Mojave to Laguna Beach (244 miles)

Day 5 was one of the days I was looking forward to with unfiltered glee! I'm fairly certain I was dancing in my seat long before we pulled in and saw our first glimpse of the Pacific. Two or three years ago I had been to Laguna Beach with co workers on a work conference and had fallen in love. The beach is clean and absolutely gorgeous. To me it seems like the perfect spot for a weekend getaway! There are tons of restaurants and adorable shops lining the street right off the beach that make for the perfect strolls post fun in the sun. 

Other than the beach itself, this was also the first reservation we had booked post Marfa. Knowing we were headed to a clean bed with linens and a private bathroom seemed like absolute heaven. 

WHERE WE STAYED

When we started looking for hotels in the area, my heart sank, everything seemed so expensive! I turned to Hotwire (which if you have not used, I highly recommend), fiddled with the filters so that we would have parking and access to the beach. The app linked us with Laguna Beach Lodge. If you ever happen to be traveling to the area on a budget, I promise you will not be disappointed. 

We arrived around 10am and check in wasn't until 3pm. The lady at the front desk greeted us like long lost friends and said that while our room wasn't ready, we could leave our bags in the front. She also gathered up beach towels, beach chairs and pointed us to the nearest bathroom so that we could get our "booties on the beach"! The only thing that would have made this moment more perfect would have been her handing us fruity drinks with an umbrella on top. 

The hotel was located right across from the beach in a more residential zone. The hotel itself doesn't even have a name on its facade- probably due to zoning restrictions. The only way to spot it is looking for the trifold they have close to the street. Clean, bright, airy and with a heated pool, it was the perfect find. 

Across from the hotel, getting ready to descend the 75 stairs to get to the beach area! Yes. I counted. Also, please note that the chairs the hotel let us borrow have backpack straps (and what you can't see? They have mini coolers attached to them). I have already added them to my Amazon wish list.

WHAT WE DID

Literally nothing. It was glorious! The first day there we parked our borrowed chairs on the sand with our respective books ready to camp out. We had brought our insulated beach bag prepped with sandwich supplies, snacks and drinks so that we wouldn't even need to go back up the stairs onto the street for lunch. The waves on that part of the coast are super strong but make for fun wave riding! We literally stayed until the sun went down and then reluctantly walked back across the street only to dive into the heated pool before dinner. 

We woke up early the next morning, grabbed some breakfast to go from the hotel lobby and booked it to the beach once again. Due to the foggy and super chilly morning we walked down the beach sipping our coffee watching the waves, climbing rocks and on our way back even got to watch little kids taking surf lessons. It was so neat watching them! Some of them couldn't have been older than four years old and were already conquering their boards like a total champ. I was very tempted to grab one of the instructors, hand over my card and demand a lesson for myself! 

WHAT WE ATE 

Laguna Beach has a free trolley that will pick you up and drop you off up and down their strip! However, the day we were there it hadn't started up for the season on a daily basis. Therefore, we took the hotel's advice and walked over to a Mexican restaurant literally next door and had some powerful margaritas.

VERDICT

While at the beach, I met a lady who happened to be staying at our same hotel. She mentioned how she has been bringing her kids with friends to the hotel for an entire week each summer for the past few years, to the point where it has now become tradition. If I could, I would go back to Laguna Beach every year. There is so much to see and do close around it that if one wanted to do more than just lounge, they could. 

If anyone is up for signing up for this, tell me now so I can start saving up my pennies for next summer!