Welcome to Laguna Beach, CA!

A few weekends ago my lovely friends, Andrew and Sara (newlyweds – woohoo!), invited me to join them on a day trip to Laguna Beach, CA. It’s a good drive from the Los Angeles area, especially since we live in the north eastern parts, but on a Sunday morning it’s a nice and easy drive.

Downtown Laguna Beach

We arrived in downtown Laguna about 12:30pm, and after several squeals from Sara and I at cute cafes to eat lunch, Andrew found a good parking spot on the street and we made our way to The Cottage Restaurant. The Cottage is in a historical landmark home built in 1917, and has served as a restaurant for 47 years. It offers home-style cooking and a lovely outdoor dining patio. We all ordered various sandwiches, and, of course, mimosas to drink! What’s a Sunday brunch without mimosas?! We opted for the bottle of champagne and bottle of orange juice, instead of everyone getting a single glass, as we were told it’s cheaper that way. Well it ended up being a bit more Mimosa mixins’ than we would’ve had normally, but it sure made the beach fun! lol 🙂

Our lunch stop

Dining outside at The Cottage

Making our way down to the beach!

Sara and I are ready for the beach!

Scoping out a spot to lay out

Laguna was established in 1887 as Lagonas, and renamed Laguna Beach in 1904. During it’s early years the town struggled economically, until deciding to rent sections of their beaches to the inland communities wanting to escape the summer heat; thus beginning the tourism that is still prominent in Laguna.  Today, Laguna is one of the wealthiest communities in the U.S. and also known for being an artsy town. During the 1920s, Laguna was attracting artists from nearby LA, which laid the foundation for Laguna’s thriving art community.

View from our spot on the beach

I wasn’t expecting Laguna Beach to be so rocky! But the sand was super soft (…and imported in haha)

Rough rocks along the beach

Watching the waves crash roll in.

Lots of people on the beach that day

A little cove of beach on the other side of these rocks

Beautiful!

More rock climbing

Waves crashing on the rocks 🙂

Fun Fact: “The region was originally known to the Spanish as “La Cañada de Las Lagunas” which means “The Canyon of the Small Lakes”, in reference to two lakes found near the head of Laguna Canyon. However, in confusion with the word “Lagoon”, Laguna Beach was nearly misnamed “Lagoona” by the State of California.”

Hope you enjoyed my little trip to Orange County! Adieu, until my next adventure!