If you had only three days to spend on vacation in SoCal, who would you bring and what would you do?

[Tater]

Three days in California…hmm. There are just so many things I can do here, I don't even know where to begin, seeing that Southern Cali is my oyster for three whole days.

My adventure would begin with a special childhood memory of mine. See, when I was a little kid both of my parents worked, so I was put into the capable hands of my favorite uncle ever, the hilarious Uncle Rudy. One day we were watching I Love Lucy, the episode when Lucy and Ethel stole John Wayne's cement footprints from Grauman's Chinese Theatre. Uncle Rudy acted like he wasn't sure if they were really stolen, so we hopped in his red Sentra and drove up to Hollywood, just to make sure things were kosher. It is seriously one of my favorite memories ever and one that would definitely start things off with that childish spunk my uncle always keeps in his utility belt.

Next stop? I gotta pick up my girl and head on down to the famous Olvera Street in Los Angeles, a whole section of the city dedicated to my Mexican heritage. Olvera Street is filled with beautiful historic buildings and a fantastic marketplace chockfull of authentic handcrafted souvenirs, a true weakness of mine. I realize that we are mere hours from Mexico, but this is an easier way to get the feel without taking the drive. While shopping and wandering the street, we'd be sure to grab a few tacos from the numerous outdoor cafés. And of course, a few margaritas would also have to be consumed. It’s almost a law.

Once nightfall hits, it's time to do things up, time to shake a tail feather. Now, I’m not one for club-hopping. My location of choice would be to rock out to a really cool band and what better place to see said band but the El Rey Theatre? I’ve seen some of my favorite bands there and the retrolicious decor the El Rey makes it a real treat for any music lover. Nothing but good times.

Now that I've conquered the Los Angeles area, I need to get back home to Orange County. One of my favorite Orange County spots is the swapmeet at the Orange County Fairgrounds. My mom and I have combed this gigantic plethora of cheap goodies on numerous occasions and I just can't get enough of it, so the swapmeet is definitely a major plus on my little adventure. In fact, I couldn't think of a better companion on this excursion than my mom. She is a wheeler and a dealer. Plus, she always likes to treat me to some useless junk I just can't live without. And afterwards, I’d take in the last part of the day with one of Southern California's favorite burger joints, In-N-Out. The menu is basic and to the point, burgers and fries. That's it. It's made to order and only the freshest of ingredients are used. No microwaves in this bad boy. Yumyumyum. But I have an early day tomorrow, so I better rest up.

The final day is hands-down my favorite of the three. Today, I grab my favorite dude and we travel down to San Diego because I wanna watch some good old-fashioned smashmouth football and this is the only city in SoCal that has a team. So we get up early and head on down to tailgate at Qualcomm Stadium, home of the San Diego Chargers. I'm a football girl, and might I add quite the cook, so I don’t really care who's playing, I just want to tailgate and watch a great game.

And what better way to wrap up a fantastic weekend but to cruise by the bar from the 80's hit Top Gun, Kansas City Barbeque, for one last hurrah? You’ll never lose that loving that there.

Beer, BBQ and ball… there's no better way to end this amazing weekend.