So Cal Tour

DESTINATION #1 Newport Beach and Balboa Island

We live in one of the most coveted places in the nation, yet weekend after weekend we end up just hanging around the house, going to church and sometimes out to eat and a movie. So....Kevin and I decided it was high time we started exploring Southern California! We literally live 20 minutes away from so many wonderful destinations. Today we decided to drive to beautiful NewPort Beach and Balboa Island. The moment we arrived to NewPort Beach I knew we were experiencing something really special.  Driving into the Village we passed right over the boat harbor which houses everything from yachts to sail boats. Street upon street of beautiful California real estate to ooh and ahh over and rows and rows of shopping and restaurants. I literally could not wait to park and start exploring! Oh and the beach! Don't forget the miles of sandy beaches and Balboa and Newport Pier! This is So Cal living at it's finest.

We decided to start our day today by taking the four minute ferry ride over to Balboa Island. Since 1936 Balboa Village has been providing affordable entertainment for all ages. There are no admission costs other than the ferry ride over and you can stroll the bay side boardwalk, take a ride on the Ferris Wheel, enjoy a narrated harbor cruise, walk through the shops or eat in the many restaurants. We could hardly wait to hop on the ferry and get over to the island. From the research we did before leaving the house, we learned that we could take our car on the Ferry.  So we got in line with the other cars and waited our turn to drive onto the ferry and ride across. This turned out to be a mistake....first of all..why did we need our car?? Many people were boarding the ferry by foot or by bicycle so why did we have to take our car? The main reason we decided to was just in case there were things to do and see over there that were not within walking distance. Turns out...there wasn't! Everything there is to do and see is within walking distance from where the ferry drops you off. We ended up waiting in line for 30 minutes to get the car on the ferry (luckily it was cheap at only $4 per car) and then once we got over to the island another 15 minutes searching for parking! We ended up parking over 15 blocks away from the bay front boardwalk which made for quite a long walk to get to the festivities. The good news though is that we got to see lots of beautiful homes along the way and were able to walk right down to the beach front as well. Balboa Island is a beautiful place to live and visit and we quickly learned that the main mode of transportation for everyone there is by beach cruiser! We've never seen so many people on bikes. They rent them there for only $10 per bike for the WHOLE DAY. So next time we will park in Newport Beach, take the ferry by foot and the rent a beach cruiser once we get there....and now that we see how beautiful the beaches are there we will be bringing our beach gear and spend time on the beach and in the water. Below are some pics from our day. Please excuse the quality of some of the pictures, for some reason my camera was washing out some of the images today.

 We are in our car here approaching the ferry. Cars and pedestrians on foot and bikes all ride across together.

 We were the first car on...here we are pulled all the way up to the front of the ferry.

 There are only 2 ferries going back and forth all day. Here is a shot of the other ferry heading back.

 Arriving at Balboa Island.

 I couldn't resist grabbing this shot of the guys..they were walking in front of me on our long walk back to the bay front boardwalk from our parking spot MANY blocks away!

The first thing Kyle wanted to do once arriving to the boardwalk was ride the Ferris Wheel. I had a really bad experience on a Ferris Wheel once, so I gladly let the guys ride without me!

 They are on and ready to ride!

 Going up!.....

 The guys said that the views of the Newport Harbor and Ocean were amazing from the top of the Ferris Wheel!

 I love this shot...not sure why it is so washed out.

 After the guys rode the Ferris Wheel the next stop was lunch. We ate on the outdoor balcony patio at the Newport Landing Restaurant. Here is a view from our table.

...and another view..the day was off and on over cast and the temperature was  perfect 70 degrees. Due to the marine layer my hair took a major turn for the worse which is why there on no pics of me in this post!

 Here is a great shot of the guys. We are in the restaurant waiting for our lunches.

After lunch, we walked through a few shops and then walked down to the beach. For some reason my camera was really acting up today so this is where my pictures of today's tour end. However we enjoyed a bit of time on the beach before walking back to our car, getting back in line for the ferry, riding back across and then into the Newport Beach village. The guys were tired at that point and it was after 4 pm but I REALLY wanted to walk through a few of the shops in Newport village. Coaxing them with the idea of getting a frozen yogurt finally worked! We lucked out this time and got a parking spot right in front on the yogurt shop. We spent another hour walking through several great shops and then headed home.

It was so wonderful to get out of the house and go enjoy the beautiful day in Newport Beach/Balboa Park. Today was a great example of the fact that you don't have to spend a lot of money to go out and enjoy yourself. In fact Kevin and I were discussing that if we had packed a picnic lunch to eat on the beach that the entire day with the cost of gas to and from , the ferry ride over and the ferris wheel ride would have been under $20!

Stay tuned for our next destination as we continue our So Cal Tour over the next several weeks and months!