8
P
LEASE
believemewhen I tell
you I had thebest intentions
of showingwhat SouthernCalifornia
has toofferwhen I broughtmywifeand
daughters out recently. Thearea is, after
all,myold stompinggrounds, andmywife
hadn’t been there in years.Mydaughters
never have. Somy tripwasplannedaround
us spendinga coupleof nights in some re-
nowned resorts, assuming, as I did, thatwe’d
onlybe there to sleep. Butwhat happened
was that the resortsbecame the vacation.
We checked in to theposh, 248-room
Montage LagunaBeach
, which sits atop30
acres of bluffswith untrammeled views of
thePacificOcean. As soon aswe entered
theMontage and lookedout over their three
pools, we almost changed into swimwear
right there in the lobby. The staple, agi-
ganticmosaic-tiledpool,might aswell have
beenour roombecausewe spent all day-
light hours on lounge chairswith the sounds
of the surf serenading us from theWest.
My daughters spent a half-day inPaintbox,
the resort’s children’s program, where they
walked along thebeach and received a na-
ture lesson. That gavemywife andme just
the right amount of childless pool time.
For dinner,wedinedon the resort grounds
at TheLoft,which ishousedon the fourth
floor of the resort andoffers someof thebest
Americancuisine, aswell aspanoramicviews.
After twonights at theMontage—now
oneofmy favoritehotels— I tookmybrood
tooneofmyother favoritehotels, the517-
room
Hyatt RegencyHuntingtonBeach
Resort&Spa
. I stayed there three years ago
for a conference, and I was looking forward
tobringingmy family thereas our staging
grounds for the rest of our SouthernCalifor-
niaadventure. But just likeat theMontage,
wedidn’twant to leave.
TheHyatt RegencyHuntingtonBeach is
right off PacificCoastHighway, and the local
surfing community is literally right outside
your stately andwell-finished room.We could
actuallyhear someof the surfers listening
toDickDale from their carsbefore catching
somewaves. Therewas nowave-catching,
however, for thePitluk family. In fact, wenever
evenmade it to thebeach. That’sbecause
weweremore than contentwitha cabanaat
SlydersWater Playground, amini waterpark
right thereon thehotel grounds. TheOrange
County sunand the salty scent of thePacific
Oceanprovided theperfect backdrop for our
lazypoolsidedays, andwehadno reason to
leave. Except tograbdinner
at Pete’s SunsetGrille, which
is sodecidedlySoCal that
there’s evena framedpicture
of TheEndless Summer hang-
ingon thewalls, alongwith
surfboards.
In fact, there’s only one
California attraction that
couldget us to leave theHy-
att and theMontage, and it’s
MickeyMouse.
Disneyland
,
theoriginal Disney theme
park, is a timeless allegory of
family fun. But the lines can
be a real downer.We took
advantageof Disneyland’s
VIPTour Service, which is about
the smartest thing I’ve ever done.
Your ownpersonal Disneyland tour
guide takes you around thepark,
giving you a history lesson as you
go, and, best of all, you jump the
lines so that you can ride Space
Mountain ad nauseam.
The tripwas a resounding fam-
ily success, even thoughwe only
went to all of three places in a
week. But you knowwhat? If I had
another week, I’dplan the exact
same trip again.
TheOC
BY ADAM PITLUK
EXPERIENCETHEBESTOFSOUTHERN
CALIFORNIAWITHOUTEVER
LEAVINGYOURRESORT—EXCEPT
FORDISNEYLAND,OFCOURSE.
TAKEAWAY
Plan your
vacation, but be open to
change along theway.
Some of the best family
moments come from spon-
taneous shifts in plans. Or-
ganize your trip around the
most important thing: your
family. The funwill follow.
Montage Laguna
Beach, (866) 271-6953,
montagelagunabeach.com
•
Hyatt RegencyHuntington
BeachResort &Spa,
(714) 698-1234,
huntingtonbeach.hyatt.com
•
DisneylandVIPTour Services:
Call (714) 300-7710 tobook
your tour up toonemonth in
advance. Guests under age18
must haveparent or guardian
permission tocall.
DETAILS
Montage LagunaBeach
Hyatt RegencyHuntington
BeachResort &Spa
SUMMER2013
celebratedliving.com
40
APOSTCARDFROM:
