BABYMOON 2018! CHECK, CHECK.
I wish I could take credit for such a fun and creative idea but it was actually my husband who came up with the PACIFIC COAST HIGHWAY road trip. I actually booked the Hotel Splendido in Italy. Later learned my Dr. wasn’t too happy with my decision… he claimed too many plane rides away! SO lets just say we “postponed” that one..
ROAD TRIPPING the PACIFIC COAST HIGHWAY:
Our trip started as we flew into San Francisco airport and started our road trip at the Ritz Carlton Half Moon Bay
Super dreamy here but was a bit more chilly than I had anticipated. Like 55′! We had rented a convertible and had to put the seat heaters and heat on blast to make it ( Later just sucked it up and drove with the top up)..I just envisioned a sunny hot road trip! So bummer…
We did a pit stop in Monterey and had lunch by the Wharf..So “Big Little Lies” inspired..such an adorable town.
Onto the next destination of BIG SUR… you guys.. hands down my favorite part of the trip. We stay at the POST RANCH INN and it was A DREAM. LITERALLY. I couldn’t even begin to explain how relaxing it was. Way above the clouds and overlooking to ocean. The rooms are little tree houses and they have super cute amenities like outdoor space, fireplaces, and showers that seem like you are outside. The WIFI was spotty and there are no TVs..it was amazing.
The service and restaurant (Sierra Mar) there at the hotel was impeccable.
Pit stop to check out Hearst Castle
THIS DRIVE…wow! We were on the edge of our seats. Be prepared for winding roads and cliffs drops a few feet away from you. The first part we had lots of fog so it was hard to see and lots of palm sweating. I would love to do it again! If you are afraid of heights definitely something I would not recommend. There are a couple spots to stop off and snap a picture. We saw tons of people going past the roped off area..I MEAN …ALL FOR THE GRAM.
Next we checked into Santa Barbara’s Four Seasons The Biltmore . Loved the laid back feeling of Santa Barbara. We explore the town and walked down to Stearns wharf and admire all the Spanish architecture. We went through Montecito to see the damage that they had endure from their recent mudslide. It was mind blowing to us that we didn’t hear more about this on the news especially after all the deaths. Our driver told us because of the prominent area.. the tried to keep this hush, hush. You can read more about it here.
We had dinner at their private beach club Coral Casino which was super cool with their 1950s inspired theme.
We moved onto The Resort at Pelican Hill in Newport Beach. They spoiled us with golf, spa and the cabana life. The rooms there are spread out (Kinda like a subdivision). Not what I expected but loved the privacy. The only negative was that they had drivers to take you to hotel lobby, restaurants, and pool…these took FOREVER. I mean sometimes we had to wait 20-30 minutes to be picked up from our room. The resort though was spectacular. They have one of the worlds largest circular pools. There were ocean views from everywhere in the resort. I thought this hotel was the most kid friendly out of all the resorts we stayed at.
Next up! Our final (Well The only we want to end with) Stop- The Montage Laguna Beach. DREAMBOAT. Perfect ending to our trip! SO many celebrity sitings and endless luxury amenities. We envisioned out children getting married here and actually went on a mini house hunt. Too bad all we found was a beach shack in our price range. We both love it out here so much and really envision living here one day..
The ended up with a flight out a San Diego.. We wanted a place to shower and get ready for dinner so we checked into Hotel del Coronado
and then checked out…. literally!
Well lets just say we ended up changing out flight to an earlier time because our room was so bad! I couldn’t recommend this place to anyone. It smelled like horrible, was dirty and overcrowded. The room next to us had a huge leak in it and they couldn’t find out where it was coming from. I did some research and the hotel has been spotted with ghosts after a 19th century suicide. NO THANK YOU. We ended up hitting the road back home earlier than expected! We did a quick dinner in La Jolla at Georges at the Cove and then jumped on a plane back home to our babies.
Hands down one of the most fun trips I’ve taken. I am a sucker for a nice hotel…maybe its because I grew up camping..no not Glamping. FULL ON camping..where you have to walk a mile to the bathroom and showers. Thanks mom and dad for letting me appreciate hotel amenities. My parents actually took our boys on a camping trip while we were gone. I have since retired from camping but LOVE the fact that my kids get to have that experience its so good for them to see both sides. I am so grateful to have access to both of these types of vacations!
So countdown is officially on! BABY TIME! We actually are headed out soon for our “KIDSMOON” …one more quick trip to head down to Florida to set up our babies nursery. We will only be in Chicago until he or she gets there 8 week check up and then will head back down to FL to snowbird for the winter. So I am not doing much with the babies nursery here in our Chicago home because its kind of pointless since I don’t know the gender yet. SO excited to show you what I have planned for our nursery down in Sunny Florida.
XoA
* ALL HOTELS were sponsored through American Express’s Fine hotels and Resorts programs.
Convertible car rental from AVIS.