Category: Travel

A Quaint Summer Retreat – Lake Tahoe

A Quaint Summer Retreat – Lake Tahoe

Sean Yung

With the fires that are currently raging through California, it is getting harder and harder to travel throughout the state. Call it a double whammy when we are already dealing with pandemic travel restrictions. Fortunately for us, Lake Tahoe was relatively unaffected by the SCU Lightning Complex fires, although there was still smoke in the area.

Sadly, the day I was scheduled to travel up to Lake Tahoe, I received a call from the cabin I had originally rented to inform me that a bear had apparently attacked the cabin, and that the cabin I had originally booked was now unavailable. It would’ve been a great cabin to take photos in, a two-story, three bedroom and two bathroom cabin right next to the lake. I ended up settling for a condo that was situated in one of the resort areas in Lake Tahoe, sitting right next to the ski lifts.

The outside view is not too bad…

The area we stayed in was a mini-town, complete with a town square with ice-skating rink, shops (which were closed), restaurants (which were mainly closed), and a theater (also closed). The eerily quiet town which I imagine would have been booming during the snow season, provides a nice quiet escape for people who want the feeling of living in a ghost town, without actually having to go to a ghost town.

The Room

The room we stayed in was part of a luxury resort, and was complete with two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a living room, kitchen, and balcony. For a home away from home, it was definitely nice, but it did still have that hotel room feel, since you needed a key card to enter the room.

The master bedroom is quite spacious, with direct access to the balcony.
The wooden doors do a lot to give the room a rustic cabin feel, even though it is inside a resort.
The living rooms includes a dining table, spacious couch, and a door that opens up to the balcony.
The balcony would have likely offered better views of the town if it was during the winter when everyone is trying to get to the slopes.
The kitchen area with additional bar stool seating for guests.

The Activities

During the summer months, Lake Tahoe becomes a lot like other destinations, known for their watersports and nature trails. While we were there, there were quite a few people with mountain bikes looking to explore the various trails that it has to offer. The first day of our trip, we tried to get some kayaking at the lake in. We tried going to Sand Harbor, one of the more well-known beaches of Lake Tahoe, only to find out that the parking lot was completely full until 5 PM. Rather than go back and let the day go to waste, we decided instead to circle back to a trail nearby called Monkey Rock trail to kill some time while we waited for the parking lot to open up again.

Lake Tahoe has a ton of hiking trails in the area, so it wasn’t too difficult to find an easy trail that didn’t have many people hiking it.

After hiking the trail, and flying my drone out for some videos, we went back to the parking lot for Sand Harbor, and was able to find a spot. We were then taken aback by the sheer number of people that were still at the beach. Reminded of my time at Pismo Beach, it’s hard to be surprised at this point that even with the pandemic raging, people will find ways to get outside and enjoy nature.

Everyone was eager to get a spot as close to the water as possible. Given that Lake Tahoe is a lake, there aren’t any major waves so it’s much easier to plant yourself close to the water.
The fires definitely affected the experience somewhat at Lake Tahoe. The haziness was present everywhere at Lake Tahoe, constant reminder to remain vigilant.

Kayaking

The next day, we got up much earlier to make our way to Sand Harbor again to try our hand at kayaking. We were able to snag a couple of single kayaks, but if you plan to go kayaking in Lake Tahoe, I would highly recommend making a reservation prior to you arriving, as we almost missed out due to the rental place running out kayaks. We booked the kayaks for three hours, and paddled north along the coast. This was one of the better activities that Lake Tahoe has to offer, and anyone travelling to Lake Tahoe during the summer should consider adding it to their itinerary.

We managed to find a smooth rock for us to land our kayaks on, so we decided to bring up our kayaks and enjoy the lake in a more secluded location with just our group.
Don’t make the same mistake I did and make sure you wear appropriate swimming attire if you plan to go kayaking…

Conclusion

Even though Lake Tahoe is such a popular destination, there are definitely opportunities to enjoy some privacy if you are willing to put in a little effort to find it. Although normally known for their winter activities, I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Lake Tahoe and can recommend it for people looking to enjoy the nature of California while still being within civilization. As an added bonus, you won’t typically encounter the masses of people that are here for skiing or snowboarding, so with the right accommodation, you could have your own little slice of nature. Where is your go to place when you want to escape the hustle of city life?

The rocky area we ended up landing in with our kayaks. Would have been a great opportunity for a picnic, had we known ahead of time.
A Post-Covid Weekend Getaway – Pismo Beach

A Post-Covid Weekend Getaway – Pismo Beach

Sean Yung

Recently, I took a trip to Pismo Beach to get away from the house for a bit. If you read my previous post, I recently made a wishlist of travel destinations for Californians that might still be stuck in their state due to the pandemic. Given that I’ve been working from home for over five months at this point, I decided that it was a good time to take a trip somewhere (also in the process getting my Marriott Platinum status).

The drive to Pismo Beach was relatively uneventful, with a quick three hour drive for someone living in Los Angeles. During the drive, you’ll have an opportunity to drive along the ocean side if you decide to take the 101 Freeway, as well as a scenic mountain drive as you head north towards Pismo Beach. California is known for its coast, so I decided to take the opportunity to enjoy the drive up to the beach.

Staying at the Vespera – A Review

Once we arrived to Pismo Beach, I dropped by my hotel right next to the beach. For this trip, I decided to stay at the Vespera Hotel, one of Marriott’s hotels that are part of the Autograph Collection. I chose this hotel for two reasons: the hotel is located right on the beach, and it would allow me to hit Platinum Elite for the year. Although the benefits are minor for status, for a regular traveler such as myself it is a nice badge of honor to have.

If you’re lucky, you might get a room with a balcony that has a direct view of the beach. Unfortunately, the pool needed to be reserved due to Covid-19.

Finding the hotel wasn’t easy, and I missed the street a couple of times, mainly due to most of the local streets not being marked very clearly. Surprisingly, the streets were also packed, with a lot of cars trying to make their way to the beach parking lot.

After some driving around, I finally found the hotel, modestly places on a street that also has residential houses.

The hotel is very much a luxury hotel, with a large price tag to boot. Although not the best option for travelling seeking a budget option, it is a great hotel if you are looking to splurge a bit. The hotel was quite busy, a telltale sign that most people are out and about travelling in spite of a pandemic going on.

The hotel is situated right on the beach, with direct access through the courtyard to the boardwalk, and less than a 1 minute walk to the beach.

The Room

The blue and white decor gives off a modern hotel feel while still maintaining the beach house atmosphere.
The room I selected is bigger than the typical hotel room, complete with a sofa and desk.
The blinds open up to a balcony that you can relax and take in the views of the beach.
Sadly, my view was angled more towards the street rather than the beach.
This is truly a modern hotel, complete with smart TV that you can stream from your favorite apps like Netflix.
It also has a Chromecast in case you want to stream directly from your device.
The bathroom is quite spacious, providing you the extra room in case you need to get into or out of your wetsuit after a day of surfing.
The shower is also very accommodating, you won’t be trying to squeeze yourself into this one.

The Town

The town of Pismo Beach was packed the weekend that I went. Even though we are still in the midst of a pandemic, every restaurant that had outdoor seating available for dining had lines out the door. Sure, part of that could be due to the social distancing guidelines set forth by the state, but there were a lot of people walking around the town, especially near the beach area. What surprised me the most was very few people were actually wearing masks (about 20%), which tells me that the people here weren’t too afraid of what was going on in the world.

Just one of many restaurants that offered outdoor dining, perhaps people just really want to go out and eat.
Another restaurant that was packed with people waiting to order. The BBQ looked great but the wait was too long.

Given the long lines pretty much everywhere, it was quite difficult to find a place that I could order from that wouldn’t take forever to get out food. I ended up choosing a place called Splash Cafe, which was known supposedly for its Clam Chowder.

The signage had a nice retro feel to it.

They only accepted phone or online orders, so I ended up waiting about 30 minutes on the line while waiting to speak with a person right on the other side of the door, then another hour of so until I finally got my food. They food was pretty tasty, but I couldn’t help but think about whether I could’ve saved time going somewhere else, or whether all the restaurants in the area had the same amount of wait time.

The lines though, were not worth it.

Conclusion

Overall, this trip was pretty fun. I was able to spend some time on the beach and take some photos, fly my drone, and to top it all off it was very cool compared to the heat wave we currently have in LA. Although I wished that there were perhaps less crowds since we are still in the middle of an emergency, I can’t fault people for wanting to spend some time outdoors and enjoy the weather and the beach. After all, if California has anything going for it, it’s the weather and the beaches.

Although there were still a couple at the beach after sunset, the good news is by this time most of the crowds were gone, so you can enjoy the sunset with your favorite person.