With the recent launch of a new direct flight between Toronto’s Pearson International Airport and the John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana, CA, Air Canada teamed up with the folks at Disneyland and the tourism boards of Orange County, Anaheim, Newport Beach, Laguna Beach, and Huntington Beach to send a select group of Toronto-based media to tour the West Coast paradise in order to get a feel of what there is to do and see over the course of a week. And there is something for everyone.
Forget what you’ve seen on the MTV show Laguna Beach or Bravo’s The Real Housewives of Orange County. The real Laguna Beach and nearby Newport Beach is all about relaxing, art, eating, and leisure activities such as golfing and boating. For Toronto’s jet-setting boomer community, it’s the perfect extended weekend getaway sans the kids and grandkids.
Getting there
Our flight departed Toronto at 5:50 p.m. EST and landed at the John Wayne Airport in Orange County at 8 p.m. PST. You are allowed to check one bag per person for free on this flight and carry on one bag each. If you wish to purchase food or beverages you must use a credit card as they will not accept cash. Round trip ticket, per person, runs about $550 CDN to $650 CDN, depending how long you book in advance and where you book your flight from (Expedia, Air Canada, etc.).
Newport Beach is a 15-minute drive from the airport; Laguna Beach is about 30 minutes. The airport has many rental car companies on-site and having a car is a must. I usually use Avis when I travel, and for a Friday to Monday rental of a standard size car such as a Ford Fusion, you’re looking at around $170 USD in total. SUVs and luxury vehicles run upwards of $200 USD for the same amount of days. You can find the full list of car rental options on the John Wayne Airport website.
Keep in mind: Most rental car companies charge extra for a GPS unit. If you use one at home, bring it with you and save some money.
Where to stay
We stayed at the beautiful Newport Beach Marriott Hotel & Spa. Not only did we have a great view of the Pacific Ocean from our room, but the hotel is fairly central to the area’s hot spots. If golf is your thing, there are eight courses within a 20-mile radius. Shopping more appealing? Fashion Island, an amazing shopping complex, is right across the street. The hotel also offers a full spa, Starbucks, pool, restaurant, and lounge on-site (If you’re there for business, they also offer 31 meeting rooms with services that include in-house audio-visual amenities and catering). A room with a king size bed and an ocean view starts around $209 USD to $299 USD per night.
A more earthy and rustic option is to rent a cottage at the Crystal Cove State Park (pictured above). These are hidden from the world and located right on the water. They run between $181 USD and $191 USD per night for an individual cottage that houses up to four people. Even with airfare it is a great affordable alternative to the Muskokas. They have a peculiar reservation system that that only allows you to book on certain days seven months in advance. Visit their website for more information.
Where to eat
If you’re staying at the Newport Beach Marriott and want to grab something quick before heading out for the day there are many options at the Fashion Island shopping centre including California Pizza Kitchen, The Cheesecake Factory, Pinkberry, Fatburger, and La Salsa Fresh Mexican Grill.
The Beachcomber restaurant located at the Crystal Cove State Park serves a deliciously decadent lunch with choices ranging from a roasted turkey club sandwich to blackened swordfish tacos. If you can manage to swing a table on the patio, you’ll have an amazing view of the beach and the ocean while you eat. This is a busy place so reserve a table in advance or expect to wait on the beach (they also do take-out). The Beachcomber is also open for breakfast and dinner.
If you’re eating dinner in Laguna Beach, then House of Big Fish and Ice Cold Beer is a very fun, relaxed place that offers glorious views (especially around sunset) and outstanding food, thanks to its star chef and local legend that also runs a couple of other well-loved restaurants in the area. The lobster fondue and hamachi starters are to die for, and my “Catch of the Day” Mahi Mahi entrée was cooked to perfection. The best part of the meal was the dessert though; the chocolate macadamia nut crunch bars and bananas foster bread pudding were so heavenly they sent me to another world. A bottle or two of Land Shark Lager (not available in Canada) washed it all down quite nicely.
For a more sophisticated lunch or evening out, The Cannery - Seafood of the Pacific, located on Newport Harbor, has a brilliant atmosphere. Leave your car behind and travel there by boat like all the locals do. The views of the harbour are stunning and the staff are very knowledgeable and helpful with the menu. We ate a late lunch there and, for starters, ordered the fried calamari and the Maryland blue crab cake. Not being a particular fan of either, they both exceeded my expectations and sent my taste buds into a frenzy. For my main I went with the organic Scottish salmon with a cilantro ginger crust. It comes on a bed of pesto risotto mixed in a light lemongrass sauce and was pretty much the best piece of salmon I’ve ever eaten. My wife went with the chile-charred fish tacos, which were also quite delicious. The Cannery also has a great menu of cocktails and serves a mean mojito.
Things to do
Besides wonderful beaches, food, and accommodations, Laguna and Newport offer up many unique things to do.
Art: My biggest surprise was Laguna Beach’s thriving and vibrant art scene (MTV neglected to make mention of this on their show). We checked out the Sawdust Festival, an annual summer-long event that showcases the works of local talent. There is a $7.75 USD entry fee (they are a non-profit organization), and if you’re looking for a truly unique art showpiece, this is the place to find it.
Laguna Beach features an interesting initiative called First Thursdays Art Walk that takes place on the first Thursday of each month during the summer. Most, if not all, of the local galleries are open and welcome visitors into the late evening. It seemed like quite the happening place to be on the night we attended: Shops and galleries were handing out free candy and people were friendly and in the mood to buy some truly gorgeous pieces. Most people walk but the trolley is free if you prefer to take that from place to place.
Keep in mind: Fans of Dr. Seuss should check out the Fingerhut Gallery, which displays and sells many of his original works of art. They participate in the First Thursdays Art Walk as well.
Shopping: Fashion Island is like Disneyland for rich people. With stores such as Kenneth Cole New York, Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus, Betsy Johnson, and Kate Spade, it’s a lot more fun to browse than actually shop (unless, of course, you are an Orange County housewife). The plaza also includes the sale-happy and more approachable Macy’s and Barnes & Noble, and we found a rather eclectic shop called Room Service that features amazingly unique home furnishings and accessories (the life-sized horse lamp that runs about $3,000 USD is on my Christmas list) that are somewhat affordable. There are also many cool shops to discover in Laguna and Newport by walking or driving about.
Balboa Island: Just getting to Balboa Island is an adventure in itself as you have to take your car across via a ferry (fares are $2 USD for a car and a driver, $1 USD per additional passenger). Once there I recommend parking the car and walking around, taking in all that this delightful island has to offer. For the optimal sightseeing experience though, you have to do a Segway tour. Segways are stand-up electric two-wheeled devices that require you to lean forward to move and backwards to stop. It sounds scary but is quite easy to maneuver once you get the hang of it (although the recommended cut-off age is 70, our guide told us that they recently had a rider in their ‘90s). The 90-minute tour showed off the marvelous million-dollar-plus homes that are situated on the island and gave us a great overview of the history of the area. The tour runs for about $65 USD for the 90-minute version or $95 USD for a 150-minute run.
Boating: Rent a Duffy Electric Boat and cruise Newport Harbor on your own (no license required) and get up close and personal with sea lions swimming (or sunbathing on anchored sailboats) while taking in the sights of amazing yachts and shoreline mansions (co-founder of Yahoo! Jerry Yang has a beautiful summer home there). Renting a Duffy will run you $85 USD per hour Monday to Thursday, and $99 USD per hour Friday to Sunday. To make the most of your rental, drive over to the Cannery or to one of the other restaurants on the harbour and dock for lunch or an early evening dinner. Find out more about renting a Duffy boat at duffyofnewportbeach.com.
Keep in mind: Duffy boats are a very hot item and should be booked in advance.
Golf: I don’t golf and cannot offer any advice on what is a good course and what is not. I can certainly see the appeal of going to Orange County to golf and found the sites orangecountygolfguide.com, which lists all the courses in the area, and golflink.com, which gives ratings on a majority of courses in Orange County and throughout the U.S. and Canada, quite thorough.
Wine and cheese tasting: People usually associate Napa as the place to go for wine-tasting in California. To our delight, classywe learned that Laguna Culinary Arts offers wine and cheese tastings, as well as cooking classes and a deli counter to purchase food and drink items. Their Saturday tastings offer eight domestic and international wines at a bargain cost of $5 USD per person. If you want a cheese platter, add between $35 USD and $75 USD depending on the platter you order. Find out more about the Laguna Culinary Arts at lagunaculinaryarts.com.
Save a marine mammal: The Pacific Marine Mammal Center is a non-profit group that rescues and rehabilitates injured seals and sea lions along the Orange County coast before releasing them back into the ocean when they are ready to survive on their own. They do this with a hands-off approach (meaning the mammals are not touched or treated like pets) so the creatures never get used to being around humans. This might not be what you want to do on your vacation, but if you pop by the PMMC, I guarantee you’ll be moved by their work and have a blast watching the sea lions eating fish and playing together. I also think that adopting a seal or sea lion for your children or grandchildren is a great birthday or Christmas gift. Find out more about the PMMC at pacificmmc.org.
Toronto connection
I was able to find a connection to Toronto while visiting Laguna Beach when, completely by chance during the First Thursdays Art Walk, we passed a gallery with a huge painting of a whale on the side of it. Immediately I thought of the mural on the Redpath Sugar building off the Queen’s Quay. Upon entering the gallery, we learned it was indeed the same artist (Wyland) who did the Heavenly Creatures mural in Toronto. It was dedicated on September 1, 1997 by Bob Hunter, co-founder of Greenpeace and former Citytv reporter. Wyland has another painting inside the Royal Ontario Museum called Eye of the Whale.
Final verdict
If you’re looking for a weekend getaway that is different than anything you’re used to while still being reasonably affordable and easy to plan, Laguna Beach and Newport Beach should definitely be on your radar.
Have you been to Laguna or Newport beaches? Share your stories and favourite moments with us in the comments below, on our Facebook page, or via email at brian.mckechnie@citynews.rogers.com.
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