of course, made sure I would make the best of every last moment. While doing my research, I made a "travel bucket list" based on things I knew I wanted out of my road trip. Vacations are overwhelming, with everything being so "in the moment," and I knew that if I made a vacation bucket list, I wouldn't miss out on things I really wanted to do simply because I forgot about them during vacation mayhem.
Here's my list:
This is a road trip must! I love road trips because you are not on an airline's time frame. If you see a place that sounds interesting along the way, you can stop! While on our way to San Diego we stopped at Bravo Farms in Traver, CA. It was the perfect place to stop for a break from driving. There we got to explore the inside of a seven story tree house and try delicious free cheese samples. It was a very good choice for our random roadside stop.
Night Time Hot-Tubbing: This we did in San Diego. Of course it had to be at night, since the days are so hot in Southern California!
This was probably the first thing on my list. My first trip to San Diego, I was there for a conference and didn't have time for a beach day, so I knew it was a must for next time. We spent the whole day at Ocean Beach lounging, snacking, reading, exploring the pier, and playing in the water. The weather was perfect, and I already want to go back!
Vacations are great because you actually have time to go to happy hour in the middle of the day! During our all day beach day, we walked over to South Beach Bar & Grill in San Diego and got great deals on drinks and appetizers. After hearing great reviews on their fish tacos, I ordered the baja and it was delicious. Happy hour is always a good idea!
Shopping
Okay, this is a must for any vacation.
We waited patiently for this beautiful San Diego sunset. So lovely!
I love going to the beach at night with a couple of flashlights. The tide has gone down, and you never know what you'll find washed up on the beach. While we were in San Diego, we visited Coronado Beach on Coronado Island. We had so much fun running down the beach, exploring, and writing in the sand.
I've always wanted to sit on a lifeguard tower! Maybe it's from when I used to watch The O.C. in high school, and it was Marissa's place to hide out from the world. Regardless, we couldn't resist climbing on top of this one and snapping a photo!
Here I am at the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles. This was actually my third time at the observatory. It is simply the best view of LA! Plus the observatory building itself is so cool, I enjoy just walking around and taking it all in. The next time I go to LA, I'm sure I'll make a trip up to the observatory for a forth time!
Coffee at a Local Coffee Shop: I actually blogged about this coffee shop in a previous blog. We got our morning coffee at Cafe Audrey while we were in Hollywood.
I had to put "sushi in LA" on the list, because I'm from a smaller town where I don't get to have it very often. My restaurant of choice was (I have to admit) influenced by the Hills. I love the show, and saw the prices at this particular locale were very reasonable. I was super happy with the sushi there, it was delicious! I would definitely go back.
I love being downtown at night, amidst the city lights. We went to the the rooftop bar at the Standard Hotel in downtown Los Angeles. The view was phenomenal! I may blog more about this bar later in one of my Out & About posts, but for now know that the view was fabulous. And we went on a Tuesday so there was no cover charge!
Macarons: I love macarons! These delicious little treats are no where to be found within a 100 mile radius of where I live, so I knew I had to find at least one while on vacation!
This was my second time on the Walk of Fame in Hollywood, but during this trip I had more time to see some of the newer stars. The Walk is such an iconic part of Hollywood, and I love that we were able to walk around at our own pace, snapping pictures of some of our favorite celebrity stars. Here we are with Cameron Diaz's star!
Start Each Day Pool Side: Need I say more? Each hotel we stayed at had a pool that we graced with our presence each morning of vacation!
Okay, so we had to get one of these obnoxious large adult slushies while we were in Vegas. It was a great way to fight the heat, and they tasted delicious. The flavor possibilities are countless, but I stuck with one I knew I couldn't go wrong with: margarita!
VIP Club/ Rooftop Party
These two items on the list we did at the same time. We met a club promoter who got us on the list for Pure nightclub at Caesars Palace. The best part? It was on the rooftop with awesome views of the strip, and with our VIP bracelets we got free drinks until midnight!
Pop Pink Champagne: I made sure to bring a bottle of pink champagne (my favorite!) to pop in our hotel for our first night in Vegas.
YUM! This was actually my second time getting cosmos at the Cosmopolitan Hotel in Las Vegas, but my friend wanted to put in on the list and I couldn't turn down these delicious cocktails.
Eat Out at New Places: This one is a given. Eating out is a huge part of being on vacation. The point of this one is to make sure that we didn't waste any opportunities to try new things. No fast food or restaurants I can have any time I want.
Try a New Drink:
My first coconut margarita (from Cabo Wabo in Las Vegas) and my first time trying Sake (from Cafe Sushi in Hollywood.) I love trying new things!
Making a travel bucket list is now going to be a vacation-planning must for me. I really feel like it helped me get everything out of my vacation. I can't wait to make another one!
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