Tag Archives: socal

Malibu + seafood

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Before leaving LA we had to make a stop at Camping World – it was my first ever trip and I’m sure some sort of rite of passage into camping life. Funny the little things that you care about once your only home is a tiny house on wheels. After loading up and getting all hooked up with our ‘Good Sam’ discounts, we were ready to hit the road toward the central coast…..via Malibu, of course.

We have hit some AWESOME little places to eat so far on this trip, but this one takes the cake for the BEST fish and chips I have had to date (I’ve eaten a lot of fish and chips). My former front runner was the Fisherman’s in San Clemente, but for now this one will knock them down a spot. It’s literally right on the coast hwy and we almost drove past it, but quickly pulled our massive caravan off the road and hopped out to run back to Malibu Seafood.

WARNING: this is not a healthy lunch. Actually 1/2 of this had to go right back because of a massive miscommunication in the food allergy department (despite a long conversation about how they could only have GRILLED fish). They were amazing though, and remedied the boys’ meals with a delicious and super generous portion of grilled fish – perfectly cooked and topped with a squeeze of fresh lemon. Their cilantro lime sauce on the halibut was TO DIE FOR. Even the slaw goes down in our books as the best we’ve had. Fried seafood perfection and definitely worth the stop (though the crowds picked up fast when it was actually starting to approach the dinner hour). Luckily for us we are all off schedule and realized around 4pm we had yet to eat a meal that day.

The view isn’t half bad either 🙂

Trying to get three boys to pose for a pic is such a joyful experience. ha!

For a few hours of our lives, we had beach front property in Malibu!! I even had to clean up a massive balsamic vinegar incident and mop the kitchen floors – all right here in the celebrity playground of America. Watch out, Ellen – we’re right next door!

We thought about taking up residence here for awhile, but there is still so much coast to see and so little time, so we must keep. on. driving.

Adios SoCal! It’s been fun! We’ll be back in a few weeks – unfortunately not to this cool breeze and ocean view, but we know we’ll return again soon. E has spent the majority of his life in southern california and there really is no place on earth like it. So beautiful, but we’re ready to explore some new territory!

Hermosa Beach

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Hopping right up the coast of LA, we decided Hermosa Beach was a fine place to spend a Sunday afternoon. Still on the hunt for a perfect little cabinet to house my computer so we can get a work/desk area set up in the airstream, the boys went exploring while Hannah and I decided to hit up a few more antique shops. Check out this random large giraffe at the top of the stairs. I could have a larger than life zoo with all these random animals I keep coming across. Rattan giraffe + sequined elephant could start one heck of a collection. Thankfully have have NO space for that, so I am already learning the art of window shopping only.

There were definitely a few finds Hannah needed to take home – this along with the oversized palm tree cardigan sweater would have been a match made in heaven 🙂

Meanwhile, back at the pier, little Z is hamming it up with Lucy and loving his doggie time.

The people watching was good, so we grabbed an outdoor table at a cute little restaurant and enjoyed our last bit of time hanging out before they had to head back to the scorching desert [sorry, guys].

Traveling and exploring is fun, but even WAY more fun when you have friends join in for part of the adventures along the way! So thankful for people who will drive a few hours just to hang out, sleep in their car, have some good food and drinks and adventure around town with us! For now, time to keep moving north!

Huntington Beach

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It’s Huntington Beach weekend and we are SO excited that Hannah and Alex + Gunny and Lucy {their fur pups} came to visit for a few days of fun!!

The boys don’t get to be around dogs much (due to Evan’s allergies) but they LOVE them and were super fired up to be able to hit the beach with the dogs too! After being in San Onofre where the surf was beautiful, but awful for wading or swimming, they were over the moon to be able to have a nice spot to play in the sand AND the water at Huntington Beach Dog Beach!


Little Z loves bossing the dogs around – finally someone that is closer to his size!

Sandcastles for days.


Funny the conversations that fellow dog owners will strike up randomly – or people walking by admiring the dogs. Overall the HB dog beach was awesome and the boys had a BLAST boogieboarding…..until one super awful dog ran up on the beach and decided to use the boogieboard as his chew toy – WITH my 6 year old still on it. At first we thought surely it was an accident and the owner would be stumbling with apologies, but then the stupid guy let the dog go right back and do it again!!! Talk about FURIOUS!!! I could not get over there fast enough. Not only did the freakin dog tear up our NEW boogie board, but he was inches from having E’s arm right there in the mix. Then the dude had the audacity to walk away while I was confronting him about what just happened. Seriously 🙁 Some people are unbelievable! The boys were so bummed their boogie board is once again broken. Good news is they had SUCH a blast out there in the chilly water shivering in their wetsuits and riding their little waves in that they moved on…..much faster than I did!

After leaving the beach we met up with another friend {Mr. Wyatt} who lives in the area and congregated for an awesome cookout back at the airstream camp site!

Quite a perfect beach day – hours of playing in the sand and water followed by an amazing steak kabob + veggie roast with a full table of friends, some good wine and a camp fire with marshmallows! Hearts and tummies are full and 3 little boys are completely exhausted!

Seal Beach

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Beach hopping continues! We drove up the coast about an hour to our new destination: Seal Beach! Our campsite here is actually not a campground, but an RV park. We are quickly learning there is definitely a difference between the two! Since we are just starting out, we did not realize (what is probably common knowledge for full timers) that RV parks in general do not allow tents or have campfire pits (which by this time was actually a welcome change). We are at the Seabreeze RV park which is extremely nice, clean and uncomfortably quiet. I’m not entirely sure there is anyone here – maybe just a bunch of empty RVs parked here for the summer? Either way – it’s our first time having FULL hookups!!! We are a bit excited to finally be able to use the sinks without apprehension (though still trying to conserve and be responsible) 😉

Seal Beach is a cute little beach town sandwiched between Huntington Beach and Long Beach just south of LA.

Since we LOVE food and love to find great local places, we often look to YELP to scout out the highest reviewed non-chain (when possible) place to eat that uses real, fresh food that can be made allergen free and safe for the kiddos. Our search in this area landed us at Cesar’s Bistro…

This little spot is AMAZING – we’d highly recommend it. The service was fantastic and it felt like we had known our server forever by the time we left. They were very accommodating to the allergies and had excellent gluten free options since a lot of their ‘breads’ were home made with corn. Check out the presentation here! This is the Caribbean pulled pork and the salad was something I’d come back for alone – so much flavor!

Had to finish off the meal with sweet plantains, of course.

Definitely check this place out if you’re in the area!