Happy Friday! Our life lately has been encompassed by weekend travel, Bible Study-which is marriage focused, Crossroads church services–Thursday nights when we are going to be gone over the weekend, Grayson Quinn’s babbles, and Grant working frantically as the Valley Milk project is coming to a close–ok he has a little over two months but still. With only two months left in Cali we are definitely making it a point to finish up our ✔️ list of sites!
Catching you up on our fall travel–We chose Pacific Coastal Highway 1, driving south starting at San Luis Obispo to Newport Beach!
The theme of this trip was the beach– literally a new beach landscape in every city we came to. If you drive directly from Turlock to Newport it’s about a 5 hour trip. It took us 13 hours because of the fun stops along way.
San Luis Obispo–Pismo Beach was a quick stop for a morning treat at this Old West Cinnamon Roll bakery! We actually found it by accident but was a yummy find at that. Several friends in Turlock recommend the Pismo Beach area so we decided to make this our first stopping point along Highway 1. Again it was quick and we were back on our way.
Next stop was a little jaunt to Santa Barbara–this place is definitely worth a visit! The downtown (state street) is adorable, European inspired with lots of Spanish colonial buildings that have their red-tiled roofs and stucco walls.
We spent a couple of hours walking around the area (looking for a restroom)…
and then ended up eating a late lunch here.
Heading further south, we arrived in Malibu as the sun was setting. Beach views👌🏼 #photoshoottime
We looked up a couple of famous actors homes to see but of course everything was gated and you can’t drive by them like Google indicated you could🙄 (So much for seeing someone famous) We ended up stopping here at the Malibu Country Mart— known for some “famous sightings” (no luck for us). When describing the Country Mart, I love the description that their website uses:
In the heart of the Malibu Civic Center, nestled against the majestic mountains and just a stone’s throw from the beach lies the Malibu Country Mart, California’s premier location for shopping, dining, and relaxing. Removed from the stress and cookie-cutter selection of your typical shopping experience, the Malibu Country Mart features unique and upscale boutiques, art galleries, restaurants, and personal services set in an astoundingly beautiful atmosphere.
We walked around this area and some how ended up at this chocolate shop– Diane Krön Chocolatier. Neither of us had heard of it and honestly by the way things were packaged and the store front looked I would have never guessed that the chocolate could taste so amazing or be so highly priced😳 (When they describe the shopping as upscale, they aren’t joking.) We sampled about everything in the store (the store was tiny–so we didn’t taste that much). I am not kidding when I say I haven’t tasted better chocolate. The truffles were my favorite and Grant enjoyed the scotch shots. 🥃 I’m warning you though this place is deceiving! It is absolutely amazing and you will want to buy after you try.
Back on the road again, by now it was getting pretty dark so we headed for our final destination of Newport Beach! We passed Santa Monica– with the boardwalk lit up in the distance. As we were arriving in Newport we made reservations for dinner at The Cannery. Grant & I were both excited to have good seafood on the waterfront but at the same time didn’t want to get too excited because to-date little G hadn’t allowed us to eat at a nice seafood restaurant. 🙏🏼 Thankfully after a little fussing he fell asleep and we were able to enjoy an amazing dinner! The atmosphere of this place was impeccable and the food–even better. The service was on point too–we closed the restaurant down just enjoying a little date-night with g-baby asleep.😅 This place is a must when in the Newport area!
We spent the evening here— a great location. Sunday morning we had brunch on Balboa Island at the Lighthouse Bayview Cafe which had gorgeous views and the perfect place to start a day at the beach!
The ocean was just across the street so we headed there for the afternoon!
Umm yes, you can add it to the list of beaches I love!
Newport Beach✔️ Grant and I both agreed that it would be a place we could come vacation at in the future–but then again that wasn’t the first time we’ve said that.
Grayson Quinn enjoyed another day at the beach too.
With a 5+ hour drive back to Turlock, we left mid-afternoon to head that way. Our afternoon in the sand was delightful and refreshing! Newport Beach you didn’t disappoint👌🏼
Our favorites from the trip🏝
You couldn’t walk by those cinnamon rolls and not get one!