We were fortunate to have a nice little family getaway to San Diego this past weekend and if I’m going to be honest, I’m ready to go back. This four-night getaway was exactly what we all needed and I think we all thoroughly enjoyed the time spent together in the sunshine. I think Brooke asked if we were going to San Diego 100 times. By this she kept checking to make sure we were going back to our house in San Diego, and not going back to Seattle, so for clarity we started calling the San Diego house the Sunny House. I think she was the least pleased of all of us about going back to Seattle Monday morning but it was also a very abrupt wake up call upon arrival with heavy rain, gale like winds, and even losing power Tuesday morning so as her school had a delayed start of 11 am. Joy!
So our flight to San Diego (and back to Seattle) was at the crack of dawn. 6:30 am to be exact so we were up and out the door around 4 am to get there in time. We had just enough time in the airport for a quick breakfast and then boarded the plane. Our flight is a short and sweet 2+ hours but as we were descending into the airport the pilots made a quick maneuver to put us back in the air and did a run around of the airport which delayed us about 25 minutes and then we had to sit on the runway for another 30 minutes before we could pull into our gate. We were restless by then but soon enough were off the plane, bags in hand, and retrieved our rental car heading to La Jolla. Our Airbnb wasn’t going to be ready until about 3 pm and it was only about 11 am so we drove up to La Jolla to take in the seals, walk to find a delicious lunch al fresco at a place called Queenstown Café, and then picked up some groceries from Ralph’s and then were eager to see our place.
Our rental was right in the heart of Mission Beach and was a great and spacious find. We were one block from both the ocean boardwalk and the Mission Bay walking path. We were also a hop, skip and a jump from a big grassy park and Belmont Park which we had plans to hit on Friday. The girls checked out the digs and then were ready for the hot tub. It was only about 63 degrees on Thursday and Friday and the hot tub was set pretty low upon arrival but the girls did not seem to mind and swam for about an hour before we pulled them away to go watch the sunset. The girls chased the waves, got soaked in seawater and sand, so we headed back to the house after sunset to wash them off, change them into pjs and get them some food before they were entirely toast and ready for bed. Chad was in town for work and we had talked of meeting up. Because the girls (and us) were so exhausted he graciously picked us up Baja fish tacos from Oscar’s Mexican Seafood just north of us and brought them to our rental. We scarfed them down and enjoying conversation with him for some time before we were all ready to get some needed rest.
We woke Friday morning with our sole plans for the day being Belmont Park, which opens at 11 am. After breakfast the girls were ready to get back in the hot tub. I went first for a 5-mile run on the nearly empty boardwalk and then Bryan went after me. I soaked in the hot tub with the girls for awhile and then we showered and dressed for the day. We set out for a quick lunch at the nearby Kojack’s for Greek food for three of us and a slice of pizza for Brooke before walking across the street to Belmont Park where we proceeded to spend nearly the next 7 hours straight at. The girls loved the rides and took them all in that they could do. Reese especially loved the car ride with Brooke, the spinning ice cream ride by herself, and her first ever experiences on bumper cars which she was an ace at. Brooke also loved the car ride with Reese, the submarine ride but her favorite was surprisingly the Zero Gravity drop ride, which was also a favorite amongst the rest of us. We all walked back to the house around 3 pm to reapply sunscreen and let Brooke get in a quick snooze with me. We enjoyed some bubbles on the grassy lawn on the way, pina colada popsicles while in the house, and the Brooke napped with me for over an hour while Reese and Bryan took in more of the rides that Reese could do but Brooke could not.
Brooke and I reconvened with the other two at the park just before 5 and we pulled the girls away from the park a little after 7 pm because we knew we needed to get food and that they both would crash pretty quickly. We ordered takeout from SD Tap and got some really good pizza, chicken, Brussels, and pasta. We were all toast, as was Chad, so we didn’t meet up with him on his last night in town.
Saturday morning was a planned day at the San Diego Safari Park. We had been to the zoo here before and it was amazing and this is its sister attraction, located about 35 minutes inland. We had an easy drive there, stopped to get a big breakfast at the Broken Yolk Café on the way, and go there a little before 11 am. It was more than 10 degrees warmer at the park then at the coast, if not more. We started with the carousel, which is always fun, and started our walk through the Australia Outback section which was maybe another 10 degrees warmer. We got to see tigers, kangaroos and condor on this walk, all very cool but we lost Reese to the warm weather as well. Carrying both of the girls in the heat was…fun. We looped back around to the carousel for another three rides which perked both girls up and then we set out for a cool snack of an ICEE and soft serve cone which also helped. We continued on to the Africa Walk and to get on the tram for the safari. The wait was a bit for the tram but it was fine not walking for a bit and before long we were on the tram and ready for a 20+ minute ride through the park. This was a lot of fun and well worth it. We got to see giraffes, rhinos, zebras, antelope, deer, flamingos, lions, and many other animals and it was peaceful and serene and really all beautiful. I did feel transported to a real safari for a short time. After the ride we cooled off in the little kids spray park before heading to the exit with one more stop at the carousel for a ride before leaving the park at nearly 5 pm.
We got back to the Pacific Beach area right at sunset and it was beautiful. We picked up a delicious poblano chicken California burrito from one of our favorite stops, Lucha Libre, and then tried some more Baja fish tacos from Mission Tacos which were surprisingly even better than Oscar’s and brought them back to the house to have for dinner. We settled into a movie and then spent the last hour of the night hot tubing before going to bed.
Our last full day I think was one we were not sure how it was all going to play out as we were headed downtown to a whale watching cruise. The weather was phenomenal though with zero cloud cover or fog and sunny beautiful skies. We got to Pier Two to board the City Cruises boat at 9:15 am and from then until nearly 1 pm we were out at sea. They gave us some historical information on San Diego, some areas downtown and of course the military bases in the harbor, before getting out into the open. The sea was very calm and flat with very little wind so it was extremely pleasant in the sunshine.
Before long we got reports of two fin whales a little way out and got to the spot where we caught them in action for about an hour. This was very cool to see the second largest animal in the world. We then found a group of standard dolphins which was also super fun to watch jump and swim with the boat. We headed back to the harbor and upon departing the boat found a food truck pop-up with live music and a grassy lawn for the girls to play in. We shared a bang bang shrimp plate and got Reese a massive hot dog and Brooke a cheese quesadilla to enjoy in the shade before heading back to our casa.
Bryan and I alternated going for a run, along the bay this time, and taking the girls to the beach for the last 3 hours of sunshine. We really enjoyed building sandcastles, burying the girls in the sand, chasing waves, looking for seashells and Reese did handstands and cartwheels for an hour. The sunset was gorgeous and we were all feeling great. We headed back home once the sun was set, soaked in the hot tub for a while and then I went back to get more Greek from Kojacks and pizza for Brooke to have while watching a movie and the girls were toast and ready for bed shortly after that. Bryan and I finished laundry, packing and getting the house ready to leave and were in bed early as well.
Our return flight to Seattle went without a hitch. We landed a little after 9 am and got the girls to school around 10:30 am. It was a very successful family vacation, one with a lot of pictures and memories, and one I could already go back to.
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Chelsea