Archive for "Travel"
Hyatt Regency Newport Beach
Posted on August 8, 2022 by Ching under Travel.
We stayed at Hyatt Regency Newport Beach for the Newport Beach tournament. It was a 5 minute walk to the beach and a 20 minute walk to the tournament venue. This place was a lot nicer than the place I booked for us in Naples for the US Open so I am hoping that I am forgiven.
The property is pretty huge and reminds me of the resorts we’ve stayed at in the Caribbean. They have multiple building structures (hotel rooms, villas, conference areas/meeting rooms), event spaces (amphitheater for weddings and parties), and 3 swimming pools spread throughout the beautifully landscaped grounds.
We walk by the villas to go to the beach.
This is the beautiful amphitheater that they use for weddings.
This is the vine-covered walkway that leads to it.
The landscaping is an interesting combination of tropical and dessert. It’s different than anything I have seen but it is well-maintained and lovely.
The beautiful grounds are not only appealing to hotel guests. They are equally appealing to bunnies, squirrels, and other critters.
There are activity areas throughout the property for guests to enjoy. This sand volleyball court is right by our building. We actually took this picture from our balcony. We saw people playing down there a couple of times but we never went.
This is the main restaurant at the resort. Brian and I had a nice, leisurely breakfast there one day.
We never used the fitness center but it was roomy with lots of equipment and space to do your own thing. What I liked most is this poster they had on the wall for runners. It shows you a map of some runs that you can do based on the how far you want to go. It made me wish I was a runner.
Anyway, I realized not all of my pictures made to Flickr which is kind of a bummer. I guess you’ll just have to go and experience this resort for yourself. Here’s a link to book your stay. Until next time, GNG.
No Comments
USAP Newport Beach Highlights
Posted on August 7, 2022 by Ching under Pickleball, Travel.
I had a blast playing with my friend Ramon Lozano at the USAP Newport Beach Championships pickleball tournament. On the one hand, we wanted to win gold but on the other, I knew that I wouldn’t be able to go to Nationals since I’ve already committed myself to going to the Diamond Amateur Championships in Florida this year. Plus, I didn’t want to go if I only had one golden ticket. We took 3rd and, while we could have done better, I’m totally okay with it.
One of the best parts of the trip was meeting Ramon’s wonderful family. Uncle Ramon decked everyone out in Chicken N Pickle gear. What a great uncle he is!
The group pic above was taken in the morning and then this second group pic is after we got our medals.
Here are some pics of Back Bay, a beach that’s literally just a five minute walk from our hotel room. We walked over a couple of times. We didn’t get in the water but we took some pics and people-watched.
The area was breathtaking and the weather was absolutely perfect (as it often is in California – they are fortunate to have wonderful weather year-round). I would totally go back if Brian is up for it next year.
Here are some pics we took at Back Bay. Thank you to Lucky in Love for the cute outfit in the next pic.
Back at the tournament, I met some really fabulous people and made new friends (as always). I may not bring a bunch of medals home but I can always count on making new friends.
Above is a Filipino lady from Illinois that I met at the tournament, Michelle Chow. Below is my blind date/new friend and women’s doubles partner Nancy “Moondust” Kaplan.
I met the amazing founder/creator PlayTime Scheduler, Reine Steel.
And, I also got to watch my friend Jenna Doffer (Hessert) kick major butt in the pro division.
Meanwhile, Brian got a cool new ball cap from the Zelus booth.
Brian and I also got to go to Fashion Island.
I’ll end it here for now and share pictures of our hotel/resort in the next post. Until next time, GNG.
No Comments
Last Meal in St. Louis
Posted on July 14, 2022 by Ching under Food and Drink, Travel.
Brian and I hit Einstein Bros. for breakfast before starting our drive home. It was my first time eating one of their breakfast sandwiches and it was quite good, actually. Check out some sandwich pics below.
I kinda wish we had an Einstein Bros. here in Wichita.
No Comments
Padrinos Mexican Restaurant
Posted on July 13, 2022 by Ching under Food and Drink, Travel.
Padrinos is good stuff! Donnie and Tiffany Lesperance ate there earlier that week and really liked it so we decided to bring our group over there and hoped that they would join us. They decided to eat dinner with their housemates though, so we ended up going without them. That meant they did not have Mexican food two days in a row, which is completely unheard of!
Clockwise from left: Bo Tolbert, Ryan Kellenbarger, Chris Wilson, me, Ramon Lozano, Kendra Wicks, and Brian.
They put a “Reserved” sign at our table and everything.
Brian always gets a super basic bean and cheese burrito.
Here are some pics of the rest of our food.
My sangria was pretty good.
Ramon enjoyed his drink, too.
Anyway, this place was pretty good. I liked it even better than the other place we went to – El Burro Loco. I highly recommend it. Until next time, GNG.
No Comments
Mack’s Bar and Grill
Posted on July 12, 2022 by Ching under Food and Drink, Travel.
It was a miracle of miracles. We managed to pry our friends Donnie and Tiffany Lesperance away from eating Mexican food. That’s all they ever eat. Well, that and Texas Roadhouse. LOL.
We managed to convince them to go with us to Mack’s Bar and Grill because (a) it was close to the tournament venue, (b) it was known for good pizza, and (c) had great reviews. Brian is kind of big of the reviews and usually stays away from any place with less than four stars. It’s just one of his quirks.
The restaurant serves other food too, besides just pizza. Here are some pics of the other food our group ordered.
Anyway, the food was pretty good and the service was great. Overall, it lived up to the online reviews and I wouldn’t mind going there again if I’m back in the area.
1 Comment
