Laguna With Out-of-Towners

On Friday, D took off a half day because his B-school buddy and his girlfriend flew out from Atlanta to spend the weekend in southern California. The main impetus for the trip was for D and his friend Chris to run the L.A. Rock-n-Roll half marathon on Sunday. However, Friday and Saturday were spent touring around OC and LA. Chris' girlfriend, the lovely P, had never been to California before, so that was kind of fun. They stopped by In-n-Out on the way to our place (a must for first time California visits!) However, I think they both like Five Guys better. I guess we'll have to try them out when they open up at the District and see for ourselves.

We left the kids with my parents and drove to Laguna Beach. P wanted to see seals, but settled for the tidepools at Laguna. It was a lovely day, especially after all the rain we had the days before.







We walked around some of the galleries and shops. One gallery had an interesting display of the artwork/sculptures of Dr. Seuss.

D then took us to the Montage for one of the "top five views" of our lives. It was pretty grand; unfortunately I left my camera in the car!! The valet parking was $10, but it was nice to just walk the grounds. After all, the parking at Crystal Cove is $15, right? I thought it would be a nice place to get engaged...there were all of these little benches on top of the cliff, overlooking the water, not too many people around, etc.

We didn't spend too long there because I wanted to try to get into the happy hour at K'ya Bistro just down the street. I had made dinner reservations at 6 p.m., just in case. Good thing, because we arrived at 4:40--too late for the 4:30-5:30 happy hour (all food 1/2 off!) They were booked, and we were fifth on the secondary waiting list. Once they sat everyone, we talked in the lounge for a little bit, and then headed to the rooftop bar. Again, we were too late because all of the tables were taken! Wow, we had to sit at a back table which was reserved for another party at 5:30. At 5:20 we headed back downstairs and were seated in the "Crest Room" aka the alleyway at around 5:50. I think the regular dining room was "prettier" and "livelier" but I guess our seating was more conducive to conversation. They have small plates, so we shared BBQ meatballs, bleu cheese slaw, pork won tons, ahi tartare, lobster mac and cheese, a hamburger, and a tomato-basil-mozarella salad. A grown-up meal, and no kids to contend with.