For the 4th of July, my sister, Andrew, and I all went to visit my Aunt and Uncle out in California. They recently moved from Anaheim Hills to Huntington Beach and were throwing a 4th of July party. We thought this would be a good chance to see everyone, introduce Andrew to some extended family, and explore the beach town that my Aunt, Uncle, and cousins now call home.
Andrew is in his first 90 days of his new job and couldn’t take any time off so we only had Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday to get there, visit, celebrate, explore, and get home.
We flew out from Charlotte Friday evening and got to LAX around 10:30 pm. It was pretty late by the time we got to my Aunt & Uncle’s house on Friday night and we were exhausted from the trip, but we stayed up talking for a few hours.
Zach’s & Chronic Tacos
Saturday morning, we got up early and headed out to rent bikes from Zach’s for the 4th of July bike parade. On our way back we grabbed breakfast at Chronic Taco. We all had the breakfast burritos. They were delicious – think all the regular burrito fillings and then add tater tots and scrambled eggs. 😋
4th of July Bike Parade
The bike parade started at 11 am so after inhaling our burritos we decorated our bikes and rode over to the parade. I have never seen so many bikes in one place before. It felt like all of Huntington Beach was there. We rode our bikes through the neighborhood and ended at a Pub. This was such a fun way to kick off the 4th of July weekend and an even cooler way to see the town.
Pacific City & Philz Coffee
Since our sleep schedules were all out of whack, we were all in desperate need of caffeine. I had seen Philz Coffee on Instagram and really wanted to try their Mint Mojito Ice Coffee. My Aunt knew exactly where it was and we decided to walk over to grab a coffee and do some shopping in Pacific City. I would never have thought that a mint mojito coffee would be good, but it was SO good that we walked back again on Sunday for round 2.
Sandy’s Beach Shack
After shopping at Pacific City, we walked to Sandy’s Beach Shack for drinks, appetizers, and eventually dinner. We hung out there for a while laughing over drinks and calamari sticks. I had a few cucumber breezes. They were so light and refreshing after our day of bike riding and walking. We all ordered tacos for dinner. I swear we ate almost exclusively Mexican food the entire time we were in California and I have absolutely zero complaints about it.
4th of July 5k
Sunday morning we were up and out at 6 am on our way to the 4th of July 5k. Yes, you read that right. A 5k. I haven’t run a 5k in 2 years so there was minimal running on my end, but Andrew ran the whole thing and even ran back to meet us once he had finished. I’ve now added “get back into running shape” to my summer to-do list. Pray for my shins 😂
HB Corner Market
My Uncle is a wonderful human and had baked goods from Corner Market waiting for us when we got back from the 5k. I shamelessly had an entire chocolate croissant 🍫 🥐
Beach & 4th of July Party
Then it was time to get dressed and ready for the day of 4th of July festivities. We spent the day at the beach, eating burritos & tacos, sipping on cucumber breezes, and laughing our butts off.
Once the sun had set, we all hurried to the roof patio to watch the fireworks. We huddled under blankets and sang along to Livin’ In America. There were fireworks in every direction.
Sweet Elle Coffee + Eats
Monday morning everyone was groggy, but we woke up around 7:30 to pack and get dressed for the day. We walked over to Sweet Elle for breakfast. It was the cutest little cafe and everything we ordered was amazing. Justina and I had the Burrata Avocado Toast and Andrew had the Adult PB&J. It was a fun and very yummy way to end our trip.
When we got back from Sweet Elle, we hung out for a bit longer at my Aunt & Uncle’s and then packed up the car and headed to the airport for our 1 o’clock flight.
The weekend flew by and I wish we’d had more time to spend with everyone, but I am so incredibly grateful that we had the time that we did.
Always,
