San Diego Travel Guide

4 years of marital bliss!

Last month, Carl and I celebrated our 4 year wedding anniversary!

Unlike last year, due to the pandemic and extreme lockdown, we were not able to celebrate like we may have wanted to, but being home with the kids that we created was good enough.

However this year, we needed to get away!

So we debated about where we wanted to go because

We are not fully comfortable getting the COVID vaccine.
I didn’t want to deal with COVID testing or anything like that.
Addysn was 9 months old, has never been away from her parents longer than a few hours, so if we needed to hop on a plane and come back home, we wanted that flexibility. So we didn’t want to go too far.

So we settled on San Diego, California! And it was a good decision!

Here is our trip from start to finish!

What to pack:

I’ve been to Los Angeles before and I sort of remembered how the weather was there prior to visiting. However in San Diego, it’s completely different! May in some areas can be known as May Gray and June as June gloom. So if you’re looking for hot SoCal weather, then stay away from those months.

The sun did peek out here and there but for the most part all of the cute summery type outfits that we packed, we definitely didn’t wear. We actually ended up buying hoodies and wore those to the beach!

Also the style in San Diego was just super casual. We planned to have a fancy dinner night and we just dressed it down because we refused to be the over dressed tourists.

So if you’re thinking about going during those months, be sure to pack a good hoodie, long sleeve, or sweatshirt. You may need it!

We booked our flights with American Airlines and it was about a 3 hour non-stop flight.

Once we got off the flight there was a shuttle to take us to the rental car places. I would highly suggest getting a rental car if you’re wanting to explore the city and move around freely without the hassle of getting an Uber or Lyft.

We rented ours from Avis and got a convertible Camaro. It was perfect for cruising the San Diego streets with the top down for sure.

Because we had a rental car, we were able to explore and go where we wanted and was able to see quite a bit of the city like we wanted, however the con to having a rental car, is struggling to find parking in some places, as well as paying for parking at the hotel you may be staying in. In my opinion the rental car was worth the investment. We got to explore every part of the city at our convenience!

Where to stay

We stayed at the Best Western Plus Island Palms Hotel in Shelter Island. Carl’s supervisor actually recommend the place and it’s a great area to stay. It was pretty romantic being by the bay, however if we were to go again we would try to stay near the beach, preferably Coronado or La Jolla. Shelter Island is so peaceful and we saw very few families there. I’m sure if we would have stayed near the beach, it would have been a different story.

Places to eat:

The best part of the trip, well to us of course was the variety of food places.

When we got there and got checked in to our hotel, we ate at Blue Wave Grill, which was a restaurant inside of the hotel we were staying in.

The food was pretty good, but was pretty basic as far as food selection goes.

The Breakfast Republic

Hands down, this was the best brunch place I’ve ever eaten at! It was so good and the place was pretty packed. We had to wait about 30 minutes, but we got to explore the area while we waited so it wasn’t that bad. It’s in Liberty Station and there is a public market there that we wished we would have gotten to stay and enjoy. There was a ton of different food places to try. If we go back, that is definitely on the list!

OB Noodle House & Sake Bar

So this is Carl’s top food choice. This was actually recommended from a friend of Carl’s (you can tell who planned this trip) and it was a great recommendation! It was pretty good if you like a little Asian fusion. This was near Ocean Beach. Ocean Beach has a hippie vibe, and it’s even a little friendly feud between which is better Ocean Beach vs. Pacific Beach.

Jack and Gulios

This was also a recommendation from Carl’s supervisor. This is real Italian food and if you don’t know me, I love Italian food! They also had Moscato D’ Asti which I love so it’s easily a good place in my book!

The Taco Stand

Okay.. after Carl had to drag me off the beach, we went to downtown San Diego to one of the best Taco places I have EVER eaten at! Everything was fresh and there are some secret menu items that Carl tried, which he said was really good.

Rockin Baja Lobster

So this place was pretty average. It is in Old Town and was pretty popular, but we could have skipped it and found somewhere else if we had the time. I will say that their Pina Colada’s are BOMB! I could have got an appetizer and a Pina Colada and would have been just fine.

Honorable mention that we wanted to visit but was closed when we arrived Mr.Moto Pizza. This was highly recommended and wasn’t too far from our hotel. We’ll have to visit when we go back.

One thing I will mention that’s completely different from being home in Texas, is that their food places closed a lot earlier than what we are used to. Not sure if this was due to COVID, but be mindful when planning your dinner.

Things to do:

I initially thought all San Diego had to offer was the beaches, or maybe that’s all I wanted to see, but there’s so much more that we just didn’t get to!

Old Town

Old Town has so much culture and history! When we got there, a black man stopped and told us about the black man who first discovered gold in the city! He even owned a hotel that’s still in San Diego today. It was very interesting and so cool to know about black history right in San Diego. There’s even the first black barbershop in Old Town that’s still there as well.

We spent most of the time sightseeing and visiting the different shops.

We even visited the Mystical Psychic Reading. I’ve never gotten any psychic readings done before and neither had Carl so it was great to get to do that together. We got our palms read and Gina (the lady that read our palms) was so nice and she was SPOT on. It was actually really great for us to talk about later. So if you’re into that type of thing, definitely go and visit.

Balboa Park– So we didn’t get to actually see the entire park, but we were able to drive past (the good thing about having a rental car). We saw people having a dance class, there was music playing, there was food, and just a lot of things to see. However, the parking was insane (the bad thing about having a rental car), and we didn’t want to wrestle with finding a spot and then having to walk to the park, so we kept driving and touring the city.

San Diego Zoo– if you’ve heard about San Diego, then you’ve heard about the zoo. Since Carl and I was on our anniversary trip, we were not about to go to the zoo without our kids. But we will bring them next time and visit! The kid in me wants to go too.

Little Italy– Another recommendation from Carl’s supervisor. We didn’t get to actually visit and sight see here, but it’s just another area to grab some great food, walk, and enjoy the vibe and culture. I hate that we didn’t get to visit. It’s for sure a good spot for some great photos!

La Jolla beach

La Jolla is just breathtaking! Between La Jolla and Coronado, they’re the top beaches in California. We stopped by a neighborhood near La Jolla Cove and just admired the beauty of the place. It was great to just sit, look out and relax for a bit. I was also amazed at the neighborhood! The houses were just goals!

Coronado Beach

Coronado Beach is arguably one of the best beaches in California! Easily. It’s just amazing! I literally just wanted to sit there all day. We packed some drinks and snacks and just laid out. There are food places around if you want to grab food. Beware of the birds! We watched them take people’s food and fight over it. It was pretty funny, so don’t get caught slipping.

Oh and I have to mention this because I was absolutely terrified. Going over to Coronado beach, there is the HUGE bridge. Like it’s so high. I’m NOT a fan of bridges and when I realized we were about to go over it, I almost fainted. And then had to take it on the way back! That is one thing I did not like about the beach! But I’m sure if you’re like me.. there may be another way around it.

Ocean Beach/ Dog Park

I love dogs and they have a dog beach! It was so great to see dogs playing with each other and in the water just living their best life! They have a separate beach for people without dogs, but I was just amazed and interested in the dog park.

Klover Dispensary–

We couldn’t go to California and not visit a dispensary! I was honestly just amazed at all the different assortments and the knowledge behind all of them! It was all so interesting and was truly an experience. It was also such a cool vibe.