A Sunny Weekend

A Sunny Weekend

with Stephanie J. Block

The Tony Award-winning actress shares the itinerary of her perfect weekend in SoCal.

By Jessica Doherty

Stephanie J. Block is returning home to Southern California, where she was born and raised, for the final stop of the exclusive engagement of Into the Woods. We asked her what her ideal weekend in Southern California would look like with her family— when it’s between “72 to 75 degrees without rain the entire time,” of course.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Friday

We’re going to wake up at Shutters on the Beach Hotel in Santa Monica. We’re going to have a delicious breakfast or brunch on the beach, get our feet in the sand, and poke around and collect shells. And then we might do a little shopping. I’m going to take them to El Coyote and have Mexican food—legit Mexican food. Then we would go back to the beach and spend the night.

Saturday

We’re going to Disneyland, y’all! We’re doing Disneyland as a family. The first thing we always do is we ‘jump’ into Disney. We close our eyes, and we go, “woosh!” and we pretend like we’re kids again. My first ride is always It’s a Small World. Second, we’ll go on something fast—probably Space Mountain. Then we’ll go to Carnation Plaza, and we’ll do snacky-snacks, whether that’s a big-ass pickle or popcorn, maybe [my daughter] will get cotton candy. She’ll probably want a snack again, so we’ll get a Dole Whip and go to the Tiki Room to sit for a hot second. And we’ll be trading pins the entire time there. And then we’d do Pirates of the Caribbean, and Haunted Mansion. Then, Haunted Mansion again because she shut her eyes the whole time. Then Splash Mountain, then watch a parade, and figure it out from there. I’d love to stay at the Disney resort Saturday night.

Sunday

We’d do something a little quieter on Sunday, like visiting friends. We’d have people meet us at the Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Gardens in Pasadena, where there are such gorgeous gardens and art, for a low-key sitch. And then we’d have to get [our daughter’s] wiggles out. So, we’d take her to a great park. Somehow, we’ve got to get to Laguna Beach, where Sebastian can try to learn to surf.