The Wydown Hotel in St. Helena

A couple of weeks ago my husband, Mike, took part in the Vineman 70.3 race up in Sonoma County.  He spent so much time training & prepping for this race over the last 6 months we decided the girls and I had to be there to cheer him cross the finish line He finished strong and we were SO proud!  As a treat, after the race we extended our stay and ventured over to the Wydown Hotel in St. Helena for a few days of R&R.

When Mike signed up for this race he called our friend Mark from college to see if we could come stay at his newly remodeled boutique hotel called The Wydown.  The Wydown is located in historic downtown St. Helena in the breathtaking Napa Valley.

Click here to read more about Susanne’s trip…

Hotel Oceana Santa Barbara Review

For those that have been following my blog, you probably know by now my family is a huge fan of the SoCalCation, or family getaways that are easy driving distance from Orange County.  With our two little ones, now 2 1/2 and 5 1/2, it is a dream to load up the car and be at our destination within a few hours.

My oldest daughter had Presidents’ Week off school last week so I thought it would be fun to go somewhere together. When thinking of places, I realized that although I went to UCSB and spent four years there, I had yet to visit with my family! The thought of visiting my old college stomping grounds (and one of my favorite cities in the entire universe) with my family sounded like so much fun.

Once we decided on our destination, next order of business was where to stay?  When looking at hotels to stay with the family in Santa Barbara, location was number one priority to me. I wanted a convenient hotel that was walking distance to all the major downtown attractions, which is how I happened upon Hotel Oceana Santa Barbara.

Click here to read more…