Orange County: Somewhat off the beaten path

This is one of the nicest bed-and-breakfasts in the most beautiful city of Orange County. This city is widely known for The Pageant of the Masters/The Festival of the Arts, which is a huge art festival held in the summer. Laguna Beach is an artist's haven, full of gorgeous galleries. The Casa Laguna is a lovely and affordable place to stay when visiting this fine establishment. When rating a bed-and-breakfast, I look at a few aspects: breakfast and how comfortable the beds are. First of all, the rooms are extremely cozy. The beds are covered with downy sheets and comforters, and the rooms are very quaint.

I love it when you have a dining room with an ocean view. It's perfect when you come down for breakfast in the morning. They had a lovely egg frittata with a full continental breakfast. They also had wine, cheese, and cordials the night before by the fireplace.

You can borrow movies from the front desk to bring to your room. I just remembered that part.

This bed-and-breakfast gives you a discount for AAA and is extremely friendly. Don't pass this place up. It's also a very romantic stay.

When somebody asks me what my favorite breakfast place is in Orange County, I always go with this one. It's a very special restaurant. The owner (who is THE Waffle Lady) makes some of the best waffles and french toast I've ever had. If you go in, you can read all about her story on the back of the menu; how she ended up in San Clemente is an interesting story. I'll let you read it when you go...

San Clemente is a beachside resort-like town with an old Spanish style to it. It's been around for a long time, but people have only started discovering it in the last decade or two. It has a very old charm to it.

The Waffle Lady is my favorite breakfast place in San Clemente for their Macadamia Nut Waffle with Coconut Syrup and their vanilla french toast. Both are secret recipes. Everything tastes perfect here, though, so if you're not into the sweet stuff, the eggs and bacon even taste better than normal.

It's hard to say what they do so differently at this little country restaurant. Make sure you try it, though. It's worth the trip from Disneyland...

I have never been to a place with so many different kinds of pancakes. This restaurant specializes in Swedish pancakes, 49er Flapjacks, their famous apple pancake, something they call the Dutch baby, delicious crepes, and basted egg dishes. I know that's a lot of food to try in one visit, but if you only have one visit to this place, then you have to try the apple pancake. It is easy to split with someone and very sweet. It comes out very hot, though, so watch your tongue. My other favorite pancakes are the flapjacks. They're a very flat, rubbery pancake, but I love the texture of them. They also specialize in potato pancakes, with sour cream and apple sauce on the side. In my opinion, they're the best around.

When I first went to this place, I had a coupon from my entertainment guide (my preferred source for coupons). I don't live that far from this place, but if you're at any major attraction in Orange County, then you're a half-hour away at the most. It's pretty close to Laguna Beach actually.

This place is always packed, especially on weekends and holidays, but it's completely worth the wait. p> And if you're wondering what a basted egg is... well, you'll just have to go there and find out.

This is one of my other favorite breakfast places in Orange County. They don't advertise at all, except through the entertainment guides. This little ‘50s-style diner has some specialties I crave almost every morning. Mollies is a family-run restaurant, which is very hard to find in a mecca of chain restaurants. I like Mollies because it makes you feel at home. Very few restaurants are like that nowadays. It's like one of those country restaurants where everyone knows each other and hangs out all morning drinking lots of coffee.

Mollies has two things I will always order on their menu: a homemade chili omelet and their all-American waffle. The chili is one of the best chilies I've ever had, and the combination of that and the omelet are perfect. The all-American waffle is huge and full of blueberries, strawberries, and whipped cream. It's easy to split this.

When I go to Mollies, I especially like their red semicircle booths that look very ‘50s. I also think their service is excellent. If you are planning a visit to the Mission San Juan Capistrano here in town, make sure this is where you have breakfast.

There are many things I can say about my favorite restaurant in Orange County. It's not just the food, which is incredible; it's the atmosphere, the service, and the fun. The restaurant is made to look like an old Texas-style, Southern roadhouse when you approach. You feel like you're in the Bayou when you walk around the front of it. The inside looks like a mess when you enter, but that's part of the fun. Johnny Rebs has peanut shells all over the floor. When you are seated, there is a bucket of peanuts on the table. The peanuts are free, but they ask for a donation which goes to special charity.

The food here is so delicious. They specialize in really terrific homemade barbeque sauce, fried chicken (which is made to order - and I love the batter they use), fried catfish, fried green tomatoes, and a delicious peach cobbler.

They give you seconds on your sides. Each meal comes with two sides. I always prefer the sweet potato fries and the barbeque beans.

They offer really good beer on tap if you drink and have lots of fun Southern-type drinks.

The servers are a lot of fun here. If it's someone’s birthday, they bring out the copper pig figure and make the person kiss it either on the nose or the rear. One gives you a year of good luck and the other gives you two. Then they make you dance in front of everybody on all those peanut shells covering the floor.

The thing I love best is that, when I give them my entertainment coupon every year, they always let me use it twice, so I'll definitely come back again. Now how many places do that...