  My family is originally from South African and when we moved, just over 20 years ago, many of our friends moved to various parts around the globe as well. That, paired with my parents love for travel, has made me lucky enough to travel to some pretty awesome places around the world. Most of the time when I think of a vacation, I think of a multiple day excursion filled with airports and possible hotel hopping between adventure locations. This las weekend, however, my husband had a work event in Los Angeles on Friday evening so we decided to make a mini getaway trip out of it. We drove up from San Diego on Friday afternoon and while he was at his event, I got to catch up with a friend in the area. Then we got to the hotel and splurged on late night room service dessert. We stayed at a Hilton near the airport which was relatively inexpensive and dog friendly which was important since we brought little Stella with us. In the morning, we did something we almost never do...we slept in late! (Those blackout curtains are magical). Once we finally surfaced, we headed to our favorite spot in LA, Manhattan Beach and explored a new park before heading to grab pizza from our first date spot and the best ice cream sandwich of all time! We had nowhere to be exactly by anytime and it was fun to have an agenda-free day enjoying the beach and sun. We were back in San Diego by 5:30 that same day and back in our routine. I wasn't expecting such a mini trip to be as refreshing as it was, but we both felt recharged on Sunday and ready to get to work. It was a great reminder for me that a vacation doesn't have to be a long, far-off journey, and some of the most refreshing ones in fact are close-by and quick but just as (or maybe even more) relaxing. Here are my 6 reasons why local getaways are just as awesome as big trips: 1. You Save Time on Travel to Get into Relaxation Mode FasterEven though LA was quite the drive in Friday afternoon traffic, we still got there faster than almost any airport trip filled with pre and post flight activities. Brad may have had to work that night but I fully enjoyed getting into relax mode asap and enjoyed an amazing dinner with a friend. 2. Even local areas still have new places to exploreEven if it is a place you live or have gone to a million times, you can make it feel like a brand new location. Brad and I met in college and would frequent Manhattan Beach, but since we had Stella with us this time, we looked up a dog park we could take her to and found a gem at Polliwog Park. Not only is the name awesome, but it had beautiful green lawns for picnicking, awesome play sets, a pond, a dog run and a cute California botanical garden. We had never been there before and didn't expect such a great find. 3. You don't have to spend big on a hotelSince it's local, you have a car so can stay somewhere that is a bit more inexpensive since convenience of location is as big a deal. We got a great deal on a hotel and could drive around between Culver City and Downtown LA on Friday night and easily get to Manhattan Beach on Saturday. 4. But still get a hotelThat being said, wether you are staying in your home city or going somewhere nearby, I would definitely recommend still getting a hotel. My brain is wired to find things to do at home (clean the kitchen, do the laundry, organize this cabinet, etc.) Even if we had stayed at home in San Diego and cleared all activities on Saturday, I think I still would have had a to-do list floating in my mind of all the things I should be doing. Removing myself completely and staying in a hotel with great blackout curtains really helped it feel like a restful and restorative vacation. 5. You don't have to plan as muchOne of the most stressful parts of a vacation is planning all the details to make it perfect. Where to stay, what to eat, what activities to do in the day. Since we were familiar with the area, we knew some of our favorite places we wanted to go back to and so other than a quick yelp search on Saturday morning to find the dog park, we didn't do much planning and just enjoyed the sunshine. 6. You can bring your pets (if you want)Again, since we were driving, we could bring Stella with us and it really felt like a little family vacation. There are a ton of pet-friendly hotels now with nominal fees for letting your fur baby come along. So the next time you feel like you just need to getaway, consider maybe taking the freeway instead of hopping on a plane. And if you head to Manhattan Beach, make sure you stop by the Manhattan Beach Ice Creamery for the best "Creamwich" of your life. xoxo, |
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You may have noticed I was a little quiet an the blog last week but if you followed along on my insta stories you know why. My sister got a new job in Seattle and so we took a pup-friendly road trip from San Diego to Seattle.
We started with a 4am wake-up to take Winston for a walk and release some early energy. We then hit the road, thankfully missing most of the LA traffic and stopping in Burbank. for a bathroom break and dog walk. Juliet had downloaded an app called "Bring Fido". It's an app dedicated to sharing pet-friendly hotels, restaurants, and dog parks near your current location. We opened Bring Fido in Burbank for pit stop and it took us to a parks. ride. Oops. Lesson learned to read the description of the location before selecting.
Nevertheless, we plodded on and tried the app again when we were in agricultural central California. This time, we came across an amazing, almost unimaginable place in Kettleman, California called Bravo Farms. It seemed like Bravo Farms took a random pit stop and It turned into a mini road trip Disneyland. Each piece of decor and architecture was completely over the top from the water wheel dog Park to the knick knack shopping center, ice cream parlor, coffee shop and restaurant. Just goes to show that you can find inspiring decor ANYWHERE!
After stretching our legs, we continued on to the highlight of the trip, our NAPA stop. We checked in and refreshed at the newly renovated and gorgeous Hilton Garden Inn. We then headed to some wineries for tasting and relaxation. Starting at V. Sattui, we enjoyed some indoor tasting and Winston was a fan favorite of everyone there. He was literally rolling on the ground getting pet and cuddled like he owned the place.
After a light tasting, we were really excited to go over to Farmstead at Long Meadow Ranch to enjoy the 90 degree sunshine and our favorite, rosé, on the patio. The grounds were amazing with a giant farm fresh garden, a green archway and endless details of a modern farmhouse. Even better, was the food with warm burrata appetizer and a wild mushroom and pea gnocchi. This was definitely the highlight of our trip and I must say it was the most stylish and memorable road trip pit stop to date. Back at the hotel we ended the evening with ice cream and a few "Good Bones" episodes on AGTV before another early morning start.
Day 2 was a full day of driving from 5am to 7:3o pm. Listening to podcasts and music we took in the gorgeous views from Lake Shasta, southern Oregon ranches, Portland character and Washington greenery. the entire time finding inspiration for new design projects in the journey. We had such a wonderful trip to both close the amazing year we had living together and also inspiring a new beginning for our next chapters.
So if you ever find yourself with a long road trip ahead of you, I highly recommend planning a few memorable
pit stops, you may be surprised with what you find taking a minor detour.
We started with a 4am wake-up to take Winston for a walk and release some early energy. We then hit the road, thankfully missing most of the LA traffic and stopping in Burbank. for a bathroom break and dog walk. Juliet had downloaded an app called "Bring Fido". It's an app dedicated to sharing pet-friendly hotels, restaurants, and dog parks near your current location. We opened Bring Fido in Burbank for pit stop and it took us to a parks. ride. Oops. Lesson learned to read the description of the location before selecting.
Nevertheless, we plodded on and tried the app again when we were in agricultural central California. This time, we came across an amazing, almost unimaginable place in Kettleman, California called Bravo Farms. It seemed like Bravo Farms took a random pit stop and It turned into a mini road trip Disneyland. Each piece of decor and architecture was completely over the top from the water wheel dog Park to the knick knack shopping center, ice cream parlor, coffee shop and restaurant. Just goes to show that you can find inspiring decor ANYWHERE!
After stretching our legs, we continued on to the highlight of the trip, our NAPA stop. We checked in and refreshed at the newly renovated and gorgeous Hilton Garden Inn. We then headed to some wineries for tasting and relaxation. Starting at V. Sattui, we enjoyed some indoor tasting and Winston was a fan favorite of everyone there. He was literally rolling on the ground getting pet and cuddled like he owned the place.
After a light tasting, we were really excited to go over to Farmstead at Long Meadow Ranch to enjoy the 90 degree sunshine and our favorite, rosé, on the patio. The grounds were amazing with a giant farm fresh garden, a green archway and endless details of a modern farmhouse. Even better, was the food with warm burrata appetizer and a wild mushroom and pea gnocchi. This was definitely the highlight of our trip and I must say it was the most stylish and memorable road trip pit stop to date. Back at the hotel we ended the evening with ice cream and a few "Good Bones" episodes on AGTV before another early morning start.
Day 2 was a full day of driving from 5am to 7:3o pm. Listening to podcasts and music we took in the gorgeous views from Lake Shasta, southern Oregon ranches, Portland character and Washington greenery. the entire time finding inspiration for new design projects in the journey. We had such a wonderful trip to both close the amazing year we had living together and also inspiring a new beginning for our next chapters.
So if you ever find yourself with a long road trip ahead of you, I highly recommend planning a few memorable
pit stops, you may be surprised with what you find taking a minor detour.
xoxo,
Jessica
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