<p>Dragondad and I will be visiting a cousin for five days in March. We haven’t been to SoCal in a decade. Other than the beach, which I intend to visit at least a couple of times, what are the “don’t miss” spots now? We will be spending time with family, but will have a rental car of our own.
The one complication is that he has a back problem that makes long periods of standing or long hikes painful. Replaying my childhood visits to Disneyland, for example, would work for about three hours, but their price makes a three hour visit not worth it. Short hikes, museums, scenic spots?</p>
<p>Five days isn’t a lot of time with family visits involved, but I suggest at least two must sees: whales/whale watching cruise (many to choose from) and breakfast or lunch at the Beachcomber Cafe at Chrystal Cove State Park. Or, a stop at the snack shack nearby famous for date milkshakes. </p>
<p>Other suggestions would be drinks at sundown at the bar at the Splashes restaurant at the Sand and Surf Resort in Laguna Beach (amazing sunset ocean views) and if you have the time, the pandas at the San Diego Zoo.</p>
<p>[Beachcomber</a> Cafe - Crystal Cove Restaurant - Newport Coast, CA | OpenTable](<a href=“http://www.opentable.com/beachcomber-cafe-crystal-cove]Beachcomber”>http://www.opentable.com/beachcomber-cafe-crystal-cove)</p>
<p>[Crystal</a> Cove Shake Shack, Laguna Beach - Restaurant Reviews - TripAdvisor](<a href=“http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g32588-d468216-Reviews-Crystal_Cove_Shake_Shack-Laguna_Beach_California.html]Crystal”>http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g32588-d468216-Reviews-Crystal_Cove_Shake_Shack-Laguna_Beach_California.html)</p>
<p>[Whale</a> Watching off Southern California from California Whale Watching Capital In Newport Harbor-Newport Beach Cruises](<a href=“http://www.newportwhales.com/]Whale”>http://www.newportwhales.com/)</p>
<p>[Big</a> whale ‘dances’ with dolphins | whale, dolphins, dolphin - Life - The Orange County Register](<a href=“Big whale ‘dances’ with dolphins – Orange County Register”>Big whale ‘dances’ with dolphins – Orange County Register)</p>
<p>[Laguna</a> Beach Restaurants | Ocean View Restaurants](<a href=“Splashes | Surf & Sand Resort”>Splashes | Surf & Sand Resort)</p>
<p>Thanks, that’s exactly the kind of ideas I was hoping for.</p>
<p>My pleasure. Keep in mind that parking along the coast in OC is difficult, mostly valet for the oceanfront restaurants. At Chrystal Cove the parking is not next to the restaurant, it’s across the street (Pacific Coast Highway) from the state park and a reasonable walk. </p>
<p>This is another place with ocean views in Laguna Beach:</p>
<p>[Las</a> Brisas Restaurant](<a href=“http://www.lasbrisaslagunabeach.com/]Las”>http://www.lasbrisaslagunabeach.com/)</p>
<p>Upscale Mex but more beachy casual than Splashes.</p>
<p>If you like to gawk at rich people who spend a lot of money on big houses, expensive cars (as in Rolls Royce or Bentley, not merely Mercedes or BMW), and large yachts, there are places in Orange County to do that. (Then again, you might wonder how much of that is based on debt, rather than wealth.)</p>
<p>San Clemente Pier</p>
<p>San Juan Capistrano Mission</p>
<p>Ritz Carlton Laguna Niguel</p>
<p>Montage Resort Laguna Beach</p>
<p>A performance at the Laguna Beach Playhouse, Segerstrom Hall in Costa Mesa, or the Barlclays Theater on the campus of UC Irvine.</p>
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<p>Unfortunately the funky old Shake Shack, with their great date shakes, got bought out by Ruby’s, a burger restaurant chain, a few years ago. They still offer something resembling the old date shake, but the place and its food have gone much more “corporate.”</p>
<p>[Nixon</a> Presidential Library & Museum](<a href=“http://www.nixonlibrary.gov/]Nixon”>http://www.nixonlibrary.gov/)</p>
<p>A bit pricy, but touring Newport Bay in a rented electric boat is a nice group activity for an afternoon:</p>
<p>[Duffy</a> Electric Boat Rentals of Newport Beach, CA - (949) 645-6812 - Rentals, Sales, and Service](<a href=“http://www.duffyofnewportbeach.com/]Duffy”>http://www.duffyofnewportbeach.com/)</p>
<p>Second the Crystal Cove suggestion, you can also park at the entrance to the north and walk along a bluff trail with boardwalk overlooks. The trail to beach from the upper lots is a bit steep though. Check the tide charts to arrive at low tide to enjoy the many tide pools. Entry fee to park is $15 unless someone has a state park pass.</p>
<p>If you enjoy gardening and horticulture a visit to Roger’s Gardens is fun. They are a retail nursery, but go all out with seasonal decorations and have a huge gift inventory. They should be in full Easter mode by March. Be sure to look at the pine trees growing near the entrance, they hand pluck the needles every year to give them a bonsai like effect. It is a zoo on weekends, so a mid-week visit would be easiest for parking.
<a href=“http://rogersgardens.com/about/[/url]”>http://rogersgardens.com/about/</a></p>
<p>Across from Roger’s Gardens is Fashion Island, with Neiman Marcus and equivalent caliber shopping & boutiques. Many of the “real people of Newport Beach” stroll with their pampered purebred dogs on the weekends, and the outdoor mall has a beautiful koi pond and a number of interesting fountains.</p>
<p>Enjoy your visit!</p>
<p>Laguna Beach in general is wonderful. Mom & Pop shops, lots of artsy stuff, and a cute beach village to boot. </p>
<p>I love Laguna. If it were summertime I would recommend both the Pageant of the Masters and the Art Affair.</p>
<p>If you’re in OC you have to try some of the local cuisine. Orange County has IMO some of the best Asian food in North America. There are a number of great, and moderately priced Vietnamese places in Westminster, which is in North OC. You might also want to check out the Irvine Spectrum, an open air mall in Central OC. </p>
<p>If you’re near Aliso Viejo, walk around Soka University. It’s one of the most beautiful colleges I’ve ever been to and is right by the Aliso Creek trail which is popular with locals and good for someone with a bad back.</p>
<p>Los Brisas was a favorite of ours when we lived in Orange County. We used to see whales occasionally off the coast when we would walk nearby after a meal.</p>
<p>Balboa Peninsula is another fun place to walk and maybe get a bite to eat.</p>
<p>Visiting Downtown Disney for lunch or dinner would give you a free taste of Disney. Recently went to LA Science Museum to see Space Shuttle Endeavour, tickets available on line.</p>
<p>Long Beach aquarium is nice.
A day trip to Catalina island if the weather is good.</p>
<p>“Soka University. It’s one of the most beautiful colleges I’ve ever been to” - exquisite and they have a really nice performing arts center there too.</p>
<p>Is the Crystal Cathedral in Orange County open now? It’s the largest glass building in the world…worth a peek if you have extra time. I’ve driven past it, but never went into it. The Catholic Orange Diocese bought from the bankrupt Schuller ministries?</p>
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<p>However, March is not prime whale watching time. The main species of big whale that drives the SoCal whale watching industry is the Gray Whale. And prime months for seeing the Gray Whales as they pass by California on their southerly migration are December and January. Heck, by late March the early Grays have already turned around and begun their northerly migration, but then they pass by much farther out to sea - far from the reach of the whale boats.</p>
<p>You can see some dolphins more or less any time. In fact you can often see them from the shore - frolicking in the surf. And you might get lucky and see a random big whale of one kind or another out there. But overall March is not a great whale watching month.</p>
<p>I was thinking about that when I wrote about seeing the whales from Las Brisas. Another thing to do if the weather is good is take a day trip over to Catalina Island. We would often see dolphins on the way over and once saw a school of flying fish when we rented a small boat in Avalon and took it along the coast.</p>