Old and New Friends

(Becky writes) We really enjoyed our time at the San Clemente Inn. The inn is within walking distance to the ocean (always a plus for us) and the town of San Clemente is adorable. San Clemente means "spanish village" and when it was first established there were very strict building codes. All buildings needed to be tan or white adobe with red tile roofing. Over the years that hasn't always been the case but most of the town is adobe with tile. The vibrant accent colors of red, orange, blue, etc. really add a special touch. Really charming!

One of the people who made our stay at the inn particularly enjoyable was Adele. Adele is the owner of Adele's at the San Clemente Inn, a charming restaurant that serves breakfast, lunch and dinner and manages to make you feel like you are having your meal with family. The food is really good - the homemade soups are over the top - and the prices are very reasonable. Adele is there much of the time and always takes the time to visit with her customers. She hosts different local musicians on some evenings and we felt like we were at a jam session. We heard several different musicians who entertained us with some really good music. Sunday morning (at 7:00am) we were packing our car to leave and out runs Adele to give us a hug and say goodbye. Thanks, Adele!



On Saturday, we visited the Mission at San Juan Capistrano. The grounds of this mission are absolutely gorgeous. I never knew there were so many different types of cactus and the bougainvillea are the size of small trees! We spent a very interesting afternoon here.



From the mission, we drove over to Newport Beach to meet our friends, Sharon & Shou for dinner. We ate on the deck of a quaint little restaurant right on the beach with the backdrop of an amazing sunset. I had tuna that was really good and later we went to Starbucks for after dinner coffee. The food and the coffee were quite good but the very best thing about the evening was visiting with two really special friends.









Sunday morning we started out bright and early from San Clemente to Anaheim to go to Disneyland! I have wanted to go to Disneyland since I was a very little girl so this was a really exciting morning for me. Okay, I know some of you are saying "what in the world is the big deal here - she goes to Disney World ALL the time" and that is true. However, and I know this for sure now, Disney World and Disneyland are not the same. Yes, it is true that the two parks share some of the same attractions but WDW is huge compared to Disneyland. Disneyland is quite compact even to the extent that many "footprints" are layered with several attractions. It is really a very interesting use of land. We also visited California Adventure (also a Disney park). Again, this park shares some attractions with WDW. We had a good time and I'm really glad we came but this could never replace WDW for me.