Our Tales of Two Cities: California Girls

Casey:

I know that I have said it before – and I will keep saying it – but one of the hardest parts of being in a military family is being so far from your loved ones. But one of the best parts of being in a military family is the visitors! I have been so surprised at how often our loved ones have come out and visited us. We have had people come and see us in every single one of our locations (and there have been plenty). I have had several of my military friends comment on how lucky we are to have such amazing friends that plan trips to see us. And all I can say is – you are right – we are so blessed to have such wonderful people that love us and support us!

And so let me just say, as we kick off the first of many posts about Leslie, Nick, and Tina’s San Diego visit, thank you. Thank you for being the best friends that a girl (and her husband) can ask for. We love you.

Leslie:

For everyone who doesn't live in San Diego (myself included)...we are crazy!! (yes I probably just called you crazy) San Diego can be summed up like this: sunny everyday, cool enough to wear your favorite jeans and a hoodie, but warm enough to wear a sundress and get a tan in the sun. has neighborhoods that include lush suburbs and hip beach towns, but a great downtown scene with locally owned restaurants and then a few staple chain spots. Food is great, especially the mexican and taco Tuesday is city wide event which means cheap tacos and margaritas...awesome. there are two pro teams, football and baseball (my favs), but the local sport is surfing. there are local markets and don't panic...you'll be able to eat organic. So I ask you, what's not to love? why dont' we all live here? You should at least visit.

I visited California for about 10 days and 10 nights...it was a long enough trip to really see alot of San Diego, get a little relaxation in, and make a side trip with Casey up the Pacific Coast Highway (US 1) to the LA area. Nick came for the whole time too but spent the 1st weekend hanging out with his good friend Chris who lives on his houseboat in Ocean Beach, San Diego, worked during the week out of his company's LA office...then came back down and spent the 2nd long weekend with everyone in San Diego!

Although we did a lot and had a great trip...the best part was seeing my best friends! We laughed, talked about silly things like celebs, fashion, and what to wear, but best of all talked about life. It's always great to get your girlfriend's opinions on the big things in life and to do it over a glass of wine and not the phone.

We're going to do 3 blogs...1st weekend (up the PCH to LA), during the week (Casey had to work, so I explore the beach towns and we did fun stuff at night), and then the 2nd weekend when Tina arrived!

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Trip to LA...Casey drove, Leslie navigated..places we stopped/passed: Laguna Beach, Newport Beach, Huntington Beach (surf town usa), Sunset Beach, Seal Beach, Hermosa Beach, Manhattan Beach, Santa Monica, Malibu, Hollywood, Beverly Hills.

We took Matt's jeep with the windows off up the Pacific Coast Highway...fun way to ride! Leslie froze from the cool ocean breeze while Casey baked in the California sun. We took in the views and stopped along our journey which went as far north as Malibu. We loved Laguna...great beach town with a substantial amount of shops, restaurants, and of course beautiful hillside homes. We also ooh-ed and ah-ed at the adorable beachy houses that lead down the steep streets to Hermosa Beach. Malibu surprised us the most because it only has 1 two lane road that goes in and out so the traffic is terrible. One side of the road is a hill and the other side is a fortress of million dollar beach mansions. They all have walls, gates, or garages that attach to their neighbors and goes for a couple miles. Behind this wall of houses are privates beaches you obviously can't get to...overall we were unimpressed.

The Santa Monica Pier was a lot of fun and we had a great dinner and night out. The next day after having a great brunch and doing a little window shopping, we headed into downtown LA (yuck) to see Beverly Hills, Rodeo Drive and Hollywood...then we headed back south to SD!