Alli Talley

January 22, 2017

Laguna Beach Winter Weekend Getaway

Alli Talley

January 22, 2017

We recently spent an AMAZING weekend in Laguna Beach! You can follow along on the @VisitLaguna Instagram! In the meantime, here are some of our favorite photos from our time in our favorite coastal town.

Casa Laguna is a quaint, cozy seaside hotel that is perfect for a weekend getaway. Even with the great weather, we always appreciate an intimate area to enjoy a drink with a fireplace. The room has beautiful decor, a spacious bathroom, and a nice patio where our pup Sally could relax :)

Can you believe this is January? We love southern California!

Oceanfront and candlelit at Splashes... can it get any better?

Brunch at Harvest and dinner at Driftwood Kitchen... These incredible restaurants made sure we definitely did not leave hungry.

Lunch and a shopping spree at Tommy Bahama! Best. Weekend. Ever.

The Visit Laguna Beach app allows you to have perfect timing on the trolley so you can make it to Mozambique in time for the rockin' live music!

Stay tuned for an upcoming blog for details on why you should spend your Valentine's Day in Laguna Beach! Ocean. Food. Romance. We probably don't need to say much more than that... but we will :)

Alli Talley

August 1, 2016

Airlines, California, USA

2 Year Anniversary to Napa With Surf Air

Alli Talley

August 1, 2016

Airlines, California, USA

We are always excited to fly. It may be the adventure of take-off, the views from the sky, or just the fact that you are soaring in a giant metal machine. Regardless, flying is our favorite. Lately, however, we have been having our share of flight delays, bad airport food, and really long security lines. If you’re a frequent traveler, you know how frustrating and utterly exhausting this can be.

Well frequent flyer friends, we’re here to share about an incredible airline that cuts out the bad parts of flying and will CHANGE YOUR LIFE. We’d like to compare it to the first time we flew Business Class… it ruined us. We loved it so much and now we struggle to fly anything but Business Class. That being said, meet Surf Air. Surf Air is the nation’s first all-you-can-fly private air travel club. Surf Air provides their members with a comfortable, efficient, and luxurious travel experience that saves valuable time in every trip. Surf Air currently serves 12 destinations in California, and they will be adding more locations in the near future!

We decided to try out Surf Air for our 2-year anniversary weekend in Napa. (Yes we’ll probably always be the Traveling Newlyweds. It’s a mentality!) We arrived at a private terminal at the Hawthorne Airport, to a complimentary valet service that took care of our car for the weekend and helped us bring our bags into the terminal. Yes. A complimentary valet service at the airport. The “spoil factor” is immediately very strong.

A friendly Surf Air concierge checked us in, which means greeted us with a smile and offered us a drink and snacks. No hassle with tickets or baggage, no security, no waiting! You sit in a comfortable lounge (with complimentary WiFi and refreshments), and when it’s time to go you walk outside and straight onto the plane. We arrived a little over an hour early, since Bobby is the person that likes to be at the airport extra early to be cautious. Well, with Surf Air, we were the only ones in the lounge for probably 45 minutes, because you don’t need to be there until 20 minutes before departure! What a dream!

When it was time to go, our pilots met us and walked us over to the plane. The Surf Air fleet is gorgeous. Their planes definitely stand out at the airport with their sleek paint jobs and beautiful branding. Once aboard, your seat is both an aisle and a window seat! The seat is a comfortable, black leather chair that we may have had a few naps in. Our pilots went through a quick introduction, showed us where the refreshments were located (very important), how to use the emergency bathroom (and by emergency we mean EMERGENCY.), and we were off!

Bobby was concerned he would get motion sickness from such a small plane, but this was not a problem at all. We couldn’t believe how smooth the take-off, flight, and landing was. And he was so fascinated by watching the pilots, he was pretty distracted the whole time!

The flight to Napa took about an hour and a half, and the views from our plane were incredible. We were legitimately bummed when we started our descent into Napa - we didn’t want our ride to end! We walked off the plane to see our rental car waiting for us, right there, on the runway. What!? Are you picking up how immensely spoiling and EASY this mode of transportation is? It took a total of 10 minutes from touch down to having our bags in our car! Oh, the joys of private jet travel!

Another wonderful Surf Air concierge was there to great us when we landed, and help us with our belongings. She even gave us winery recommendations and directions to our hotel. We can’t say enough about the Surf Air service! It really is five stars.

What really sealed the deal for us was on the day we were catching our flight home, since we now knew that we didn’t have to be at the airport until 20 minutes before our departure. This gave us another FULL DAY to explore Napa. We’re SO used to arriving at the airport 2 hours before a flight, this was a luxury we simply could not get over. A Surf Air highlight was when we were sitting at Gott’s Roadside at 2:30 eating an amazing burger and enjoying some wine with our flight taking off at 3:15 PM. If Bobby was honest, he would probably say he was sweating on the inside. But we made it with ease! Our TOTAL travel time to get home to Orange County from Napa took us less than 3 hours!

Surf Air is an incredible travel experience. Maybe it should be called “Spoil Air”? We are excited to fly with them again soon, and eager to hear when they expand to international travel… :)

Alli Talley

July 20, 2016

California, USA

Relaxation, Wine, and Napa Valley Beauty at the River Terrace Inn

Alli Talley

July 20, 2016

California, USA

Napa Valley. Surrounded by serene views and amazing wine, there isn't much better for a weekend getaway. The River Terrace Inn is a beautiful hotel right in the heart of Napa Valley. On your next trip, definitely consider this as your home base for all Napa Valley exploration. We loved it for the location, the rooms, and the amenities.

Location, location, location. If you are flying into Napa, like we did via Surf Air, then this hotel is a short drive from the airport. It is located in the southern part of Napa and is a wonderful gateway to all the local wineries. We enjoyed driving to different wineries all day and then having the River Terrace Inn welcoming us home. There are restaurants in walking distance (head to the Oxbow Market!), and some amazing food within the hotel too!

Part of our passion for travel comes down to our love for hotel rooms. Alli is obsessed with a comfy bed, Bobby loves a great shower, and we both drop our jaws over good views. The room at the River Terrace Inn is comfortable, spacious, and checked all of our boxes in terms of a great hotel room. We slept great, the shower was wonderful, and we were able to enjoy a few glasses of wine on our terrace overlooking the river (We figured the River Terrace Inn would have a terrace overlooking the river… they did not disappoint).

Lastly, the amenities. Everybody is well aware of all the amazing wine right at the fingertips of this hotel, but there are some nice touches that make the River Terrace Inn extra special. First, they have bikes that you can check out to ride around Napa. We were obsessed. Luckily, most of the wineries were just out of our range, otherwise we may have had the bikes all day every day as we rode from winery to winery. Next, they have fun games set out in the lobby for guests to enjoy. We enjoyed a few games of checkers each afternoon! Lastly, the have a wine hour nightly where guests can enjoy different wines for free! If the bikes and checkers did not sell you on this place, trust us on the wine hour (and beautiful river views) that this place is a must!

We had an amazing few nights at the River Terrace Inn, and we hope you give it a try in the near future. And send us an email about all your favorite wineries!

Alli Talley

July 15, 2016

California, USA

Three Reasons We Loved Having A Convertible in Wine Country

Alli Talley

July 15, 2016

California, USA

We recently were in Napa to celebrate our 2-year anniversary where we enjoyed yummy wine, good food, and beautiful views! We partnered with Hertz and were surprised with an amazing Mustang Convertible. While we may have not thought to rent this car on our own, we are convinced that a convertible is a must in wine country. Here are 3 reasons why…

1. The wind in your hair feels awesome. Especially after a wine tasting or two :) Unless you drive a convertible like this on a regular basis, having the wind blowing over you as you cruise along a highway is a great feeling. As long as the weather cooperates, it is way better than just having your windows down.

2. You can get from one place to another much faster (or at least it feels like you can). We are not encouraging any speeding, but the Mustang we had was fast. We zipped around Napa and probably could have explored 7+ wineries per day. Unfortunately for us, as we have gotten older we get sleepy after 2 wineries (HA!). So our Mustang was able to quickly get us from the wineries, to a nice nap, and then back out for dinner.

3. You can soak up all the sights. Napa Valley is a picturesque area that a convertible allows you to really soak in. We enjoyed driving up random dirt roads that led us to some amazing hilltop views. Whether we were sitting in the car or decided to go for a short walk, the beauty of the valley was all around us. From the driver’s perspective, you also don’t have a hard time checking your blindspot…

For three days we drove back and forth between Napa, Yountville, and Saint Helena. Driving our convertible was one of the highlights as the trip, especially since the weather was so incredible. There are not that many other details you need to know here other than that if the weather is right, you should rent a convertible from Hertz. You will NOT regret it. One last thing… if you are going to be tasting a lot of wine, maybe don’t rent a car at all? Enjoy all Napa has to offer, but definitely be smart to not wine taste and drive!

Happy wine tasting!

Alli Talley

October 15, 2015

USA, California, Weekenders

Quick Weekend Getaway: Historic Luxury at the U.S. Grant

Alli Talley

October 15, 2015

USA, California, Weekenders

This summer was full of jet-setting opportunities - from African safaris, to cocktails in Dubai, to hiking the Cinque Terre! While it's been a summer to remember, we're cooling down on our travel time and settling back into reality. That being said, we're all about the weekend getaways! Living in Orange County, the options are endless when it comes to pretty places to stay... This time around, we opted for a quick weekend trip down to San Diego. We wanted downtown luxury mixed with classic, San Diego charm. There's no better place to stay than the U.S. Grant Hotel!

If you are at all intrigued by hotels with history, this is the spot for you. Do yourself a favor and check out the U.S. Grant’s website and read about everything that has gone on there since they opened their doors in 1910. It was built by Ulysses S. Grant Jr. in honor of his father, the 18th President of the United States. We'll be the first to say that Ulysses S. Grant Jr did an AMAZING job - in more ways than one! The U.S. Grant was once famous for an incredible Palm Court above the massive grand lobby, which was literally an oasis of palm trees on the second floor - complete with a gorgeous view of the downtown. They have a Turtle Soup at the Grant Grill that is unbelievable… And don't let the word turtle scare you. It used to be turtle and now it’s mock-turtle, and is actually made with beef tongue! The hotel used to house a speakeasy during the prohibition era called the Plata Real Nightclub, where there was booze secretly brought into the hotel through underground steam pipes. Also, there was a sit-in at the Grant Grill in 1969 that carved the way for women’s rights in San Diego. We’re telling you… a lot has happened at this historic spot!

As for our stay… we arrived to find a elegant lobby with classic furniture and decor. There are beautiful chandeliers throughout the hotel, as well as numerous cozy nooks to sit, sip on a cocktail, and people watch. One detail we loved was that the U.S. Grant has their trademark “G” logo all over the hotel in really creative places. If and when you visit, make a little game out of it by walking around and seeing how many G’s you can find. Similar to looking for “Hidden Mickey’s” at Disneyland. (You know we love Disneyland!!)

Our room was AMAZING. We could really dedicate this whole blog to our room alone!. It had a big, cozy bed with the kind of bedding that makes you never want to leave. Ever. The headbord was a painted one-of-a-kind art piece by French artist, Yves Clement. It's touches like this that we have come to really appreciate… beautiful modern, abstract art fitting in wonderfully with an elegant, timeless bedroom.

We were excited to eat turtle soup at the Grant Grill and had also heard great things about their cocktail menu. It definitely did not disappoint. Our waiter, Brendan, started us off with a couple cocktails and a small loaf of bread, because that’s how all meals should begin right? Bobby had the most incredible Manhattan, while Alli had a tequila concoction that was torched with fire before she drank it. The turtle soup ended up being one of our favorite dishes - it was really tasty! And no turtles were harmed in the making of the soup!! We were stuffed with more amazing food including pork belly, halibut, and lamb loin (which is like the filet mignon of lamb). While our tummies were stuffed, we had to try some dessert. (Duh!!) Our server suggested we have the mango beignets with mint sauce, which ended up being a perfect light option!

We finished the night off with a short stroll of the Gaslamp and headed back to our room to enjoy a lovely air-conditioned night sleep (our home has been really hot with no AC - come on Southern California! Don't you know it's Fall?!). We slept in the next morning, and did not want to leave. The U.S. Grant was such a treat! It was a perfect weekend getaway and we cannot wait to go back!

Conveniently enough, today the U.S. Grant is celebrating their 105th anniversary!! Congratulations, U.S. Grant team!