Orange County Shopping

Owen traveled lightly this trip

After check-in around 9pm we ordered up some room service and then Ron crashed.  Actually he was sleeping before the food even arrived. Brief discussions of heading down to the empty pool and hot tub quickly dissipated as the team fell asleep.

Ron got up early, easy to do when you're asleep when he was, to go for a run.  The run took him down to Lantern Bay Park and Dana Cove Park along all the marinas that host the plethora of whale-watching charters.

Dana Point Marina

After the run we got all packed up and headed out for breakfast at the hotel.

Owen was loving the temperature; even better with the fire places.

After breakfast we trucked down the hill to Dana Point to walk the same route that Ron ran earlier that morning.  Passing all the stand-up paddle boarders Ron was very tempted to ask one to borrow their boards to give it a try.  Realizing that he would probably fall into the water he decided to hold off given he had no change of clothes.

Once we reached the Dana Point Marine refuge we decided not to go walking down the rocky beach and simply headed back along the same route.

Cruising around Dana Point

Upon leaving the hotel we stole the in-room OC magazine that featured a heap of top local boutiques, many carrying local wares.  The first stop landed us in Newport Beach on Balboa Island.  Walking the main strip reminded us of our visit farther up the coast in Carmel (by-the-sea).  Small boutiques with food shops mixed in.  The two boutiques reported in the magazine were hits with Julie picking up a few pieces (even on sale) and us finishing our visit with some chocolate/caramel pretzels.  Not to shabby.  Straying from the boutique route we hit up Fashion Island which we passed en-route to Balboa Island.  Most of the shopping complexes we've seen in Cali or Florida are outdoors with the large retailers (NM, Bloomingdales, Nordstrom, Macy's) at the far end.  This makes walking around the shopping areas rather nice since you're enjoying the outdoor weather and they're typically well designed.  This area included koi ponds like the shops at Bal Harbor, FL.

Enjoying the shopping, weather and sights.

We did some minor damage shopping here and by this point had given up our plan of stopping by Salt Creek and Monarch beaches -- both flanked by hotels towering above the cliffs. 

Owen rocking his new Toms

We stayed at Fashion Mall to grab dinner at R & D Kitchen which seemed to be one of the busiest and more importantly had room on the outdoor patio and even more importantly, had heaters.  It gets cool at night.  The heaters created a nice red glow for the camera to pick up.

Owen enjoying his dinner before ours.

Despite running out of pulled pork for Ron's sandwich the recommended french dip was delicious and everyone was happy with their selections.

Since Ron needed to start work tomorrow we decided we should probably check-in to the hotel before midnight and with an hour drive ahead of us we were pushing our luck.  We jumped back on the 5 to get down to Carlsbad and settle in at Grand Pacific Palisades for the next week+.