SoCal Driving Tips for Getting Around During the Holidays

Posted in California, Travel Tips, USA by meganandeggs

Growing up in Connecticut my family spent a lot of time on the road. Family & friends lived in different cities & each weekend we were going somewhere to see them. But Connecticut is a pretty small state & there aren’t too many highways running through the second smallest state in the county. Even though my family took road trips to Florida pretty regularly, I still, naively only thought there was route 95 & 91. 95 spans the east coast, going from Maine to Key West. No need for other routes!

Then I moved away for college & realized, there’s a lot more freeways out there than my little self thought.

So naturally, my goal after graduating college was to move across the country to the land of pavement & interchanges… Los Angeles. Coming to the city with the worst freeways in the country was intimidating. I had had my car shipped out here & when I landed that first day, I remember being very adamant with my friend I was going to be living with that we go pick up my car. I wanted to have it right away so I could begin exploring my new home. Little did I know this adventure would take hours to drive 15 miles to & from the yard where my car had been dropped off at.

My first LA road fail.

November to December has the most traffic on the road compared to any other time of year. People are going to Holiday parties, shopping, dinners & spending time with family & friends. Driving around Los Angeles & Orange County can be a total nightmare any time of year, but during the holidays the nightmare is at a whole new level.

So I was inspired by the peer to peer car sharing brand, Turo, and their Los Angeles car rental team to come up with some of my favorite travel tips for the road in busy SoCal during the holidays. Soak them in, write them down, live by them… they will change your life.

Map it out

Before you leave, where are you going? Pull out your Google Maps & check out exactly where you are headed compared to where you are now. Sometimes it’s an easy straight shot where you hop on one freeway & get off a few miles away. Other times it may take 12 freeway changes to get from your house to your friend’s. (Yes, I am talking from experience.) Know where you are going, & if there are other options that you can change to when the road gets a little rocky.

Add 30 minutes

No matter what, leave early! Just last week I got in my car & my ride was supposed to take an hour & half. By the time I got to my location, it was nearly three hours later & I was a half hour late to work. Always expect it will take longer. No matter what.

Know which way traffic is flowing

Some freeways are always busy, at all times. (Did someone just say the 10 freeway?) But others are very specific on which way the traffic flows at different times of the day. For instance, the freeway outside our house has constant traffic, going East only, from 3 pm to 7 pm… every single weekday. I don’t even go near the freeway in that directions during the afternoons. I know I will age just sitting there. It’s just like heading to Las Vegas on a holiday weekend, you know you will be sitting with the rest of SoCal on the 15.

Use a navigation app

There are a ton of app options for you to download straight to your phone that helps reroute you due to traffic changes. Use them. I am not going to lie, I didn’t trust these apps for a long time, but now that I use them, I don’t drive without them. Your arrival time updates as you drive, & they offer new routes when a traffic incident comes up. Which leads me to my final tip:

Don’t be afraid to venture off the freeway

Sometimes taking surface streets from one exit to another can save you from 45 minutes of just sitting in your car. Trust the app when they say a new route is faster. Get off the freeway, follow the annoying voice coming from your phone, lock your doors (I mean lets be real: safety first) & follow the train of cars that are using the app right along with you to save time.

27Aug2015

Eating Through Portland

Posted in Oregon, Travel Tips, USA by meganandeggs

Anytime I go on vacation I am all for finding the best foods in town. I love trying local restaurants & finding foods that I can only find wherever I am. When we went to Florida we went to three local breweries & I was sure to try any specialty brew they had. Whenever I go home, I make sure to indulge in as much New Haven pizza I can get my hands on. But when we went to Portland last month, I didn’t know where to begin!

Portland is known for their craft beer, local Pinot Noir, & amazing food. It is a foodie’s paradise!

Between their hundreds of gourmet food trucks, their mom & pop coffee shops, & 5 star restaurants, everyone can find something they like in Portland, at any price.

The first time I went to Oregon I had no idea how much of an impact the food & beverage industry has there. The state has 216 craft breweries & is ranked 2^nd for the amount of breweries per capita only behind Vermont. The unique & local ingredients allow chefs to truly experiment while supporting their local farmers & economy.

We were sure to try as many new things we could get our hands on & of course I need to share with you some of my favorites.

Breakfast: Babica Hen Cafe

You can find this cute little breakfast joint right off of Route 99 in Dundee in a strip mall made for the wine lover. There is a cute little Inn, and a few tasting rooms right along this amazing cafe. I was a little nervous going in. We stopped here on our way to a day of wine tasting and I knew I would have to load up on carbs and protein so I wouldn’t get drunks from the wine. I was a little nervous that this place was too cutesy and the food would be less then filling. Boy was I wrong. All of our plates were jam packed with fresh vegetables, eggs, bacon & chorizo. Every meal was beyond perfect, & did I mention their blackberry mimosas were spectacular also??

Lunch: TILT

Holy burger! My eyes were definitely bigger than my stomach with this thing! (But don’t worry, I finished it off.) This monster is their Mad Andy. Topped with the usual toppings plus an egg, blue cheese, bacon & an onion ring. It was so delicious, but a little larger than I could handle. And to top it off I couldn’t leave without also trying their cheddar tots & original beer battered house fries. YUM! Next time on the list though: their tilted house fries, French fries with gravy & bacon on top! Yes please!

Dinner: A Cena

This Italian eatery is one of the best I have found on the west coast. After a day of wine tasting there is nothing better than soaking it all up with some amazing carbs, & with a lobster cream sauce on top of some homemade pasta I felt right at home. We started dinner with some fritto misto (fried calamari), a bowl of mixed olives & some fried artichokes. Wow. That right there was enough for dinner. But that is obviously not where we stopped. I had an amazingly creamy seared scallops over risotto while Chris had the dish A Cena is known for: Agnolotti. A mascarpone & corn ravioli topped with Maine lobster. AMAZING.

Ice Cream: Cool Moon

This small store front ice cream shop is located right in the heart of the Pearl District and offers 26 delicious flavors of ice cream. We tried, just about all of them but I had to go with the Thai Iced Tea. It was fabulous!

Beer: Rouge

Rouge was the second brewery we stopped at on our last day there. I was so overloaded with food and drinks that I couldn’t even sit down and have a tasting, but that doesn’t mean we left empty handed. After Chris enjoyed his flight, and I finished my French fries (you didn’t really expect I had nothing did you?) we went inside and began picking what we were going to bring home. Beard Beer &the Marionberry Braggot were my two must haves. Basically I love anything with marionberries in it. Ice cream, pie, and now beer! And Beard Beer, well I will let you read about this beer yourself.

26Feb2015

What to Bring on a Winter Trip

Posted in California, Travel Tips, USA by meganandeggs

Packing for a winter trip is always a little tricky when you live in a place where the coldest it gets is usually 55 degrees like we do. Lucky for us, this weekend in Big Bear Lake wasn’t as cold as it has been in the past. To be honest, the day was pretty warm, but at night the temperature dropped below freezing and since our cabin was right on the lake, it was even colder. Being from the snowy East Coast, I knew there were things I would have to pack to be prepared for the weather.

L.L. Bean Woolies socks

I am obsessed. Anytime it gets around 40 degrees, which doesn’t happen too often here in SoCal, I pull these bad boys out and bask in my love for New England warmth!

Moisturizer for dry skin

Being in the dry cold at a high altitude can really kill your skin. I make sure to keep moisturizing throughout the day to make sure when I get back down to

Hats, gloves and scarves

Pretty obvious. Staying warm is the differences between getting sick on your trip or not on your vacation. Stay warm.

Layers

Cardigans, sweaters, t-shirts and long sleeves. I really bring them all when I go somewhere cold. You never know exactly how cold it is going to be and you can always remove layers so I just pile tees and sweaters on top of each other that way I am always comfortable.

What do you make sure you bring on a winter vacation?

25Feb2015

A Day in Big Bear Lake

Posted in California, Travel Tips, USA by meganandeggs

I know, I know, I am slacking again. I haven’t posted in over a week! But don’t worry, I’ve been working on some great things for you guys! To start, this week I am doing a little series about our mini “winter vacation.”

This weekend we went with a few of our friends to Big Bear Lake, CA for our annual weekend away in the snow… only due to Mother Nature’s lack of precipitation here in California there was, well, no snow. So we found other ways to keep ourselves occupied in the ski-resort town.

Friday Chris and I woke up early and headed up to the mountain before anyone else. We got into town around noon and spent the first part of the day walking around the village and checking out the little boutiques in town. Maybe because it was Friday, or maybe because it was 60 degrees but the town was absolutely dead compared to other years we have been up there. But no complaints here because that just meant it was easier to get around and shop through the stores.

After town we still couldn’t get into the cabin we were renting so we headed over to Big Bear Mountain Brewery to taste some local beer since Chris is getting more and more into appreciating local craft beers. It was located in a cute little house on the main road into the town. With only 6 tables and about 10 bar stools it had an awesome small town feel with simple foods like sweet potato fries, burgers and nachos. Chris, of course, got the sampler where for just $10 you can taste the 6 craft beers they brew.

After we met up with the first of our friends to show up and got settled into the cabin where we relaxed, cooked food, and hung out for Friday night and Saturday. Sunday we planned on heading to an Alpine Sledding mountain and taking a few rides down the mountain but instead we had to run down the mountain before an actual snow store started coming in. But now we have another reason to head up for a night or day.

Big Bear is one of my favorite getaways from the super urban life of living in LA or Orange County. I love getting up on the mountain and literally being in the forest and having beautiful, huge, mature trees all around us and the fresh mountain air. One day I do want to get up on skis or a snowboard and take that risk but this weekend sure wasn’t the weekend to try it. Two more years until I need to check that off my bucket list.

12Jun2014

My Favorite Food at Disneyland

Posted in California, Travel Tips, USA by meganandeggs

When most people think of Disneyland they think rides, shows, and their favorite characters. Oh and standing in lines. My friends and I, however, we think about food. The Disney Resorts have some of the best food for hotels and definitely the best food for amusement parks. I am here today to tell you some of my favorite foods at Disneyland in Anaheim, Calif.

1. Clam Chowder Bowl at Royal Street Veranda at New Orleans Square in Disneyland

This is my go to snack while waiting to watch Fantasmic! at night. We usually stay to watch the show & everyone is ready for a snack. So if it isn’t a churro or popcorn, we usually end up splitting a bread bowl & they are amazing. You can get gumbo also if you are adventurous but I like to stick with hearty clam chowder.

2. Corn Dog at Corn Dog Castle at Paradise Pier in Disney’s California Adventure

I literally die. I am not a big fan of greasy foods but the Disneyland Corn Dogs are no joke. Up until a few years ago there was only one spot you can grab these beauties… at the end of Main St. but now they have expanded to California Adventure also. Nothing is better than a Corn Dog & a Disneyland Margarita at the happiest place on earth!

3. Mac and Cheese at La Brea Bakery in Downtown Disney

If you are just looking for a snack I suggest grabbing a Mac and Cheese off of the kids menu, but if you are ready for a full blown, cheesey meal of deliciousness… get the big one. So good!

4. Holiday Turkey at Earl of Sandwich in Downtown Disney

Now that we live just 20 minutes from Downtown Disney there are days where I just run over to grab a sandwich at Earl. Now I am sure if you have been to Las Vegas’s Planet Hollywood you have tried it there too but these are way better than Subway!

5. Lobster Nachos at The Cove Bar on Paradise Pier in Disney’s California Adventure

Recently the Cove Bar in DCA underwent a little bit of a remodel & expanded their seating but that doesn’t mean you won’t have to wait for a table. Get there early enough because if you try to get seats around World of Color show times, you will be waiting in a long line. But if you do get in… you need to have the Lobster Nachos… Amazing!!

6. Fried Chicken and Mashed Potatoes at the Plaza Inn on Main Street in Disneyland

Always a good go to, the fried chicken with mashed potatoes at the Plaza Inn is the perfect dinner date. And if you time it right, you can even catch a glimpse of the fireworks from your seats.