Why We Love Road Trips & Last Weekend at the Fairmont Grand Del Mar

Last weekend, we took another road trip to San Diego, and it was another great and wonderful trip! Some people ask me why do we love road trips that much?

Well, first of all, we love the short weekend road trips, because it won’t affect Red Bear’s school schedule, and there are a lot of interesting road trips within driving distance of Los Angeles — plenty of ocean towns, mountains, desert, wine country, Las Vegas, even Mexico is less than 3 hours drive away. On these short trips we only need to spend one or two nights away from home (and school!), but we can enjoy some different, fun, and exciting places. More about why we love road trips in general, though: it’s all about the journey, the excitement of the unknown, and time to unwind, relax, develop new ideas, and get some quality time with family.

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So last weekend made a getaway to San Diego, and we especially thank Fairmont Grand Del Mar for warmly hosting us there. It’s such a beautiful resort, and all the staff there are very friendly and helpful, and the whole environment is very romantic, beautiful, relaxing, and luxurious. This spa resort is just on the northern edge of San Diego, a few minutes from the ocean, but with a relaxing country feel. The main building is actually built down the side of a canyon, so you arrive at the lobby on the top floor, and then go down to the rooms, suites, and restaurant below, all opening into the canyon view. To me, it feels like a grand Mediterranean villa, with beautiful decor and marble seemingly everywhere. There are so many activities available at the resort — swimming pools, of course, and tennis and golf and horseback riding, and 37 miles of hiking trails. Let me share some of the pictures we took during this trip, and we hope you enjoy!

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We also give special thanks to Lexus for lending us the Lexus LS500h to test drive on this road trip. We all found it is a VERY comfortable car to ride in, even through heavy Southern California rush-hour traffic. Even the rear seats recline a long way, and the front seats will even massage you — loved that! As for the practical side, the trunk held FOUR suitcases and a large bag of lenses, and still had room for more; that’s plenty for our family of three on one of our getaways. My husband liked the gas mileage and special safety features. The Lexus LS500h is a hybrid car that has technology to maximize mileage, and we drove nearly 500 miles without having to stop for gas. Importantly, it uses new technology to warn you of every possible collision threat near you — cameras give a 360-degree view, and even a “bird’s eye” view of where the car is in its lane! We really liked that it has sensors that tell you when another vehicle is in your “blind spot” on either side, with a little orange signal in the side-view mirror. Overall, we really loved the comfort, quiet, safety, and even economy of the Lexus LS500h.

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We also thank DVF for gifting us this bird print silk dress — the print is very pretty and the cut is beautiful and classic.

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Thanks also to Carolina Herrera for lending some dresses to shoot inside the Fairmont Grand Del Mar — I especially love this one, it’s such a dreamy dress, and fits the beautiful property nicely.