California in general, and Los Angeles particularly, has been “locked down” pretty hard since the Covid pandemic hit more than a year ago – restaurants and fitness centers mostly closed, and school children learning the best they can at home, in remote Zoom classes. As Easter vacation approached, when Red Bear had a week without classes and some towns have started to relax their restrictions, we were looking for somewhere to visit, even for a short trip.
I have been to The Flower Fields a few times before; it is basically a 55-acre commercial ranuncula farm, but it is so colorful and amazing to see that it has become a tourist attraction and special event (weddings and wine-tastings, for example) venue. The Flower Fields was just re-opening after missing its entire 2020 season due to the pandemic.
The Flower Fields is in northern San Diego County, in the beach town of Carlsbad (also home to Legoland), and just north of the lovely beach communities of Leucadia and Encinitas. It has deservedly become a popular tourist attraction – the acres of colorful flowers are easy to walk around and admire, and there are special spots set up for picture-taking, too. It has a flower maze for children of all ages, as well as several vendors of tasty finger foods, like BBQ pizza, ice cream, and the like. It also has live music to serenade you in the background.
There are a couple things to keep in mind before your visiting to the Flower Fields:
- You have to make a reservation /buy the tickets online (here) before your visit. They do still offer tickets to enter at the gate, but the line is pretty long. But after you enter, your length of stay inside the fields is up to you.
- You have to wear a mask during the visit. And always keep 6 feet of social distance from other groups. (I was able to take off my mask to take this photo for a few seconds for pictures when nobody was around me.)
- Parking lot is busy, you have to be patient to find a parking space, or think ahead if you have elderly people or children who need to be dropped off at the front gate before you find a parking spot. Or come early before the crowd.
- There is a pizza food truck inside the fields and available to order food, but always bringing some water and snacks with your is a smart idea, we think.
- There are green tape “barriers” everywhere around the field, to keep people from stepping on the flowers, but they are arranged so any good photo spots, including deep ditches and bench seating are located at many spots around all the flowers —- there are long line for the most popular spots, though; the longest could wait was up to 45 minutes for your turn, but again, be patient and just enjoy the visit. For our pictures, we did not use any of those spots where people were waiting.
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We were staying with The Grand Pacific Palisades Resort this time.The Resort includes “vacation condos,” and because of our last-minute decision to make this road-trip, we stayed in one of them. It was nice and large, 3 bedrooms, a full kitchen, and 2 bathrooms. Our room’s balcony literally overlooked The Flower Fields (and behind them in the distance, the Pacific Ocean).
The hotel includes a part called Cassara, part of Hilton’s upscale Tapestry Collection. We originally hoped to stay there, but there were no suites available on Easter week-end —- until next time!
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Overall, the Hilton Grand Pacific Palisades is in a great location (you can check online here to learn the many fun things to do for everyone in the area), where weather is some of the most comfortable in the world. It is run totally professionally, and gave us a feeling of total security.
DINING AROUND CARLSBAD:
As mentioned, Carlsbad is a small city that is a popular tourist destination, so it has lots of good choices for dining. It was Easter weekend when we made this visit, and we might have expected long waits to eat anywhere, but that turned out not to be the case for us.
Our dinner that night after visited The Flower Fields was a take out from a small restaurant called Rubio’s, featuring Mexican dishes. The restaurant shares the big parking lot with The Flower Fields, where we parked actually. The food was delicious, and we got to eat in our room while facing the Flower Fields — we loved it!
On Easter morning, we wanted to go out for breakfast, and we decided to drive a few miles to the beach community of Leucadia, which has a very relaxed and informal vibe, and plenty of restaurants. Our first choice was an upscale restaurant, but it was “reservations only” for Easter. The host suggested we try the coffee shop next door, which he said “does a good job.” — we loved it when they are taking care of each other in the same community!
We’re happy he suggested it! It turned out to be the unpretentious but very good A Little Moore Coffee Shop . There was no wait for a table indoors, and I ordered a veggie omelet, Red Bear had a grilled cheese sandwich and fries, and my husband had breakfast potatoes and a stack of buttermilk pancakes. The food and coffee turned out to be exceptionally tasty, and the service could not have been more pleasant. It is a real find, if you ever are in Leucadia for breakfast! And all the employees there were super-friendly and happy. We’ll be back there, I’m sure, next time we are in the area.
OUR ROAD TRIP GEAR: MAZDA CX-9 SIGNATURE
We were test-driving a 2021 Mazda CX-9 crossover SUV at the time, and took it for the trip to Carlsbad. It gave us a great chance to try the car out, and it turned out to be perfect for my family.
The CX-9 is Mazda’s medium-sized, 3-row SUV, and we tested the top-of-the-line Signature model. It has a supercharged 4-cylinder engine that was both plenty powerful and very smooth and quiet. It also had AWD (all-wheel drive), which my husband really likes in case we encounter rain, snow, ice, or mud – but we encountered none of that during this Easter getaway.
The CX-9 is really attractively designed, and the interior on the Signature version is quite luxurious. It is extremely comfortable, quiet, and has all the most modern safety warning features you can expect – blind spot warning, lane warning, back-up camera, front camera, side-traffic warning, and more.
One surprising feature was the color – a brilliant candy apple red. It was so gorgeous in the sunlight that we had strangers comment on it. And the bright color made the car easy to find in the crowded parking lot at The Flower Fields.
After driving back from our little getaway, my husband made a comment that said it all about the Mazda CX-9 Signature: “I love this car!” Many thanks to Mazda USA for letting us test this fine car.
LAST WORDS
As the country – and the world – gets back to something approaching pre-pandemic “normal,” thanks to vaccines and better medical knowledge, I expect we will get back to traveling more, something my whole family loves to do. Our little Easter roadtrip to Carlsbad was a good “baby step” in that direction, and we really enjoyed it, a happy time was had by all.
If you ever find yourself looking for a nice weekend outing in Southern California, check out Carlsbad and The Flower Fields – you’ll like it.
We thank our friends Sonja & Aleaha, who work in PR in the Carlsbad area, for arranging everything for us during the trip. And we thank your visiting today; wish you have a happy weekend!
