Adventure Diary: Our Cross-Country Road Trip!
Okay, okay, I know it’s been a minute but holy heck, have we had some major life changes! If you’re new here, my fiancé, Freddie and I, along with our doggy, Benji, just recently packed up after living in Los Angeles for 15 years, and moved across the country to Orlando, Florida!
With our family on the east coast, a rampant global pandemic taking place, and an online business we are able to take on the road, we knew this was the perfect opportunity to make the move to Florida!. We are so excited to begin this next chapter, get married, and then who knows! How does the saying go? “First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes the baby in the baby carriage…” LOL.
Traveling across the country was honestly something I never thought I’d do but let me just say - WHAT. AN. ADVENTURE. Being on the open road every day, seeing the eclectic landscapes, all while experiencing each new state with my partner in crime was beyond magical.
The beginning of our travels, however, didn’t start without a few hiccups. If you followed along on IG stories, you might remember that our movers called twenty hours before our planned departure date to reschedule for another day! This was out of the question for us since we had work booked in different states as we were partnering with hotels along the way. After running around like chickens with our heads cut off for the latter part of the day, and desperately trying to find a friend who was off work that could meet the movers the following day - we came up with an idea.
“Let’s see if we can hire someone through a referral,” Freddie suggested.
“Not a bad idea!” I thought.
Our wonderful friend, Tara, came to the rescue and linked us up with the perfect person. Her referral helped make the move easy peasy and we are forever grateful for her kindness and help!
So the big day finally had arrived! It was a Monday and we had last minute errands to run before hitting the road. First, we finished packing up the house, then stopped at the bank to pick up a cashier’s check for the movers, and then visited UPS to return our internet equipment. (Would you believe we actually used two different internet companies because the connection in our place was very questionable, lol!?)
With a wildly packed car and Benji in tow, we departed Los Angeles at around 4p and began our journey to the first stop: Palm Springs. After mapping everything out, we decided that this would be the perfect first stay for us. We didn’t want it to be too far just in case we got on the road late. Luckily, it all worked out perfectly!
Upon arriving at The Ritz Carlton, Rancho Mirage, we had a smooth check-in and dropped off our bags in our room. It was such a strange feeling because this was the first time we had been at a hotel since the pandemic! We checked out the property and were ecstatic when we saw the restaurant was very open. We decided to grab food at the State Fare Bar & Kitchen and it was a little slice of normalcy again since quarantine had begun. It seriously felt like Christmas morning.
After dinner, we went up to the room, showered, and cheered with a glass of wine to the beginning of a new fascinating adventure. We snuggled up in bed and watched The Ugly Truth while sipping on our cabernet sauvignon - oh yes. The perfect start to this road trip!
With Palm Springs under our belt, we woke up and hit the road - our next stop: Scottsdale, Arizona! Scottsdale is so near and dear to my heart as that is where I was born. Although we moved to Florida when I was four, my Grandparent’s lived in Scottsdale for many years and we would always go back and visit. There is something so enchanting about those Arizona sunsets!
It’s funny because the beginning half of our drive was very quick. La to Palm Springs was a few hours (hellooo traffic) and then Palm Springs to Scottsdale was only four hours and some change. On our way to Scottsdale, we were able to situate Benji’s bed (tightly, lol) in the back seat and he loved laying there!
We arrived at The Phoenician, Scottsdale in the early afternoon which was perfect because we wanted to have enough time to grab a snack and shoot photos for the hotel during golden hour. In retrospect, I really think this stop was the most peaceful for us. We had a great night’s sleep prior, successfully had a little bit of the trip under our belt, and were able to enjoy the hotel, its beauty, and all it had to offer!
The hospitality, cleanliness & overall service was top notch. I had such a full-circle moment when we explored the hotel and visited the Grand Phoenician Ballroom. About 29 years ago, when I was very young, my sister and I had taken part in a fashion show at that very location! You know your nostalgic girl had to make a pit stop there.
That evening, we had the most delicious dinner at their in house restaurant, Mowry and Cotton. Freddie had the filet & I had the salmon - so yummy! It felt pretty surreal being able to safely dine outside underneath the stars.
The next leg of the trip was Scottsdale to El Paso, Texas, coming in at around 6 hours and 30 minutes of travel time. Driving through Arizona and New Mexico was a beautiful and enjoyable ride.
As we drove into El Paso, I felt like I was discovering a hidden gem! We stayed at the most charming & gorgeous hotel, The Plaza Hotel. The city and hotel are so rich in culture, history, and filled with such hospitality! We were taken on the coolest tour of the hotel, hearing the most fascinating stories - Liz Taylor even lived there at one point! The rooftop bar, La Perla, was designed with her as an inspiration - & as you can imagine, I was in complete ✨heaven!✨
We also ate at the delectable house restaurant called Ambar. It turns out, the head chef has traveled all over Mexico to capture & bring the delicious and unique tastes right to El Paso! Yum!!
This property really knows how to pay attention to the small details & I’m so grateful we got to visit. If you are ever in the El Paso area - you must stop by The Plaza Hotel! It was such a treat!
After fueling up on our Starbucks coffee & breakfast sandwiches, we waved goodbye to El Paso, and set off to venture through Texas, heading for San Antonio! We traveled on the 10 freeway during the entire trip totaling at about 7 hours and 45 minutes. This stop officially put us halfway through our journey!
Our next stop was the luxurious St. Anthony hotel nestled in San Antonio. If there was one hotel that exudes my personal favorite decor and style it would definitely be The St. Anthony. This hotel effortlessly captures old world splendor with Italian white marble paired with modern elegance glam. The chandeliers. The green velvet accents. The breathtaking views. Ugh. It was DREAMY. ☁️ 💫
Fun fact: The birth of Southwest Airlines took place at the legendary St. Anthony Club bar in this hotel! The soon to be co-founder of Southwest Airlines sketched a triangle with San Antonio, Houston and Dallas in the corners to help convince his associate that the company could fly! So cool!
I swear the drink theme for this trip was totally dirty martinis! Once we explored and took photos on this property, Freddie grabbed us martinis to go and we sipped while we watched the sunset from the rooftop - the perfect end to a busy day filled with travel!
Could it be that we were really on the last leg of our trip!? It is pretty wild to look back and think of how quickly the entire road trip went. Our last stop was one both Freddie and I had never been to before - New Orleans! Our drive time was a little over 9 hours and this was the first time we arrived at a destination in the evening.
During the last hour of our drive, we were getting antsy to arrive and then I noticed the landscape - the sky was filled with hues of cotton candy pink, majestic yellow, and glowing orange. The backdrop of our road trip had changed to sparkling rivers and lowland forests. Right as I was taking in the beauty ahead of me, one of my favorite songs, “Kiss Me,” came on the radio and I fully escaped in that moment.
Not too long after, we arrived in New Orleans! After check-in at The Ritz Carlton, we stopped downstairs at The Davenport Lounge and grabbed a delish martini (shocker) and chicken tenders (our go-to road trip food)! 😂 I also had a cup of the seafood gumbo and OMG - So. Flipping. Yummy!! It was filled with crawfish, crabmeat, & shrimp. I can feel my mouth watering thinking about it, lol.
I wish we had more time in each city to explore - especially this one! Although we didn’t get the full New Orleans experience, we did walk a little of the French Quarter and drove down Bourbon Street on our way out. Our next stop? The final leg to Orlando, Florida, baby!
We had originally planned to stop in Destin, Florida after New Orleans but once we began looking for hotel reservations, we noticed everything was booked! Florida was the one location where we weren’t partnering with a property and unfortunately waited until the last minute to book a hotel. Whoopsies! After researching and exhausting all of our options, we made the decision to drive all the way through to Orlando. It took about 11 hours and we were so grateful when we arrived.
There’s something so enchanting about Florida. Even as we were making the drive through, I could feel the energy totally change from other states. About an hour before we reached our final destination, we got our first bout of rain on the trip and it felt so symbolic to me. What a cleanse and refresh to begin this next chapter of our lives.
We made a pit-stop at Publix before arriving at our Airbnb - you know your girl just HAD to get a Publix sub. We ordered a turkey footlong as well as a chicken tender sub - I couldn’t wait to get home and indulge!
Once we arrived, we took in the beauty of the home that was ours for the next six months. We sat outside in the warm tropical Florida weather, cheered to our new adventure with an ice cold brew, and joyfully ate our Publix subs - it couldn’t have been a more perfect ending to an equally fabulous road trip!
