Category Archives: Travel
I’m Smitten With…Laguna Beach
We all have them – those nostalgic places we went to as kids. The vacations we took year after year. The traditions that flagged your family’s summer sojourn. We all have our own, which are as different as fingerprints molding our idea of fun and free time. The joy of taking time off. I certainly have my happy place, and that’s Laguna Beach California. Laguna is the third oldest city in Orange County. Mostly farmland in the early 1900s, by 1920 artists were seeping in between the hills and valleys and into this seaside sanctuary. A group of landscape painters who settled there laid the foundation for the art scene as it is today. A little bit hippy mixed with some serious money (I’m sure you’ve seen the reality show of the same name), the community is filled with all sorts. Although giant palatial homes beam down from the hilltops, they have yet to scare away the starving artists. It’s this symbiosis that makes for a truly magical place.
Every year since I was too young to even remember, my family had an August trip down to “Goonie Beach”. We stayed at a hotel right on the water, beginning my love affair with the ocean. I did everything I could to be as close to that blue scape as I could, even dragging my blankets out to the balcony so the waves could lull me to sleep. On the days we weren’t sunning, we went exploring in the shops, art galleries, and summer art festivals, like the Pageant of the Masters or the Sawdust Festival. The food is typical Californian with all levels of dining experience from a famous waterside Mexican seafood eatery, Las Brisas, to the taco stands complete with surfers in their wetsuits. On the days when the humidity and steamy sidewalks of NYC get me down I simply conjure up a cool Laguna breeze, some sand under my feet, a good fish taco, and pretend I can hear the ocean.
5 Things I’m Smitten With 61
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Justin’s Almond Butter
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Tumi Luggage
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Sally B’s Skin Yummies
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Comptoir Des Cotonniers
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The New Starbucks App |