Rainy Travel | Laguna Beach, California on our Babymoon Trip

 Hey Ya'll! My husband and I are back from another trip and not just any trip, but our babymoon! Yes, I am one of those people who took a trip and called it a babymoon. To be honest, this is probably our last trip for a while, which kind of makes me sad but at the same time, I'm excited for future trips with our baby girl. So on today's blog post, I really just want to talk a bit about Laguna and traveling as a preggo person in general.

Laguna Beach, California

The Laguna Beach area sits in between LA and San Diego and is part of Orange County. Some may say, why Laguna? Well, I knew that at this point in my pregnancy, I wanted somewhere that was lowkey, but still popping, somewhere with a nice beach, and I wanted the whole trip to not break the bank. Laguna happened to tick all those boxes. The Laguna beach area is comprised of a bunch of different suburban cities, so there is a great many things to do while you're in town. While we were here, we did do a few things.

What we did

Niguel Botanical Preserve: After being on a plan a good chunk of the day, we still had quite a few hours left to go and we knew we wanted to stretch our legs. After a quick Google search, we decided to venture to the Niguel Botanical Preserve. This preserve is set next to a huge community center and is free and open to the public. The 18.2-acre botanical garden has what seems like endless amounts of garden displays, labyrinths, native and succulent sections, rose gardens, and a butterfly garden, along with statues and benches. We found ourselves out here for quite some time and it was quite a peaceful up-and-down stroll. 

The Shops at Mission Viejo: After the Niguel Botanical Preserve, we wanted to get out of the sun for a bit, so we went shopping at a nearby mall. The mall was all inside and it was a mixed mall of mom-and-pop shops and regular stores you would expect at a mall. We chose this mall specifically because it had about five or more stores that appealed to our weeb selves. It was a great time and of course had to get some pretzels. 

Top of the World Hike: The Laguna area offers an array of hiking trails, including the Top of the World hike. When we go somewhere new, my husband and I usually like to look for a hike in the local area. We chose this trail because we wanted to see the views and it did not disappoint. 

Downtown Laguna Beach: The next day, we made our way to Laguna's downtown area. Now this

place was popping on a Friday with loads of things to see, do, eat, and listen to. There are a number of cute little shops to explore and quirky statues to take pictures of or with. It's a great beach town, but I advise everyone to wear comfy shoes because just like the rest of California, there are lots of up hill and down hill streets. There is a free trolley that has frequent service, so if you do get tired, you can always catch it.

Main Beach: We didn't come all this way to Laguna to not go to the beach.  The first beach we went to was Main Beach, which is located directly where downtown Laguna is. If you parked in downtown, you can walk to this beach from here. Since it's the main beach, it is crowded with people, but plenty of people were coming and going by the time we reached the beach at about 2-3pm, so foot traffic wasn't terrible. 

 

Victoria Beach: We actually came to this beach by accident. We were planning on going to Treasure Island Beach, which is just the next beach over. However, traffic and parking was crazy, so we took the first parking spot we could find on the side of the road and followed some people to the beach and we ended up at Victoria Beach. This beach is actually a little famous for the Pirate Tower, something I didn't think I would see  on this trip, but here we were! It was a nicer beach with way less seaweed and had a more secluded feel to it. The only downfall was that there were no nearby restrooms, changing areas, or places to rinse off, so make sure you do your business beforehand and grab some water bottles to take the sand off.

Where we ate

 We ate some good food while we were in Laguna.  

In and Out: Classic California staple. I had seen a picture of a hamburger from In and Out a couple of weeks prior and I craved it ever since (the last time I had this was like 10 years ago). Needless to say, it didn't disappoint.

Kanpai Sushi: We are in Cali near the Pacific Ocean, of course we had to have sushi! Kanpai Sushi is located in Aliso Viejo, near where our hotel was situated. Fortunately, they had some good cooked sushi rolls and tempura for me to have and hit the spot. 

Lumberyard: The lumberyard is located in downtown Laguna. We were looking for lunch spots and when I saw the picture of their fish and chips I knew this was the place. The fish and chips did not disappoint and they had pretty good mocktails. They also had a really nice, big bar that I'm sure those who aren't in their dry era would enjoy.

Active Culture: In the middle of our Main Beach time, I was really craving a smoothie and David wanted a little snack. Active Culture came up on so many videos that I had watched on Laguna, so I figured we couldn't go wrong. The smoothies we got were good and definitely tasted healthy (no added sugars, which I appreciate). They were thicker than expected and didn't take too long to make. 

 Sgt. Pepperoni's Pizza: We had actually passed by this pizza joint when we went to eat sushi. I'm a

Beatles fan and Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band is my favorite album from them, so we had to go. We went during lunch time and were able to grab a slice and a salad. Unlike some other places, the side salad was pretty big. Our pizzas were New York style and had great taste. The inside of the restaurant was decorated with Beatles and other older rock band pictures and whatnot. 

 Seven Seas Roasting: Our hotel was situated in the context of a whole townhome/little shopping community and on the last day of our trip, the neighborhood was having a garage sale, so we decided to go. After walking around all morning, we needed a little something to cool off and Seven Seas Roasting was in the neighborhood. The place was small, but they had so many coffee, tea, and pastry options. I found out that they have multiple locations, so if you see one near you, you can't go wrong. 

Delizie Ristorante: This was our last meal in Laguna and it didn't disappoint. We were coming back from Victoria Beach and we both really wanted some lobster ravioli. After some Google searching, we found Delizie Ristorante in Mission Viejo.

Where we Stayed

We opted to stay at the Hampton Inn & Suite in Mission Viejo, mainly because my husband travels quite a bit for work and he had some Hilton points saved up since this would probably be our last trip for a while, we thought why not. The hotel was also located in a nice area and close to many different areas of the Laguna/Orange County area. 

I'm happy to report that the hotel completely exceeded our expectations. Our room was huge and had a small kitchen and a full-sized fridge. Our bed was big and comfy. Everything looked and felt clean. There were different breakfast options every day, including chorizo which I was really surprised to see outside of Texas. There was a nice outside area with a fireplace, jacuzzi and pool. It was just more than we expected and I'm glad we chose to stay here, especially since I'm pregnant and I'm choosing more comfort and practicality over anything else. 

Thoughts on Traveling While Pregnant

I've actually been traveling quite a bit while pregnant. We had our Canada trip in May and then we've taken a few road trips in Texas, and each of them has been pretty good. This was the first trip where I felt like I was pregnant for not only my size, but how much I could do. 

For context, I just turned 6 months (24 weeks) for this trip. even though I've been keeping up with cardio, I found that during our hike and walking through downtown Laguna, really was more exhausting than anticipated. I was still able to keep up, but I did have to take more breaks and stop for water. This may be due to the direct sun we had on the trail, but I could feel my heart really pumping. I was also getting over a sinus infection, so that wasn't great. 

Overall, I definitely recommend that if you are going to do a babymoon, do it in your second trimester and pick a place where you don't feel like you have to go here and there and fill up your whole day. choose a place where you can relax, take it slow, and enjoy your time with your and your partner away from it all.