Crowdsourcing for Southern California Vacation Recommendations!

This September marks the one-year anniversary of my mom finishing treatment for oral cancer. It hasn't been an easy ride and she's not out of the woods yet, but my sister and I want to celebrate this milestone and spend a little R&R together. It may be the last time we go on vacation as just the three of us, and we've only done it twice before (Disney World and Jamaica), so this is a special treat for us all. But enough about that, this is where you come in!

(Note: I'm not sure where this is, but it's the best I could find via free stock photos)

We've chosen southern California as our general destination due to my sister's freelancing work schedule. Tickets are booked to Los Angeles, but now we need to find a cute town nearby to spend a few days; we're not really interested in visiting any cities. Ideally we'd like to be near the beach to lay/swim/read (fingers crossed it will still be warm enough for that) and to explore a town or two that provides a nice balance between relaxation and things to do (e.g., shopping, eating). An inland town is a possibility as well if we can find a specific accommodation that has a pool (obviously that's up to us to find, but any special inland town recs are welcome!).

My mom and I have never been to California and my sister has only been for work, so we're very open to suggestions! I'm not sure if this is how Steemit is intended to be used, but with a wealth of knowledge at my fingertips via all Steemers, I figured it was worth a shot to pool for suggestions! Thank you in advance!