So you want to unplug from the hectic urban schedule and getaway for the weekend and have a fun time. Realx, eat some good food, stay in a nice place, clean sheets and fresh air. So what we do is combine a list of top restaurants and top weekend getaways and see what we can come up as the perfect destination for a fun and food filled weekend.

First, Donna Wares, writing for the Los Angeles Times travel section, has some advice for rediscovering SoCal with 5 weekend escapes. “I sampled my way through two wine countries, played blackjack in the afternoon, cooked alongside a great chef, savored amazing farmers’ markets and swam with schools of bright, teeming fish.”

I always thought swimming with the fish was something Joe Pesci, Al Pacino and Robert DeNiro were good at. Funnies aside, she does suggest some great locations, including Two Harbors (Catalina Island, an hour’s ferry from Marina del Ray), El Capitan State Beach (20 miles from Santa Barbara), Petco Park (San Diego’s open air baseball stadium in the gaslamp quarter) and Crystal Cove beach cottages (between Newport and Laguna Beach).

Moving on, Jane Monreal, KABC Los Angeles, describes Citysearch’s list of the top landmark restaurants in SoCal. The list includes  Yamashiro atop the Hollywood Hills, Pink’s Hog Dogs in Hollywood, The Lobster located at the Santa Monica pier, Bob’s Big Boy in Burbank, Musso & Frank Grill in Hollywood, Philippe the Original in downtown Los Angeles, and Randy’s Donuts in Inglewood, Cannery in Newport Beach and lastly, Sycamore Inn in Rancho Cucamonga.

Lot of Hollywood in that list, and doesn’t cover a many restaurants with a rich history that I seem to remember, but then, as Bill Clinton would say, it depends on what your meaning of landmark is. Anyway, the point of this exercise was to see if we could combine these two lists and come up with one destination in Southern California which features as a weekend getaway and has a landmark restaurant. I’m happy to say that the exercise was not entirely fruitless, and the winners are….Crystal Cove Cottages and the The Cannery Seafood restaurant in Newport Beach. Review coming as soon as I can get there.

Posted on January 9th, 2008 by PLing
Filed under: California, Places to Visit, Restaurants