We have owned two weeks at Newport Coast Villas for several years but this was the first year I was able to join in the fun.

Marriot's Newport Coast Villas are located roughly between Newport/Balboa Island/Corona Del Mar and Laguna Beach, making it a lovely location.  It's quiet, in between everything, but close to a lot of things that are happening. Shortly before this trip, I bought (for my birthday present) a Nikon D200 that had been IR-modified--i.e., it is capable only of recording infra red photographs.  Thus, most of the photos I took on this trip are infra red.  The first morning after our arrival, once the sun came out, I took this IR photo from our deck:

Sue's cousin Pattie and her husband Ron joined us for a few days and we enjoyed a lovely, relaxed visit with them.  Too long between visits, not enough time this time, etc., but still really nice anyway.  We went to the San Juan Capistrano Mission, which none of us could remember doing since we were in fourth grade.  And yes, that was a long time ago.  We were pleasantly surprised to see that the mission is beautifully maintained and is a very nice place to visit. 

I did take the time to record the fact that we were there:

The chapel is pretty and very well maintained, and while it's difficult to describe it photographically, I am trying to do so, here and in my gallery:

The mission and its grounds are terrific infra red subjects too:

We spent more time here than we thought we would, and then went to El Adobe de Capistrano for lunch, which was a pleasant surprise--historic building a block from the mission with great food.  We'd go back any time.

After Ron and Pattie left, we went to the crow bar and kitchen for dinner, which was an incredibly nice surprise.  Great food, great menu--one of those places that makes you want to come back again and again. So, we did--our friends Art and Ellen come down a few days later to spend a few days, so we had lunch there.  We recommend it highly.

Art is into photography too and Ellen is an art teacher, so they indulged me and my fooling around with the IR D200.  The grounds at Newport Coast Villas are gorgeous and lend themselves well to IR photography.

We went to the Sherman Library and Garden after lunch at the crow bar and kitchen and discovered a beautiful, much larger than anticipated garden right on the highway.  It's one of those places where you have to be there, and you can see numerous IR photos in the IR photo gallery, but you really should visit yourself if possible.

Sue grew up going to Balboa Island every summer because her parents owned a house there.  We vacationed there for a number of years with Chris and Rod so our children could experience the wonderful area--which is to say, we wanted to stay there and therefore our children would learn to love it.  Which, of course, they did. One of the nice things about Newport Coast Villas is that it's close to Balboa.

Sue and I had lunch at Wilma's Patio on Balboa and then bought clothes for Christopher and Brooklyn at Magnolia Charlie, arguably one of the best children's clothing stores in the universe.  It was nice just walking down Marine Avenue for the afternoon.

We went to Balboa Island with Art and Ellen too, so we could have a Balboa Bar for dessert and spend more time walking around Marine Avenue.  Balboa Bars just hit the spot sometimes.

Art and Ellen left after two days and Sue and I relaxed for another day before coming home and turning the place over to Jennifer and Duane.  It's really nice at Newport Coast Villas, so I'm looking forward to going back.

Oh, and if you want to see the photos from the mission and Balboa they're here.  And the infra-red gallery is here.