This trip was delayed by a year due to the Covid pandemic. I did not feel safe visiting my home town because there were so many protests around the stay at home order and wearing masks. I waited until I was fully vaccinated to bring my mom’s ashes down to her final resting place next to my stepfather overlooking the Pacific Ocean in Newport Beach.

My brother really wanted to splurge for that once in a lifetime stay directly on the beach in our hometown – Huntington Beach. Two resorts went up long after I moved away – the Hilton and the Hyatt. We chose the Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach for the walkway over PCH – and that the kids pool was separated from the main pool.

We booked a year in advance – and wanted a suite with connecting rooms. We booked the Huntington Suite which has a king bed and has a connecting room on either side – one with a King and Queen bed and the other with a King. This layout was great, giving us each our space but still together. I had called the hotel directly several times assuring an ocean view but we were provided ground floor instead. This had some benefits – especially for my brother who is a smoker. We were located by the adult only jacuzzi area – a far walk from the lobby and restaurants. I wished they provided stand up scooters for their guests to get around the property but realize that’s a liability too.

We had marvelous weather in July and the place was absolutely packed – one woman in the pool proudly broadcasting that she wasn’t going to let government push a vaccine on her. I was happy to have some protection as I floated past her group with my Mai Tai.

We dined at Pete’s Sunset Grill the first evening – a very casual spot. My brother loved the ceramic tiki mugs – which they sell on site. I was happy they had a little Starbucks counter where I was able to get my Chai. We had breakfast twice at the Watertable restaurant – they have a full buffet but my sister and I agreed the Blueberry pancakes were awesome. We also tried the Tower 15 Pizzeria – it was better than frozen pizza. It was nice that that had several fire pits around the property for guests to enjoy. My brother and I enjoyed smore’s in one of the alcoves in the hotel.