After a fantastic time in Santa Monica, we headed to the second to last official stop on our Pacific Coast road trip, Newport Beach.
We checked into the Lido House, which is a beautiful new Autograph Collection property from Marriott. The hotel still smelled like new construction, and it was absolutely beautiful.
As soon as we checked in we booked it down to the pool to soak in the sun. The pool area is so cute, and they had some amazing mixed drinks from frozé to frozen margaritas. They also have a rooftop spot, but unfortunately it was closed due to COVID when we were there. Next time!
Once the sun started to go down, I took a quick drive to Twice the Style. Twice the Style is a fantastic designer consignment store that I’ve been following on Instagram for FOREVER. They get in tons of items each day, and almost everything I’ve purchased from them still has the tags on it! I snagged a few new dresses (including one for lunch in La Jolla the next day!) and this fantastic Prada bag for a fraction of the original cost. Highly recommend following them on Instagram and stopping by if you’re in the area!
Armed with a new handbag, we headed out to dinner in the Lido Marina Village. It’s truly just the cutest little shopping area, with tons of boutiques and restaurants.
While Nobu definitely would have been our first choice, we hadn’t made reservations in time, and instead went to the Circle Hook seafood restaurant.
The spot is right on the water, and we grabbed seats along the deck to eat. Everything was FANTASTIC. The salmon sashimi was some of the best I’ve ever had, and the crab cakes and chowder did not disappoint either.
After eating, I recommend walking around the shops if they’re still open – there are a bunch of great ones, and I could easily spend too much money here. They also have a super cute little independent bookstore called the Lido Village Bookstore. We stopped in here briefly on another trip to southern California and found some great new reads!
We headed back to the hotel and decided to check out their restaurant and bar, The Mayor’s Table. The spot was empty, and we were able to get a cozy corner seat near the fireplace in a semi-private room.
We had some cocktails, and then were pleasantly surprised by a free dessert for our anniversary! I usually don’t like most desserts, just not a sweets fan, but this Chantilly cake was TO DIE FOR.
We had a few rounds of drinks, and then were even more surprised to find a beautiful note and bottle of champagne in our room. We opened it up and had a glass while sitting on our balcony before heading to bed.
The next morning we got up super early to make it to lunch in La Jolla, our final destination on the coast. Make sure to check out our entire Pacific Coast itinerary, and let us know if there are any fantastic places we need to make sure we stop at next time!
