Sigh… in just a few short hours I have to wake up, fight traffic, navigate security and wait and wait and wait and wait to get on a plane and make the 6 hour trip back to New York city. The only saving grace is that I get to fly business class, so I should be able to spread out a bit and can actually write some of those restaurant reviews for Examiner.com that are on my to do list!
Because I have to leave tomorrow, I made the most of today. Michelle and I made the trek from Temecula to the Hampton Inn Seal Beach in Orange County. We met up Toni’s (Michelle’s best friend, and my good friend and college roomie!) sister, husband and two little cuties, and my best friend Heather (who I had to fly 1500 miles to see – but that’s for another post…) and went to the beach for one last beach day. Rutger (one of the little ones) talked me into playing in the water with him after I fought and lost to the umbrella, which only knocked me down once. If I had known “playing” meant running around the beach trying to keep up – I might have thought twice! But his super-duper cuteness, pleading eyes, and simple question, “can’t you play with me for a long time” won in the end. Not only did I get some exercise, but also a little sunburn! I was way to busy splashing and running to remember to reapply the sunscreen.
After the little ones had to go home for nap time, Michelle, Heather and I walked the pier to Rubys. Michelle and I had milkshakes, and Heather got a vanilla diet coke. I resisted the fries though, so that I could have a frozen drink at Hennessey’s. I ended up having a Pina Colada and some Ahi Poke (one of my favorite dishes that I discovered in Hawaii. It’s just a little raw ahi tuna mixed with soy and ginger sauce – and this one had panko and cashews too.)
Once we were finished eating, Heather went back to check on Bandara (her cute little chihuahua) and Michelle and I went to the pool. We did a quick lap in the pool, where after expressing that I didn’t want to get my head wet and ruin my lashes, I promptly slipped and dunked my entire head in the water, sunglasses, lashes and all! I swear that step moved away from me! Then a dip in the hot tub to warm up and then back up to the room to get ready for dinner. (Yes, today was all about eating!)
For dinner, Michelle and I went to Fish Camp with Michelle’s parents, Heather and Scott. It is an adorable little seafood restaurant in the heart of Seal Beach. You order at the counter, and then they bring it to your table. The fish was incredibly fresh – and the Baja Shrimp Cocktail was amazing, though nothing like a shrimp cocktail I’m used to. Instead of the typical cocktail sauce, 
it came in a parfait glass filled with gazpacho. I also got the sea scallops on a skewer with sauted spinach and cheddar cheese grits. The scallops were bite-sized, sweet and tender. The flavor of the grits reminded me of macaroni and cheese and the spinach was delicious. (Thank you Scott for the awesome photos!)
And now, I have to drift off to sleep so I can wake up at 6AM to head to the airport. Sigh… I wish I didn’t have to leave, but the real world is calling!
