So Cal Part 2: Laguna & Newport Beach

Now that I've discussed all about San Diego, it's time to drive the PCH  recap our time spent in the one and only, Orange County!

If we are being brutally honest here-Laguna Beach, Newport Beach, and Huntington never really jumped out on a map to me until a. The Hills and b. Real Housewives of Orange County (#truth). I mean, I always figured they were really nice, but once I saw these shows it was like a whole new world that I just HAD to go see. Then, naturally I would become bff's with LC, talk insurance with Vicki Gunvalson, go shopping with Gretchen Rossi, and drink champs on some massive yacht with Heather Dubrow. Because all of those would surely happen if I, Katie Krysh, visited the OC...

Sadly enough, none of those happened, except I did eat brunch right in the same complex that Terry Dubrow's office is at, and I did manage to stalk find Lauren Conrad's house that she grew up in. Do these count? Let's just say yes.

Not having visited the area before, I will say that Laguna was not what we pictured in our heads. You know how you have a certain "vision" of what a city will be like, but in reality when you go, it's not that at all? This isn't meant in a bad way because Laguna is SO nice, but it just isn't what we pictured it to be. Billy described it best when he said that we thought it would have been a lot more commercialized than it is.

The beach is stunning. No questions there. The water is so blue...we couldn't believe how blue it was, and the sand is so soft. The downtown area is filled with high end shops (everything you could possibly want!) that resemble old, beautiful cottages, and all the houses are all set in the hills. So, I guess the name MTV came up with was in fact fitting...

We explored all of downtown then went and had drinks at The Deck. This place is awesome, right on the beach, and a must if you visit here. The lunch wait was long, so we took a short walk (all the restaurants are pretty much on one road so it's easy to get around) to The Cliff to get lunch. Our view from our table was HEAVENLY....

I could definitely have sat there for like a week. We also walked up to Las Brisas (a hotel and restaurant) to walk around the back and see the views. This is a great seafood restaurant in the area that I recommend.

Did I mention yet how much money is in the Orange County area? It is unbelieveable.

Here we are driving around in our Ford Fiesta rental car being surrounded by Ferrari's and Rolls Royce's. We had a good laugh about this!

The homes? They are those ones you see on TV and dream about. Since Billy and I love to drive through rich suburbs/neighborhoods, after some internet stalking we made it past the gate (thank you young sir who checked my ID and let us pass-hope you aren't fired today) up to where all the million dollar homes are and caught a glimpse of what I'm told is Lauren Conrad's parents old house.

 

See this house at the tip top on the right? That's the house that we were told, and saw online, that was hers growing up...

{in this pic it's at the very top right}

If you see gated communities, or signs that say "Dead End" or maybe even "Private Road" but I didn't tell you to do this, chances are you should pull your car over and try and get up them because they have the best views. For example, we randomly took a turn up a street that allowed us to see almost all of Laguna from the very top...

We spent all day in Laguna, but after recommendations from Natasha (remember how I met her in Lake Tahoe last year?!), we decided to stay the night in Newport Beach. Laguna was really cool, but is kind of a sleepy town at night, and Newport has much more going on (in my opinion). 

Our resort that we stayed at in Newport Beach, Balboa Bay Resort, was one of the nicest places I've ever stayed and what were the chances that Natasha was staying at the exact same resort for her best friends wedding on the same weekend?! We didn't plan that, but it was just an added bonus to be able to see her as well!

I originally booked this resort as a surprise to Billy because it is on the water and has million dollar  yachts right in the back (both of which are Billy's favorite things). I knew he would LOVE it. I never imagined it would be as nice as it was, though. Balboa Bay Club is a 4-Diamond Resort and the only full-service waterfront property on the coast in Newport Beach. It has a beach, two pools, and bar right in the back with amazing views. You can even rent duffy boats, kayaks, and paddle boards from here and spend the day out in the water.

{that ceremony? same wedding Natasha was in!}

We are pretty much obsessed with Newport now. It is such a ritzy area....everyone is gorgeous (we felt somewhat out of place, haha), all of the buildings are super nice, and of course it has Balboa Island which is so cute and fun to explore. A must when visiting Newport.

Our resort set up anniversary chocolates and balloons for us when we arrived and our balcony had this amazing view of huge homes and some of the water.

When you are on Balboa, take a walk around to look at all the beautiful homes and also you must stop at Dad's to get a frozen banana (and a bar if you want options)... SO good!

The next morning, we got up early to drive through an area Natasha recommend to us, up Kings Road, that gave us THESE views...

Talk about some of the nicest homes I've seen and just an overall amazing place to see and visit. We fell in love with this area and are already talking about planning a trip back. Of course. :)

We were lucky enough to grab brunch before we headed out at a cute place called Haute Cakes with Natasha, her husband Ryan, and two of her best girlfriends. It was so nice being able to catch up with them and meet some of her friends-they were so sweet and our brunch was delicious!

When we left Newport, we decided to stop at Huntington Beach briefly (which is on the way to Malibu/LA) to see the area and to get some shopping in!

Then, we were on our way again to drive the PCH to Malibu (took us about 2-2 1/2 hours). You definitely don't hate being in a car so much when the views out your window are this:

Now you can see why I love driving the coast so much, right?

Stay tuned for the last part, covering Malibu and LA!

Happy weekend and PLEASE add Newport to your travel list,

{be sure to enter my Gallo giveaway and Zappos giveaway if you haven't yet! Both have $100 gift cards up for grabs!! (For those who are 21+!) #ad}