My family has come down to California every year that I’ve lived here, mostly to help me move but sometimes just to visit. Since they have done a lot of the touristy things in Los Angeles, this year, we decided to switch it up and go to Orange County. My sister couldn’t come, so my parents flew down for a few days, and we had a little Top Gun weekend and visited several filming locations!
FRIDAY, JUNE 10
I left my office early at 2pm and made the 2-hour drive down to John Wayne Airport to pick up my parents. The Friday afternoon commute from LA to OC is pretty brutal, would not recommend, but I didn’t want to wait until traffic let up after dinner. We checked into the Embassy Suites in Santa Ana (Hilton is on Rakuten!). It was not our favorite hotel, but there was a free happy hour, so we hit that up before dinner the first night. We didn’t end up spending a lot of time in the hotel, but it was nice in that it was central to a lot of the things we planned to do.
For dinner, we went to get Mexican food at Playa Mesa in Costa Mesa. It had a 4.5 star rating on Yelp, and even though we didn’t make reservations in advance, we were still able to be seated within about 15 minutes. There are free chips and salsa which we love, and the whole menu sounded good. We all got short rib dishes. My dad and I both got the short rib enchiladas, and my mom got the short rib burrito, which she says is the best burrito she’s ever had. The only hard part is the lack of parking. They have valet parking in the back which is $4, so not too bad.
Stuffed, we went back to the hotel and went to bed since we had to get up early for the next day.
SATURDAY, JUNE 11
Top Gun is one of my dad’s favorite movies, so I planned a day in San Diego to visit a bunch of the filming locations from the movie.
But first, coffee. Not at Alfred’s, but at Coffee Dose in Irvine for some of their coffee, or as they call it “anti-bitch serum,” that has been popular on Instagram since I was in college. This location was a re-purposed shipping container that they painted pink, which was really cute. There was plenty of outdoor seating and my parents both liked their coffee. I got the peach tea seasonal drink that had some sort of jelly in it that was also good.
Then, we headed to downtown San Diego for lunch at Kansas City Barbeque for our first Top Gun stop of our Top Gun Weekend. It’s the bar where they filmed the scene of Maverick and Goose singing Great Balls of Fire at the piano. Pro tip: do not eat here. The food is just alright and the service is extremely slow. Take photos of the inside, which has Top Gun-themed decor and buy a shirt if you want from the bar, then get lunch at Liberty Station. If you do want to eat here, best get there right when it opens because you’ll be there for a while. We got there before noon and spent an hour and a half at the table.
Next, we drove through Liberty Station. They shot a scene at a building (now Italian restaurant Solare) of Maverick talking to Charlie by his motorcycle. This area was pretty busy because it’s now a whole food hall area, so there was some traffic.
We tried to drive to Point Loma Lighthouse, which is where they filmed Viper’s house at the end of Top Gun, but it’s part of Cabrillo National Monument, which is a part of the National Parks Service and we didn’t have a pass, and didn’t feel like buying one. But along the road to get there is Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery which was where they had Iceman’s funeral in Top Gun: Maverick, so we still go to see that. It also has a decent view of the harbor.
Then, we headed back up to Orange County with our final stop being Mission Pacific Hotel in Oceanside, only an hour away from the hotel. Charlie’s house was moved from the corner and became part of the hotels and is now a little pie shop where you can buy little hand pies called High Pie. We got 3 apple ones. There was also a motorcycle prop outside that you could sit on and take photos of. Oceanside was a little beach town and had some nice hotels and cool-looking restaurants. It looks like a nice place for a staycation!
We got back to the hotel and rested for a little bit before heading to dinner at Cafe Sevilla in Triangle Square mall in Costa Mesa. There was plenty of parking in the free lot below the mall. We had a 6:15pm reservation and it was pretty empty at that time. There was indoor seating which had a flamenco show with a set menu, but we sat outside and it was very nice. We ordered a ton of tapas. I loved the halibut and shrimp ceviche, the ribs, and for some reason the vegetables al ajillo were also one of my faves of the night even though it was just asparagus and tomatoes. For dessert, we ordered the lemon tart and churros con chocolate, and then I also got a free birthday flan.
It was still early, and as we were coming out of the parking garage, we saw the Grocery Outlet across the street, so of course we had to go. Dad got some cheap wine and I got some dish soap and cacao nibs.
SUNDAY, JUNE 12
We woke up and didn’t really have plans until lunch. We quickly drove over to Newport Beach for Fill Bakeshop, which my friend Helene said had the best mochi donuts. We got a guava one and a strawberry one and they were very good!
Then, we picked up some dim sum from Tim Ho Wan in Irvine. I had been once before with a friend earlier this year, and there’s nothing special about eating in the restaurant, so to-go is a good idea. The barbecue pork buns are sooo good. We got two orders of those, some shrimp dumplings, and some egg custard sesame balls.
Then, it was time to watch Top Gun: Maverick. My parents had watched it opening weekend during Memorial Day, but it was so good they didn’t mind seeing it again. I had booked the tickets earlier that week since I knew the theater would be full on Sunday. I also had a free birthday popcorn and drink, so that was nice. The AMC at The District at Tustin Legacy is one of the nicest theaters because all the chairs recline and they even have heated seats!
I had only seen the first Top Gun a few weeks prior, so I’m not a true fan, but I really enjoyed Top Gun: Maverick! I’m not usually an action movie person, but there was a lot of other stuff going on in this movie besides the jets.
My mom wanted to walk, so my dad dropped us off at South Coast Plaza to get our steps in but stay in the AC. It’s mostly full of designer stores, so we walked across the street to Metro Pointe at South Coast where there’s a Nordstrom Rack and DSW.
Then, we went to Newport Beach and walked on the paved path for a bit before heading to dinner at Mama D’s. This was a spot a classmate raved about in college, so I had been there a few times before and had taken my parents before and they like it. It’s like a mom and pop kind of Italian restaurant and they don’t take reservations. We just had a little wait and sat on the chairs outside, but it wasn’t bad since they always offer free bread. The food and service were great as always. The portions were pretty big, so we took our leftovers home.
The next day, we got up early and I took my parents to the airport.
Overall, we had a great little Top Gun Weekend! We had fantastic weather and food, and this was a great short getaway from Los Angeles.
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