Memorial Day is arriving soon and we want to give you 3 great day trips to do over a 3 day weekend! There are many great cities in Orange County to celebrate Memorial Day and do great day trips in the area! Here at Limon, we want to provide you guys with the best day trip possible and we’re going to start the list with….

Laguna Hills

The City of Laguna Hills will be doing a Memorial Day marathon over the weekend honoring the United States Marine Corps.

Start your day trip by participating in the marathon. The city offers many types of marathons to do from the 5k, 10k, and even half marathons starting at 6 AM! There’s also the Laguna Hills SkatePark and dinosaur themed park to enjoy after the marathon and to get an additional workout! I enjoy a good exercise in the park at sunset to feel relaxed and refreshed. One of my favorite activities to do at a park is to have a picnic and read a book. Another great activity to do with friends is skateboarding at the skatepark. There’s also a park that is dinosaur themed if you want to reminisce about your inner childhood.

May 30th is the day of the marathon. The marathon starts at 7 AM, but there are also other activities that you can do at this memorial day marathon with the opening ceremonies starting at 6:50 AM before doing the marathon and a community expo happening from 7:30 AM until 11:30 AM and a beer garden event happening from 8:00 AM to 12:00 PM

This is a great way to have fun with friends and family as there will be a diaper race for 3 years old and under at 9:45 AM. The marathon starts at Calle de la Louisa between the Laguna Hills Mall and Saddleback Memorial Hospital. The course finishes at the Laguna Hills Community Center. Not only is the event a lot of fun, but it is an event that honors and memorializes veterans.

After having a great marathon day, check out Open Market OC, a great place to do shopping. There are also great nearby places to buy food as well. Open Market OC features local artists doing local art and jewelry. There are also a lot of goodies and beautiful decor to purchase for your home. A great place to have a day trip with your girlfriends!

After a great shopping spree at the open market, check out these great restaurants nearby: BJ’s Restaurant and Brewhouse, Woodfire Kabob Restaurant, King’s Fish House, Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers, and Bru Grill & Market.

There are many great things to do in Laguna Hills as well like visiting Crystal Cove State Park and the Moulton Museum featuring an exhibit about the history of Aliso Viejo. Laguna Hills is the place to be at for a nice quiet day trip with friends.

Santa Ana

There will be a memorial service in Santa Ana, California on May 30th, 2022 at Fairhaven Memorial Park. Right next to the memorial park is a flower shop to buy flowers prior to the memorial service. The memorial service will include public speakers, music by the Orange County Concert Band and The Southern California Children’s Chorus. There is also the Santa Ana Cemetery to pay respects.

After the memorial service, stop by for some food at Gourmet Burger and Yum Yum Donuts.

Santa Ana is also known for many other things that you can do in Santa Ana. Santa Ana is most famous for its Bowers Museum, a museum that features culture and artwork from all over the world. Named after Charles Bowers and opened in 1936, this museum has gone through numerous renovations and expansions. The museum is also known for its Native American artwork. The final museum crucial to Santa Ana is the Heritage Museum featuring the famous Kellogg House, which is fascinating from an architectural perspective.

Located right across from the Bowers Museum is the Montanya Spa, a place where you can relax after a long day of walking at the museum. This place offers massages, spas, and facials.

Another point of interest in Santa Ana on Memorial Day is the Lyon Air Museum featuring World War II memorabilia, artifacts, cars, and planes. Opened by Major General William Lyon, the museum also features Japanese, German, and American motorcycles and aircrafts. After a fun visit at the museums, be sure to stop by the Santa Ana Zoo and the Orange County Center for Contemporary Art located in Downtown Santa Ana. The Contemporary Art Museum features many exhibits from local artists in Orange County.

Also, two famous food places in Santa Ana are Blackmarket Bakery and Blinking Owl Distillery. The Blinking Owl Distillery is the first craft distillery in California to both have a tasting room and sell liquor on premises. The Blackmarket Bakery is a famous bakery in the San Diego area with a location in Santa Ana, offering cakes, croissants, and coffee.

There’s endless possibilities of day trips here in Santa Ana. Santa Ana is also known to be the financial and government center of Orange County, a fitting theme on Memorial Day, so be sure to visit Santa Ana and check out everything it has to offer.

Huntington Beach/Newport Beach

We saved the best for last here at Limon. For a great memorial day weekend with friends and family, check out Huntington Beach and Newport Beach. We couldn’t pick between Huntington Beach and Newport Beach because both cities are amazing to visit, great day trips, and both cities are worthy of being in this list.

Huntington Beach will be having their Lobsterfest where you can enjoy delicious juicy lobster and champagne and $4 beer over the weekend at Sealegs Wine Bar from May 27 to the 29th. Enjoy their delicious lobster items such as Lobster Mac N’ Cheese, Maine Lobster Rolls Sliders, Lobster Bisque, and more. Sealegs Wine Bar will also be celebrating their fourth anniversary.

On that same weekend, the city of Newport Beach will be holding a wine festival which will take place at Balboa Bay Resort. The festival will have multiple events in a day. Hanging out in Newport Beach is a great way to spend time with your friends and we here at Limon cannot get enough of Newport Beach.

Balboa Island is one of the highlights of Newport Beach and we highly recommend visiting the island if you haven’t been there. Huntington Beach is also a city that we cannot get enough of.

Highlighted things and locations to check out in both cities are 602 Coffee House and the Huntington Beach Pier and try Balboa Island’s famous chocolate banana bars and be sure to visit the Balboa Museum.

What are your favorite places to visit on Memorial Day? Let us know in the comments!