Why Dana Point, California?
My boyfriend, Shaun won a trip through his car dealership and it was a dream! As a little background, Shaun is the General Sales Manager at the LaFontaine Chevrolet store in Dexter, Michigan. Their chevy store was recognized as one of the Top 250 Elite Leaders (out of 3,000 chevy stores!) and Shaun was chosen to represent in California. I was so grateful to join him on this trip!
We stayed at the Monarch Bay Beach Resort located in Dana Point, California! This resort was AMAZING to us.
DAY 1: we all gathered at the resort’s Pacific Lawn for a cocktail hour, followed by a delicious meal in the Pacific Ballroom where Chevy recognized all the elite leaders and headed back to Pacific Lawn for an after glow party!
DAY 2: Chevrolet coordinated a group of us to go paddle boarding at Laguna Beach. Shaun and I love to paddle board on his lake back home but nothing compared to the waves in the Pacific Ocean. I was so intimidated at first but our instructor, Doug with La Vida Laguna was awesome and guided us in the water at just the right time. We paddle boarded for about an hour and half in complete awe of Laguna’s amazing views alongside of seals and sea lions! Highly recommend Doug and his team!
Laguna Beach
That evening we attended the World Premiere of the 2020 Mid Engine Corvette (the main reason for this trip!). This car has been in the making for ten years and is making history! For more information about this car, click here! Shaun is already taking orders for this vehicle 🙂
DAY 3: a group of us took a cruise with Dana Wharf and ventured into the Pacific Ocean near Catalina Island to go whale watching! Although we did not see any whales, we admired numerous dolphins throughout our trip that swam alongside our boat.
DAY 4: Shaun and I relaxed at the pool and joined our new friends at dinner in Laguna at Watermarc Restaurant. We ordered the following and were very impressed with the food: bacon wrapped dates, ahi watermelon skewers, scallops with lobster risotto and braised short ribs. Throughout dinner we smelled the strong scent of waffle cones (so good!) so immediately following dinner… we walked downstairs and got in line for gelato at Gelato Paradiso!
DAY 5: Shaun and I spent the day at Monarch’s private beach! The resort has a complimentary beach tram that drives you from the lobby to Monarch’s private beach where you can enjoy some peaceful time by the ocean and/or delicious cuisine and drinks at the Monarch Beach Club Restaurant.
Monarch Beach Club 
The Deck at Laguna
That night we went to OUR FAVORITE restaurant from the entire trip! We received many recommendations to try The Deck at Laguna because of the ocean views. They do not take reservations but we arrived around 8:00pm (sunset) and still got to enjoy the view! We ate next door at Driftwood Kitchen (make sure to secure a reservation)! This was our favorite meal. I got the Lobster Spaghetti Carbonara with a fried egg and Shaun ate the Seared Diver Scallops. DELISH. After dinner, we walked downtown Laguna, visited a few art galleries (so many in Laguna!) and stopped at SkyLoft for a drink. The upstairs was lively with lots of people (ages 20-50) and a live band. Then we went upstairs to the rooftop and enjoyed another drink where it was a bit more quiet — another restaurant with a great view!
DAY 6: We rented a luxury car via Turo and decided to take a road trip and drive the Pacific Coast Highway!
Turo 
Newport Beach
Our first stop was Newport Beach. We ate at a small sushi restaurant then walked the beach to admire all the oceanside homes. We absolutely loved this beach for the blue water, white sand & cleanliness. This was our favorite stop!
Next, we drove to Huntington Beach. Again, the beach was beautiful but lots of tourists and vendors. We ate tacos at Freds (which was just OK) and enjoyed walking in and out of the many shops! Next we drove to West Hollywood which was flooded with people but got to see the famous Hollywood Walk of Fame. Lastly, we drove to Beverly Hills — drove down Rodeo drive and viewed all the designer stores from afar! 😉 On our way home, we put the top down and enjoyed the breeze all the way home. We ended our night with shrimp cocktail, a filet and a burger at our resort’s 33 North.
DAY 7: We packed up early and spent our last hours catching our final rays at the resort’s pool.
REFLECTION: Overall, we give the Monarch Beach Resort a 10/10! Although I have shared LOTS of highlights from our trip… I do want to share that Shaun and I have also utilized vacations for some difficult conversations because it is a time when we can truly focus on each other without any distractions! One night was a hard one but was a conversation that needed to happen and why not dig deep while enjoying the gorgeous state of California? Shaun and I loved Dana Point & Laguna Beach for the people/service, views, food, atmosphere and all the adventures we were able to experience! Although we are not experts of Cali, we’re always willing to answer questions and share what we learned / our experiences with you guys!
