Travel Guide :: San Clemente, California
San Clemente. The Spanish Village by the sea. Living and Local decided to buy a plane ticket to Califonia over Labor Day Weekend and explore! This small surf town is where my brother is currently stationed in Cali. He was our local for the long California beach town weekend!
Meet my brother, James!
From John Wayne Airport, we took the California 1 all the way down to San Clemente. It was a beautiful drive filled with cliffs, ocean, cyclists, and beach lovers with their surf and boogie boards. The weather was unseasonably hot for our visit (figures - Texas girls bring the Texas heat); however, it was still very pleasant in the shade.
First stop (and highly recommended brunch spot): The Rooftop Lounge in Laguna Beach! You can find it on the top of a small Spanish-looking boutique hotel with a fabulous view of the ocean. And by fabulous I mean we watched dolphins playing in the waves.
All of our food selections were deliciously fresh - I don't think you could choose incorrectly on their menu. I'm talkin', baked Brie with cranberries, ahi poke salads, avocado lobster toast and huevos rancheros. NOMS ON NOMS ON NOMS. (Soon you'll start noticing a pattern...for a beach weekend we sure did eat A LOT).
A further winding drive down the California 1 took us right into San Clemente, where we decided to walk the Pier and watch the surfers. The sun was out to PLAY on Saturday - so we overloaded on Vitamin D and took a brief respite at Pierside Kiten & Bar for a (much needed) frosty pina colada.
We set up camp (AKA our one beach towel + us and our books) at Calafia Beach. Right across the train tracks and nestled in between cliffs, this beach was my favorite. Partly because we didn't have to fight for a parking spot and it wasnt as crowed as the other beaches. (Long boarding in Cali is big - I'm guessing - because parking by the beach is scarce - and you don't have to park a long board).
Calafia Beach is one stop (of many) along these wonderful trails. We took a jog up the beach Sunday morning and then wandered up through Del Mar (the main drag) while the Farmers Market was in full swing. Fresh produce, products and goods, oh my!
We decided to late brunch at HH Cotton (on Del Mar). 10/10 would recommend this place. They have live music on the weekends and a retractable glass wall that opens up to an outdoor patio (and limitless bubbles for $14). The food was DELISH. I ate so much I rolled down Del Mar afterwards. But not before stopping for some cupcakes and cookies at Sugar Blossom Bake Shop. (Pictured - the Tsunami cookie - named for the explosion of yummy flavor).
This is my best friend, Carla, and our tsunami cookie (oats, chocolate chips and cranberries).
And, of course, I had scouted out the best coffee shop in town (we returned multiple times). I helped myself to a Lavender Latte. Carla tried one of their traditionally served macchiatos and we (and our caffeine levels) rated the tastebud experience 100. PRO TIP: I would recommend indulging in the morning AND when you hit that afternoon slump around 3:00 PM from beaching too hard.
Then more beach.
Sunday night we hit a local pizza joint called Pizza Port - open air patios and arcade games a plenty. Their list of pizzas is a mile long and they also serve local brews with quirky names. It was crowded (so an obvious local favorite), so our pizza took a while. BUT HAVE NO FEAR! They have FRIED MAC AND CHEESE BALLS for apps. Sold. We should have ordered a second basket, but the line was long #lazy. We all ordered personal pizzas and ate like 5-year old KINGS (mac & cheese, pizza, arcade games).
And, of course, no meal could be complete without a sweet stop. Southswell became James' new favorite ice-cream place on Del Mar. A hand-dipped (dark chocolate) ice-cream (or frozen banana) shop attracted all of the post-dinner fans (fellow Pizza Port peeps - we SAW YOU). James' favorite item on the menu? The Parent Trap. Vanilla ice-cream bar, dipped in dark chocolate and Oreo cookie crumbles and drizzled with peanut butter.
Monday morning, James took us to his favorite breakfast place: The Bagel Shack. This place smells like garlic and toasted bread when you walk in, and the locals share their picnic tables so you don't have to eat standing up (not that we were opposed). Pictured below: their Everything Bagel with PB&J. Oh, and their iced mocha (slurp).
On the agenda for next time: surf lessons! *cue music from the Beach Boys*
