Jun 22, 2019

Big Bear Family Trip

Hey guys wanted to share our recent family trip to Big Bear with you. I’ll link and provide all the info from our trip at the bottom of this post.

Every Summer my oldest daughter Camrynn heads to upstate NY to spend the Summer with her dad and his family. So, I always plan one mini family trip before she leaves. This year we decided to head up to Big Bear Lake. Big Bear is an area most known for skiing and snowboarding. Winter is definitely the most popular time of the year to come, but the biggest advantage to coming in the “off” season is no crazy tourist crows and lower rental prices. There is plenty of fun family activities do in the Spring and Summer and everything is so close and easy to access because Big Bear is a small town.

THE DRIVE

So we live in Central California and the drive down to Big Bear was about 3 hours from our home. The girls fought and bickered the entire drive up to Big Bear, the only person asking, Are we there yet?! Was ME!! Haha!! On the way we stopped to check out the Joshua trees. It gave the girls a chance to get out of the car for a bit and stretch their legs and explore.

LODGING

One of our favorite parts of the trip was our Airbnb Cabin. We stayed in the cutest pink cabin nestled in a beautiful wooded area. It was pretty suburban, as there were many other houses and cabins on the same street, but still very scenic and serene. This cabin was the anthro of cabins you guys! It’s beautifully decorated while still being cozy and super family friendly. The girls we obsessed with the record player and jammed out all weekend to some new tunes. They had fun playing with the doll house and basket of small toys they had available for guest with kids. It has 2 bedrooms and 4 beds, a full kitchen with gas range, refrigerator, Kiruig, toaster oven and all the plates, cups, utensils and pans you’d need to whip up your own meals. There is a quaint little patio on the side of the cabin with table and chairs, twinkle lights and a BBQ grill. There is also a trampoline outback for the kiddos or the young at heart, haha!! There is one bathroom downstairs and it has complimentary shampoo, conditioner and body wash for guests to use and very plush and cozy towels. (Click the link at the bottom of this post for a full list of amenities) We really felt at home here. The biggest advantage to coming during the off season is the price is super low. I mean I can’t even book a hotel in LA for the price I paid per night for this Airbnb with a full kitchen and 4 beds! A deal too good to pass up.

DAY 1

So we arrived to our cute Airbnb Cabin and went in to explore and check it out. The girls excitedly ran through every room wowing every detail. They noticed the doll house right away and began to play while I started unloading our things. They jumped on the trampoline for a bit but it was quickly getting cold so we changed into warmer clothes and decided to head into town. The first place we went was Big Bear Lake Village. Where the street is lined with shops and restaurants. We parked and walked the entire village and did a little shopping. Then I let Camrynn pick a place to eat and she picked The Bone Yard. We did not like the food, the service was friendly but took forever to refill drinks. I can’t recommend this place because the food was just awful, in my (and my kids) opinion. After that it started pouring!! We ran to the car because we were getting soaked it was really funny the kids loved it. We decided to head back to the cabin to eat food we had brought for the cabin and then make some s’mores.

DAY 2

We woke up super early with excitement. Spent the morning hanging out in our pajamas. I made the girls some pancakes and I sipped on some hot tea and enjoyed the beautiful scenery. The living room has a wall that is all windows from top to bottom. The sunlight just pours in as the sun rises and let’s in the most beautiful light. The girls put a record on and we enjoyed a nice relaxing morning before heading out to explore.

We headed out the door, since we had been up for a few hours I thought it would be best to grab some food before we started our day. We headed to the Teddy Bear restaurant based on online reviews it was one of the best breakfast places in town.The menu was typical mom and pop breakfast food. I got a veggie omelet and the girls had pancakes (again) and sausage. The wait was a bit long but the food was pretty good.

First stop on our list was the Alpine Slide at Magic Mountain. This was SO fun and I highly recommend making a stop here. So the slide is a bobsled down the mountain about a quarter mile in length. You take a nice scenic chair lift to the top with a gorgeous view of the lake on the way up. It’s $6 a ticket and each ticket gets you one ride. They have other attractions at this same location. They have go-carts, a two seater zip line, a water slide (it was too cold when we were there) and mini golf. They do have height requirements for the go carts and the zip line. Charlie wasn’t big enough so we skipped these. So if you plan on making a trip check the website and also check their hours I think Summer they are only open Sunday-Thursday and Spring only on the weekends.

After we drove to Snow Summit Big Bear Mountain Resort. They have lots of fun Summer activities. At the base of the mountain they have a 30-foot climbing wall, Euro Bungee, zip line, Quick Jump, Mining and a bike park.

They have a Scenic Sky chair that takes you a mile up the mountain where you get to enjoy some breathtaking views on the way up and down. There is food at the base of the mountain as well as a small restaurant at the top. There is also a short hiking loop at the top that is easy and family friendly, that I highly recommend.

Summit mining was one of the best activities here. It’s only $12 a bag and the bag is large.The bag is full of sand with hidden jems and stones. You take it out to the mining area that is self guided. The area is cute and the girls received a good amount of gems and rocks in their bags. It was fun and a great price. Highly recommend for mining with kids.

Since we spend the majority of our day here, we eat here too. We ended up eating at the top of the mountain and the food was ok! ( one thing I like to splurge on is good food) so far we haven’t had good luck with the food.

As the day came to an end it started getting very cold so we headed towards the cabin. On the way we stopped by Dank Donuts and grabbed some yummy treats. The last hour before they close is considered “happy hour” anything left over from the morning is sold for $1 so we lucked out!!

At the cabin we cranked up the heat a bit warmed up our sweet treats and enjoyed the rest of the evening crafting and hanging out at the cabin. The owner, and my sweet friend who I met through instagram, left the girls a little craft set which they loved!!

DAY 3

We woke up early packed up our things and said good bye the the cutest cabin EVER!! Gosh, we were here for such a short time but felt like we made so many memories. The girls said they didn’t want to leave and asked if we could just buy it haha!! We’ll def have to make another trip back maybe this winter.

We headed to the Juice factory because I was seriously craving something healthy. This fresh juice and smoothie bar hit the spot!!

After we headed to Big Bear discovery center. It’s really small and not a lot to see. We did go inside and read all of the historical information. They had a very small gift shop where I bought the girls a backpack to hold all their rocks and collectables. I also got them some binoculars. Outside they have a small nature area as well as a short hiking trail. Takes about an hour/hour and a half to do.

Once we were done we headed to the Alpine Zoo. It is a very small zoo but had some very cool animals like a bald eagle, a hug hawk and wolves!! We love going to any Zoo and it was defenitely fun to check another zoo off our Zoo bucket list, (yes we have a bucket list just for CA zoos).

Then we headed to Gold Rush Mining Co. They are advertised as “family fun” but this place was extremely disappointing. First off they are not kid friendly! When you walk in the door there is glass figurines and knick knacks everywhere, it's a tight small space. If you have a toddler I would not bring them inside. Second, their pricing and packages are way overpriced!! I got the cheapest bag which was $15 when she brought it out it was half the size of the bag you get from Snow Summit (which is only $12 and way bigger) The girls shared the one bag and there was hardly any gems or stones and they were all very small. Then I guess Charlie had accidentally knocked over a small shark figurine in the store and the lady said I have to pay for it. I mean if my kid broke it I will pay for it, no problem. I mentioned that they are not kid friendly and that if they are going to advertise themselves as so they should consider putting their glass items out of reach of small children or even behind glass. She replied with “ well you should have been watching your kid” in a rude manner. I mean, really?! Wow! I don't recommend this place but you can always check it out for yourself you'd like.

Then we headed to Holloway's Marina for their Pirate Ship Cruise. Unfortunately the boat was out of service for repairs this day and we weren't able to ride it. It looked so fun and we were super bummed, but definitely next time we come we will be heading here.

We drove by Boulder Bay park which is a gorgeous scenic park. So beautiful! We did not get out of the car, everyone was hungry by this point and we decided to head to get some food. But, I highly recommend checking it out because it is a gorgeous park.

We headed back to the village and eat at Tropicali, a pretty cool little eater with amazing service. You can tell they really care about their customers, I mean no one left without a fist bump or high five. Then we stopped by the Village sweet Shop for some sweet treats for the drive home. We shopped at cute little kids boutique called Makayla where I got the girls a dress, such a cute little shop.

Unfortunately it was still pretty cold when we came (June 1st) California was having some weird weather so we weren't able to do any water sports or play on the lake, but if it was warmer we defenitely would have. Overall we had a GREAT trip!! Made lots of new memories, explored a new city and had the best time!