Happy hump day, everyone! Jullie here! Chelsea and I are excited to finally share all of the details from our recent SoCal trip together. For those of you who don’t know…our birthdays are only a few days apart, so we planned a little weekend trip back in March, as a joint celebration. Over the next couple of days, we'll be talking about Disneyland (one of my absolute favorite destinations to talk about on the blog!) and each of the fun stops we made along the way! First up, Pasadena and Huntington Beach...
Instagram is really a fabulous thing. All it took was one photo of a fruity pebble cheesecake pie, and suddenly The Pie Hole was added to our travel itinerary. Boom. We just had to check this place out!
This family run company serves unique sweet and savory pies and has two locations: the Arts District in Los Angeles and Old Pasadena. (A third is coming soon to Orange County! Perfect for future Disneyland trips! :D) We ultimately decided on the Pasadena location, and I was so glad we did! The Pie Hole is housed inside the Indiana Colony building, a small business marketplace with an open-air concept. You can find things like ice cream, pressed juices, fresh flowers, tea…but of course, we came here for the pie. We hit the road at 4:30 AM that day, so we were ready for a pie breakfast of champions!
Chelsea and I sampled four flavors: a slice of matcha green tea, a strawberry lavender hand pie, the chocolate crostata, and a slice of earl grey! The matcha was tasty, but didn't exactly blow our minds. We also both agreed that the strawberry hand pie filling was delicious, but the thick lavender icing on top was a bit too much and too pasty for our liking. The crostata was super yummy and decadent, though--a rich, fudge brownie filling wrapped in flaky pie crust and topped with caramel sauce and sea salt!
Hands down, though, the favorite flavor of the day was the earl grey. This beautiful slice has a thin layer of chocolate ganache at the bottom, then a layer of earl grey tea infused custard, then it's all topped with whipped cream and crushed pistachios. This magical slice made the detour to Pasadena absolutely worth it, and I would come back just for this flavor alone. (Tbh, next time, I'll probably want to order a whole pie to take home...)
The Pie Hole offers several other signature flavors, such as Mexican Chocolate and Mom's Apple Crumble, and they also serve fair trade organic coffees and specialty lattes! As soon as we walked into the building, with its historic vibe and exposed brick walls, we knew it'd be a great place to just sit and enjoy a treat. East Colorado Boulevard--where the Indiana Colony building is located--is lined with tons of shops and restaurants. If you're ever in Old Pasadena, Pie Hole is a great place to grab a snack or dessert!
Now, here's Chelsea to tell you all about our next stop...
The best part is that you get a ton of food! They have a small and a large size, and the small is a quarter pound...of poke...before they even add any additional ingredients like the mango and avocado that we put on our orders. Jullie and I both got a cucumber base, instead of rice, because we were looking for something a little lighter.
Hands down, though, the favorite flavor of the day was the earl grey. This beautiful slice has a thin layer of chocolate ganache at the bottom, then a layer of earl grey tea infused custard, then it's all topped with whipped cream and crushed pistachios. This magical slice made the detour to Pasadena absolutely worth it, and I would come back just for this flavor alone. (Tbh, next time, I'll probably want to order a whole pie to take home...)
The Pie Hole offers several other signature flavors, such as Mexican Chocolate and Mom's Apple Crumble, and they also serve fair trade organic coffees and specialty lattes! As soon as we walked into the building, with its historic vibe and exposed brick walls, we knew it'd be a great place to just sit and enjoy a treat. East Colorado Boulevard--where the Indiana Colony building is located--is lined with tons of shops and restaurants. If you're ever in Old Pasadena, Pie Hole is a great place to grab a snack or dessert!
Now, here's Chelsea to tell you all about our next stop...
After our delicious pie breakfast, we headed to Huntington Beach to check out North Shore Poke Co. It’s an awesome little place within walking distance from the beach. If you’re not familiar with poke, it’s like sushi, but SO much better. We definitely recommend it if you’re in the area and looking to try something new.
There’s a really cool Hawaii meets SoCal vibe in the restaurant, from the decor to the people working there. I can’t imagine a more quintessentially beach restaurant.
The overall menu is really impressive. You can get salmon, tuna or mixed poke, and you have a choice different sauces, a bunch of yummy add-ons, and white or brown rice as a base.
The best part is that you get a ton of food! They have a small and a large size, and the small is a quarter pound...of poke...before they even add any additional ingredients like the mango and avocado that we put on our orders. Jullie and I both got a cucumber base, instead of rice, because we were looking for something a little lighter.
Like I said, North Shore Poke is walking distance from Huntington Beach so we took our poke to go and trekked the short walk to the beach to sit and people watch. Let me just tell you, Huntington Beach has a whole lot of interesting characters to watch and a pretty sweet farmer’s market to walk through, too.
Once we finished our poke, we walked up and down the pier for a little while and then wandered through the farmer’s market to see if there was anything worth buying. There wasn’t...but it was definitely worth walking through.
From there, it was a quick drive to our hotel in Anaheim. We stayed at the DoubleTree, which I’ve stayed at twice now and I highly recommend. It’s a short drive to the Disneyland Resort, far enough away to avoid the congestion of some closer hotels, has a free shuttle, and gives you free chocolate chip cookies every time you come back...or every time you ask for them.
We rounded out day one of our SoCal adventure with a very entertaining trip to Trader Sam’s in Downtown Disney. I highly recommend the Kungaloosh (the old version, not the new one). It's not on the menu, but the bartenders know what you're talking about. All in all, a great way to trip down the state and try some fun new things as you make that drive.
We rounded out day one of our SoCal adventure with a very entertaining trip to Trader Sam’s in Downtown Disney. I highly recommend the Kungaloosh (the old version, not the new one). It's not on the menu, but the bartenders know what you're talking about. All in all, a great way to trip down the state and try some fun new things as you make that drive.
Stay tuned for Southern California, Day Two!
