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It’s officially Fall! It definitely doesn’t fe It’s officially Fall! It definitely doesn’t feel like it in Miami, it really never does but that just gives us a reason to explore other states. West Virginia is one of them, fun fact I actually lived here between undergrad and grad school! Here are Things to do in West Virginia (SAVE + SHARE): 

1. Enjoy New River Gorge National Park & Preserve, or visit any of the states 35 state parks as West Virginia has 1.5 million acres of parks and public land. We personally walked the Shavers Lake Trail and canoed on the lake. 

2. Enjoy some serious adventures! We’re always trying something new and West Virginia offers a lot of options from whitewater rafting, to 1,000+ miles of off-road ATV trails, to rock climbing, caving and mountain biking . 

3. Take a train ride on the Cass Scenic Railroad which stops at the Whittaker Camp where those who worked in the lumber and coal industry lived during the work season. 

4. Explore Cranberry Glades Botanical Area where you might just get to see some black bears! 

5. Walk the Falls of Hills Creak trail to get up close to some gorgeous waterfalls! 

This week I’ll be sharing various cities and states you can experience a beautiful Fall getaway. What are some of your favorite places to enjoy autumn?

Tap the link in my bio for my West Virginia blog post and a blog post of the best places to experience Fall in the US!
Still not over our day exploring the waters of For Still not over our day exploring the waters of Fort Pierce. We danced, snorkeled, fished and went tubing. Definitely want more days like this and still pinch myself that this is what a day of work looks like for me sometimes. Thank you @seadoo for the opportunity.
If you know my husband you know water activities a If you know my husband you know water activities are his favorite! Fishing, jet skiing, just being on a boat on the ocean relaxing, name it, he’s there. So we couldn’t be more excited than to not only get the chance to test out the new @seadoo Switch but be the stars of a whole commercial for it. We had entirely too much fun filming this. Of course now he wants to buy one!

Do you like getting out on the water? Favorite activity?
Our 3 Day London Itinerary (SAVE + SHARE): 

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Day 1: Walked across the Tower Bridge (you can take a tour of London of Tower as well), walked along the River Thames and took a make a fascination hat class with @create_your_own_hat! 

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Day 2: Harry Potter walking tour, checked out Borough Market and went on a night ghost bus tour. 

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Day 3: Morning Tea at Peggy Porschen, Buckingham Palace for Changing of the Guards, and explore Westminster for the infamous red telephone booths, Big Ben and Westminster Abbey.

If you have more time on previous visits to London we have taken a day trip to check out Stonehenge, Bath and Windsor Castle, rode the London Eye, took a ferry ride down the Thames River, checked out Warner Brother Studios, and did a graffiti/street art tour.

Is London on your list? If you’ve been what did you do that you think is a must for visitors?

Things to do in London, London with kids, family travel
Then vs Now (swipe left)!🥹🥰 My babies are no Then vs Now (swipe left)!🥹🥰 My babies are not babies anymore. Where has the time gone? Excuse me while I go cry in the corner 😭😭😭😭. 

Too in my feelings to provide an informational post, I’ll be back tomorrow.
Why is this man always trying to stop my fun? List Why is this man always trying to stop my fun? Listen replace husband with whoever you need to but why these ppl keep acting like we can take our money when we’re gone?!? Y’all feel me or nah? 😅😬😩
Morning Tea in London! Afternoon or High Tea is us Morning Tea in London! Afternoon or High Tea is usually on everyone’s things to do in London list but since the girls and I don’t eat beef or pork the menus for most places didn’t make sense for us as they are filled with ham sandwiches and other things we don’t eat. I ended up finding Morning Tea at Peggy Porschen instead which offers a tea menu with breakfast items, while not traditional it worked best for us! It cost £35 pp.

For a traditional Afternoon or High Tea Try:

🫖Palm Court at The Ritz
🫖The Diamond Jubilee Tea Salon at Fortnum & Mason
🫖Theatre Royal Drury Lane
🫖The Grill Room Hotel Cafe Royal (has vegetarian an vegan options)
🫖Coronation Afternoon Tea at Cellarium, Westminster Abbey
🫖The Rosebery Coronation Afternoon Tea at Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park
🫖The Goring Hotel

Afternoon Teas Geared Towards Families:

☕️Peter Pan Afternoon Tea at Aqua at The Shard
☕️Jurassic Afternoon Tea at the Ampersand Hotel
☕️Jungle Book Afternoon Tea at Brown’s Hotel
☕️Secret Garden Afternoon Tea at Taj 51
☕️The Buzzy Bees Afternoon Tea at St. Ermin’s Hotel
☕️Grover’s Children’s Tea at Grosvenor House Hotel
☕️The Peppa Pig Afternoon Tea Bus Tour
☕️Sherlock Holmes Inspired Afternoon Tea at the Mind Palace
☕️Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Tea at One Aldwych
☕️Mad Hatter Afternoon Tea at The Sanderson
☕️Wizard of Oz Afternoon Tea at The Soho Hotel

Have you done a proper Afternoon or High Tea in London before? Was the one you did on this list, if so what did you think of it? If you have additional recommendations please do leave a comment!

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Things to Do in Huntington Beach: A Complete Two Day Itinerary

June 28, 2019      California, Destinations, North America

This post contains affiliate links. If you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small commission at no cost to you. Please see our disclosure policy for more information. All opinions are my own.

After going on our first RV road trip last year we were itching for another one. Thankfully our partnership with Visit California and Go RVing gave us that opportunity. We headed out on a six day Southern California RV road trip visiting Huntington Beach, Oceanside, and Anza-Borrego. Here are things to do in Huntington Beach, a complete guide to Surf City USA.

How to Get to Huntington Beach + Tips on Renting an RV

Even though we were going on an RV road trip we don’t own one so we rented from Outdoorsy (sign up here for $50 off) We also live in Florida so we would first be fly from Miami to California. Based on the location of the RV we rented we flew in and out of Los Angeles International Airport (LAX).  However, Huntington Beach is located 50 minutes from LAX or 90 minutes from San Diego International Airport and based on the 3 cities we visited you can either arrive and depart from the same airport or fly into one and depart from the other.

 

I remember our first RV trip and it can seem overwhelming but it’s not. Here are tips for first time RVers as well as what to expect when vacationing in an RV. Wondering why we chose an RV instead of road tripping in a car? Here’s why road trips with kids are better in an RV.

You May Be Interested in Reading: The Ultimate Guide to Planning a California Road Trip

Things to Do in Huntington Beach with Two Days in Surf City USA

Things to Do in Huntington Beach Day One: Pacific Hideaway, Havaianas, & Duke’s

After setting up at our RV Park we had lunch at Pacific Hideaway which is located inside the Kimpton Shorebreak Resort. If you aren’t towing a vehicle and need to drive your RV downtown there is RV parking at the beach a few blocks away.

Lunch was exquisite! We started with the stick wings and chips and guacamole and were extremely tempted to order more. Luckily we didn’t because our main entrees were just as good! The pineapple relish on the mahi mahi tacos made were perfection!  None of us could keep our hands off the hand cut fries even when we were beyond stuffed. My dad ordered the Baja Striped Bass and as someone who is constantly complaining about his food orders he surprisingly complimented the fish multiple times.

fish tacos, fries, lettuce, sea bass and an alcoholic beverage

After eating way too much good food we walked to Havaianas which is a sandal brand created in 1962. Here we got the opportunity to make our own sandals and it was by far my three year olds favorite activity. She had such a good time she even convinced the employees to let her remake her sandals about 6 times because she didn’t want to stop. You’re able to pick out color of the soles, straps, and then can customize them even more by adding a special charm to the straps.

girl making flip flops
Making her own flip flops was one of Kennedy’s favorite things to do in Huntington Beach.

Across the street from Havaianas is the Pier Plaza Art Afaire. It’s an outdoor market of about 50 vendors who sell unique, hand-made gifts. We came across an artist drawing caricatures had to get ours done.

The Pier Plaza Art-A-Faire sits at the start of the Huntington Beach Pier which is the perfect place to watch the sunset. Since we had some time before the sun set we walked along the pier to get a closer look at the surfers in the water. There were literally hundreds of them and it was so much fun watching them catch the waves. Then when the sun was finally setting we witnessed one of the most beautiful sunsets we’ve seen.

mom and daughter watching sunset
Be sure to add watching the sunset from the pier on your list of things to do in Huntington Beach.

You May Be Interested in Reading: Tips for Taking Family Vacation Photos

After sunset we had dinner at Duke’s Huntington Beach which conveniently sits at the start of the pier. With ocean view seating be sure to make a reservation and request a table near the windows. They specialize in traditional Hawaiian dishes.

After dinner we headed back to our RV park. One thing we learned from our last RV trip is how nice everyone is at RV parks. That even though no one if your permanent neighbor it feels like such a community. When we pulled up our neighbors noticed Kennedy and with four kids of their own invited us over. They were about to make s’mores and play some games. Kennedy was so happy to make a friend!

Things to Do in Huntington Beach Day Two: Surf Lessons, Beach Bonfire, & More

We started our second day in Huntington Beach having breakfast at a local favorite, Mama’s on 39. It’s a large shopping plaza and the parking spaces don’t have the concrete dividers so we were able to just take up two spots to park our RV.

It was a Saturday morning and we arrived at 8:25AM, a few minutes before they open. There was a line of people and we knew we were in for a good meal. They are famous for their bacon biscuits but since we don’t eat pork we opted for the original ones, still they were delicious. I got the french toast which was really good and my dad enjoyed oatmeal and an omelette.

pancakes, french toast, eggs, biscuits

When looking at things to do in Huntington Beach surf lessons are at the top of everyone’s list. So after breakfast we headed to the Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach Resort and Spa where I met my surf instructor at Toes of the Nose. Again we parked our RV across the street at the beach, which does give you in and out privileges with your one day parking pass.

I took a one hour lesson with Johnny and I highly recommend him. He was very patient and encouraging. I was even able to stand up and catch a wave before my lesson ended. While my three-year-old was too young to participate as kids must be at least eight she hung out on the beach making sand castles and watching my lesson.

After my surf lesson we had we ate at Pete’s Sunset Grill which is right across the walkway from Toes on the Nose. With your hour surf lesson lunch here is included. While you can’t select from the entire menu there are quite a few options including mahi mahi tacos and burgers. Plus your lunch comes with a beer or glass of wine with your meal. If you don’t take lessons like my dad and daughter you can just place your order and pay the menu price.

Once we stuffed our faces we headed back to our RV park, Newport Dunes Waterfront Resort & Marina. Here we enjoyed an afternoon in the pool.

Swimming in the pool all afternoon worked up our appetites. We headed back into town to have dinner at Ola Mexican Kitchen, which is right across from the beach RV parking lot. The restaurant is located in the outdoor shopping mall Pacific City. This restaurant seems to be a very popular spot so I highly recommend making a reservation in advance.

After dinner it was time for dessert. We headed to the beach for a bonfire and s’mores. The Hilton Huntington Beach offers full blow beach bonfire packages. They set up nice chairs in front of a fire pit which they provide the wood for and keep the fire lit until you’re ready to leave. There is also a table with the ingredients needed for s’mores along with sticks to roast marshmallows. Drinks, both soda and water were also provided in a cooler with ice. The best part is they take care of all the clean-up! Arrive right before sunset for beautiful sunset views on the beach.

beach bonfire huntington beach, california
Having a bonfire on the beach is one of the unique things to do in Huntington Beach.

We returned to our RV park for our last night in Huntington Beach. The next morning we made breakfast in our RV before heading to the next stop of our Southern California road trip. Oceanside was a short 60 mile drive from Huntington Beach.

Other Things to Do in Huntington Beach

Of course we weren’t able to do everything in Huntington Beach. Here are some things we considered that we just didn’t have time for:

  • Huntington Beach State Park: Here you can go swimming, fishing and basketball and volleyball courts.
  • International Surfing Museum: What’s Surf City USA without a surfing museum, check out all the greats here.
  • Whale Watching: Depending on the time of year you visit Huntington Beach you’ll have the chance to see Blue Whales, Gray Whales, Common Dolphin, Bottlenose Dolphin, Fin Whales, Minke Whales, Mola Mola, Mako Shark, and Great White Sharks

The Best RV Park in Huntington Beach

While looking for the best Huntington Beach RV Parks we came across Sunset Vista and Bolsa Chica State Beach. However, both of them were 100% occupied during our two night stay. We ended up staying at Newport Dunes Waterfront Resort & Marina, just 15 minutes away. The location was very convenient to reaching all the things to do in Huntington Beach. We were actually very happy we ended up booking here as it’s one of the nicest RV park we’ve ever stayed in. 

One of Newport Dunes Waterfront Resort & Marina most notable features are it’s lake view RV spots! The RV resort is very family friendly with it’s playground and kids rec area. Newport Dunes Waterfront Resort & Marina also has a laundry room that doesn’t require coins, you can use your credit card!

We really enjoyed our time in Huntington Beach and hope to return soon. Did you find our post on things to do in Huntington Beach helpful? Please share this article!

 

The Traveling Child is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com, amazon.co.uk, amazon.ca. Amazon and the Amazon logo are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates.

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Hi! We’re The Hambricks

Hi! We’re The Hambricks

If kids live there, kids can visit! That's our motto and you'll often find us exploring destinations most don't find "kid friendly". We've traveled to 35 countries on 6 continents with our children since they were 10 weeks old and share tips to make it easier and affordable. But mom and dad are people too so we also write about solo travel, baecations and girlfriend getaways.

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