Southern Cali Trip!

In October, my sister and I flew to LAX, rented a car for the week, and went exploring down the coast of Southern California. One of my favorite experiences ever! We did A LOT, but here are the top ten places/attractions that I found were AWESOME!

Huntington Beach

We hopped off the plane at #LAX (sorry I had to)... got our car and headed south to #HuntingtonBeach. Of course our first stop was In-N-Out Burgers and it did not disappoint. Near the beach, they have a really cool outdoor mall called #PacificCity that's right along the coast. We walked from the mall straight to the pier. It's amazing how many piers are in Cali, but they're all different! We watched all the surfers catching waves and sun bathers enjoying the 80 degree weather. I could definitely see myself living there some day.

La Jolla Cliffs

The next day we drove along the Pacific Coast Highway to #LaJollaCliffs. These cliffs were AMAZING. This is probably one of my top 5 views. We walked along the trail and walked along the sea wall while waves were crashing into it. There were seals EVERYWHERE, and it's incredible to see them in their natural homes. There's places you can take steps down to or climb rocks down to the beach. I'd recommend doing this to get the full effect of these massive rocks. If you want breathtaking views, definitely spend a few hours at La Jolla Cliffs.

Balboa Island

We didn't stay here long, but this is such a cute little town. We got dinner at Wilma's Patio Restaurant. They have SO many options to choose from. We walked around and enjoyed the sunset over the bay and checked out the little beach houses. I could definitely live here, too.

Laguna Beach (has my heart)

We checked out #LagunaBeach one night and walked around for hours checking out shops and eating chocolate covered strawberries, yum! So we went back the next day and started the day with #UrthCaffé. This might be my favorite cafe I've ever been to, and "The Rustic Pouch" breakfast was so tasteful. We headed to the main beach and enjoyed relaxing and people watching. Some lady was doing yoga behind us by herself for probably an hour (GO HER!) I love the lifestyle there. The views all around were awesome.

The Venice Canals

You have to see these! There's a bunch of canals and bridges that you can check out. It was so peaceful and quite while we were there. I was jealous of the people who lived on these canals. The houses were super modern and unique, and little white bridges made the atmosphere that much more peaceful. Definitely worth the trip!

Newport Beach

These beach towns are pretty similar but different at the same time. I love the laid back atmosphere! We ended up just getting acaí bowls for dinner at #BanzaiBowls, they were so good and refreshing! There's a lot of cool bars in #Newport but we couldn't get in because Hannah isn't 21 yet. Just means we'll have to go back when she does turn 21 in September!

Santa Monica Pier

I really didn't know what to expect when we got to #SantaMonicaPier. It was like a county fair on a pier, but better! Super cool. You HAVE to ride the ferris wheel for the sweet views of Santa Monica and the beach. We also went into the arcade and I beat Hannah a few times in the basketball shooting game ha!

Underwood Family Farms in Moorpark

This was a spontanious trip to the pumpkin patch, and seriously SO MUCH FUN! The day before we went, I saw that Kourtney Kardashian was at a pumpkin patch with a house made out of pumpkins (which I thought was super cool and I needed to go there), so of course I used my stalker skills and found out where this was, #UnderwoodFamilyFarms. Thankfully, it was only 25 minutes from our #Airbnb! We got lost in a corn maze, road on a hay ride pulled by a tractor, and took LOTS of pictures. I'm obsessed with the photoshoot of Hannah. Check it out by going to "Photographs" at the top of my website, then "Portraits" --> "Hannah" --> "California 2017".

Walk of Fame

The last three days of our trip, we made our way back to LA/Hollywood and stayed in the Hilton Garden Inn hotel, which was five minute walk to the #WalkofFame. We came across it on accident after returning our car and walking back to the hotel. It's super touristy but there's so much to look at! We even saw Mariah Carey imprinting her hand in the ground at the #GraumansChineseTheater. There are SO MANY famous stars, and we some how managed to track down Adam Levine's star (heart eyes) just by looking at a picture on #Google.

Universal Studios Hollywood

Our last day in Cali was spent at #UniversalStudiosHollywood. I usually don't do rides (they scare me), but I rode almost all of them, even #TheMummy that Hanah dragged me on, a high speed roller coaster. If you know me, I would seriously never do this usually. It was super fun though! #TheWizardingWorldofHarryPotter has my favorite ride, Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey. If you go to Universal, you must take the Hollywood Bus Tour. It's sweet to see where a bunch of movies and tv shows are filmed. It's almost unreal that they can film hundreds of tv shows and movies in a central area.

SO that's my Top Ten places we visited!

But of course we saw and went to many other amazing places:

The Butchers Daughter in Venice Beach

Flower Child in Del Mar

Leo Carrillo State Beach, Malibu (First scene in #Grease was filmed here!)

Best Airbnb Ever in Oxnard

Drove up this very steep, very narrow road for this view

Beverly Hills

Hollywood Sign

We drove down the Pacific Coast Highway for a lot of the trip and that was a dream in itself! I could have driven all day along that coast. So many cool beach towns, mountains, restaurants, shops, and just things to look at!

If you've been to Southern Cali, what's your favorite spot!? I definitely want to go again and see even more!

Harleigh