I didn't take any pictures of my food in Vegas as it was mostly buffets and hangover food. So I started the morning of my trip to Southern California when at the airport I saw a Wendy's that offered breakfast. The egg sandwich was very tasty but the fries had a seasoning on them that had a strong basil taste that ruined the rest of the meal.
Once I arrived to California I wanted to keep it simple as I wanted a light lunch before the family joined me. I was coming straight from Vegas and they were coming from Minneapolis so I had some time to kill. I walked around Newport beach after my cabbie dropped me off but I couldn't check in yet. There was a Taco Bell about two blocks from the hotel so I walked there and bought two chili cheese burritos.
For dinner that night the family went to a seafood place across the street from our hotel called Billy's at the Beach that specialized in Hawaiian food. I ordered the fish and chips which was fresh Hawaiian fish Ono that was lightly breaded with fries. I had never had fresh Hawaiian fish before and wasn't a big fan. There breading which was beer battered by a Hawaiian beer was clumpy and the fish didn't have much flavor.
The first morning we were there we went on a breakfast cruise buffet in the Newport Harbor. The tour lasted about two hours and showed some cool places like John Wayne's house, which was also pretty cool because the cruise itself was on John Wayne's old yacht. The buffet was pretty good as it had the breakfast staples of eggs, bacon, and sausage and also lunch options such as prime rib and shrimp. I also tried an egg burrito but it had a very strong onion taste.
After the cruise we drove around and checked out places such at Venice Beach and Balboa Island. That night we stopped at the popular California base In and Out Burger. I had heard of this fast food joint before but didn't know how simply it really was. They had a choice of single, double, or with cheese and came with fries. No chicken options, or onion rings or even mustard. Overall the burger was pretty solid but honestly would have expected a little more since it was literally all they do. It also wasn't as fast as I thought it would be.
The second morning we were there was the first time I tried the continental hot breakfast the hotel offered. I decided to get oj with a cinnamon roll, sausage patty, toast, and an egg and cheese omelette. Overall it was very fresh and was pretty good. And you couldn't go wrong with the price.
The day was when we went to Universal Studios which was a pretty cool place. We went on all the rides there although they are only about 10 to ride. I really liked the Simpson ride, probably because of my love for the show, and the tram tour we went on. It was a tour of the studio but also a ride which was pretty unique. For lunch at the park we all got a slice of pizza, Caesar salad, and pop. There wasn't too many food choices at the park and the pizza was pretty greasy but the salad was tasty.
That night when we got back from LA we went to a local seafood place that had gotten rave reviews. It was called the Crab Cooker and was my favorite meal during the whole trip. I ordered the shrimp and scallops that were on skewers with rice and coleslaw and it was all delicious. I got the clean plate award easy. I highly recommend this place if you are ever in the area but I would suggest not getting the fried crab, my brother got that and it was disgusting. He didn't like it and me and mom tried it and both spit it out right away. It was odd how bad his tasted when my tasted so great. Both my parents ordered the prawns and liked them but didn't like that they had to remove the shell. My choice was nice because it was all ready to eat.
The next morning was Tuesday and a trip to San Diego but before that was another hot breakfast at the hotel. This was also the first and one of only two times I took my picture the wrong way. Not bad for as many pictures as I took. This certain morning I decided to try the pancake maker they had that made fresh pancakes in 45 seconds. It was pretty slick and was a nice touch to mix things up. That morning I also tried an English muffin, scrambled eggs, a piece of Canadian bacon, and strawberry yogurt.
We had some time to kill before the Padres afternoon game that day so we stopped at a restaurant near Petco Park called, Southpaw. I wanted a light meal to save room for any ballpark fare so I ordered some buffalo wings. They came out look pretty fancy with blue cheese crumbles and parsley sprinkled on top but were delicious, and also very hot.
My brother didn't quite think the same way I did and he ordered the BBQ brisket meal. It was about four times the size as my meal and I took a picture of it because after I ate my six tiny wings I ended up eating most of his meal too which was also very tasty, except for the red bliss potatoes that tasted like cardboard.
After eating two meals essentially at Southpaw I still had to get something at the baseball game so decided to go with the bag of kettle corn and a strawberry lemonade. What was kinda cool about Petco park is we got general admission tickets to the game so that meant we sat on a large grassy hill in center field to watch the game. They also had a big screen for us to watch the play by play and was playing the audio from the game on speakers over where we sat.
That night after the game my mother wasn't feeling well so we went back to the hotel and watched the Gopher NIT semifinal game against FSU. After the game we were all pretty hungry so a stop at the nearby Carl Jr's was on the plan. I got the three piece chicken meal with fries and a Coke. Overall pretty good and it tasted a lot like the sister store Hardee's that are in Minnesota.
Wednesday morning was another hot breakfast and new that morning was biscuits and gravy as well as the return of egg and cheese omelettes. I also had a bowl of rasin bran and had a couple more pancakes. Apparently I was really hungry this morning.
Before the Angels game that night we went to another seafood place off the pier and this one was called Harborside. What was special about this place is it happened to be their 10 year anniversary that day so all the food was 40% off. Much like the day before however I wanted a light lunch to save room for baseball fare and I ordered the Lobster bisque. It was very tasty and probably next to the Crab Cooker was my favorite meal. Unlike the wings I had the day before the soup was very filling.
That night at the Angels game we got stuck in some traffic and didn't get there super early to walk around the park. Before the game started I bought some pretzel bites and jalapeno cheese. They were tasty but not very filling and the problem with this game, and I mean a good problem, is the seats were so good you never wanted to leave your seat to get something to eat. Plenty of vendors came walking by but nothing really spoke to me so all I ended up getting there were the pretzels.
The last morning there meant my last hot breakfast at the hotel. I went with some classic scrambled eggs, cinnamon roll, sausage links, toast and fruit loops.
The morning of our last day we went to the nearby Balboa Fun Center that many of locals talked about during our stay. It had a ferris wheel and other rides that were pretty unique so I decided to buy cheese on a stick. I felt it had a certain carnival feel to it and made me ready for the Minnesota State Fair.
My final food purchase in Southern California was at the airport and a marketplace deli I found. This was only the second time I took the picture at the wrong angle and this was also my most expensive meal while on the trip. I'm guessing the jacked up airport prices had a lot to do with that. I bought a ham and cheese panini, a bag of baked chips, and bottle of Coke. It wasn't very tasty and at this point I was more than ready to come home.
Some other random pictures I took while on vacation for those of you that weren't satisfied with just food pics.
Where they filmed the show Gilligan's Island. Saw this on our cruise Sunday morning.
Outside of Angels stadium from the parking lot.
Shot from our seats, a lot of money standing there. Almost a half of a billion dollars combined!
The Mariners dugout from where we were sitting, really cool seats to have even though we didn't really care who won.
The Nixon museum. It was a really neat place and saw the actual bedroom Nixon was born in. I didn't buy any food here however.
Standing on the rock cliffs in Venice Beach looking out at the Pacific Ocean.
