An Orange County Weekend: Day 3 in SoCal & Back to Kansas

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Trip Report Index: An Orange County Weekend – Introduction Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach, California – Our Room Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach, California – Hotel Grounds and Spa Day 1 in SoCal Day 2 in SoCal Back to Kansas Day 3

Emily Jablon:  Daraius arranged for a 2:00 pm checkout and we rented bikes again because we wanted to go on the Huntington Beach pier.  Our walk on the pier was great.  We saw men fishing, a teenage boy singing a cover of “That’s what makes you beautiful” by One Direction, and lots of shops and eateries along the way.

We also had a great view of the famous Surf City surfers, and I was very impressed at their skills.

There were lots of people on the beach since it was the last day of the Memorial Day weekend.

After walking on the pier, we went to the beach and saw some beach volleyball.

There were tons of people of the beach grilling out and enjoying each other’s company for Memorial Day weekend, and there was a special ceremony honoring the service men and women who died in California.  We took a slow pace on our bikes for the return trip to the hotel, wanting to savor every last moment along the boardwalk in Huntington Beach.

After checking out, we went to a taco truck to have some tacos.  When we pulled up, there was a line of 8-10 people waiting for tacos, so I thought it must be pretty good.  We ordered pork, steak, and chorizo tacos.  Daraius also got a ham torta and a Coke.

Daraius:  The folks on Chowhound suggested eating at Tacos el Chavito (a food truck) for cheap and tasty tacos.  You can’t beat 2 small tacos for $1, but they were delicious.  Our food came with a whole jalapeno, radishes and lime.   I didn’t like the torta, but the tacos made up for it.

Emily Jablon:  We both enjoyed the chorizo tacos so much that we went back for seconds, only this time Daraius wanted the brain tacos (cabeza).  I told him I’d stick with my chorizo and he could have all of the brain he wanted! We paid $6 for 8 tacos, 1 tortas and a can of coke.

After enjoying our tacos, we drove to the airport. It was sad leaving beautiful, sunny SoCal, but we are thankful for the memories we made while here.

Daraius:  We had a wonderful weekend filled with lots of Big Travel with Small Money!  We had a very relaxing time at the Hyatt Regency Resort and Spa in Huntington Beach California.  There’s lots to do near the hotel, and we barely scratched the surface during our trip.

This hotel is a top tier category 6 Hyatt and each night costs 22,000 points.  Sure, you can use 22,000 points for the really expensive Hyatt hotels in Switzerland, Paris, Italy and the Maldives, but that’s irrelevant if you don’t (or can’t) travel overseas.  Miles and points have no value if you don’t use them, so use them to create lots of good memories in ways which make sense to you!