This past July, Dan and I had the opportunity to take a trip to San Diego, California, for five days BY OURSELVES! Dan was offered the opportunity to cover Comic Con as a member of the press for his podcast,
Coffee with Kenobi. Since this event also fell just before our anniversary, we decided to combine work and fun and make a trip out of it!
We left nice and early on a Monday morning. I love wearing a maxi dress on a plane and the jacket is a must since I am always freezing. Truth be told, I pack socks on my carry on since you will never find me walking barefoot through security. #yuck I also had to put the socks on mid-flight because my feet were freezing. My dress and jacket are past season Gap and my shoes are Toms wedges.
An important note for later, I decided to only have a carry on for this trip and Dan checked a bag. I do not like checking bags because it is always a hassle. Speaking of hassle, I was hassling Dan about his decision to check his bag while we were packing and ended up putting half of my stuff in his bag because my carry on was too small. #whoopsie This is also the forshadowing portion of the story.
Is there anything better than the view from an airplane? I especially love flying west over the mountains.
The weather in San Diego was AMAZING. It was summer during the day and fall weather at night. Perfection. We stayed at the Omni Hotel in Downtown San Diego across from the convention center where Comic Con was happening later in the week. Getting there early and watching them set up for the event was incredible. The entire downtown literally changes overnight.
The convention center...
Our hotel was right next to the Gaslamp District, which includes lots of shopping and fun restaurants.
After our plane landed, we took a short Uber ride to our hotel, ditched our suitcases and walked to the Gaslamp District to eat. We randomly chose the Rockin' Baja Lobster Bar and Grill and it was so good! We ordered margaritas, a collection of appetizers and checked out the different types of salsa in the salsa bar inside. It was so good! We sat outside and made a loose plan for how to explore San Diego.
Our hotel was right next to Petco Park so we walked around it on our way back to work off our lunch and check out another baseball park. The Padres were not in town or, otherwise, we would have gone to a game. We love checking out new baseball parks. This is the only baseball related thing that we agree on!
After that, we walked to the harbor, went back to our hotel, went to the gym and then both fell asleep by the pool. Dinner on the first night was room service because we were exhausted from traveling.
Our view from the hotel at night...
We were up bright and early the next morning and after finding a Starbucks, we decided to take the ferry to Coronado Island, which was about fifteen minutes from our hotel.
This was one of our favorite days of the trip. We shopped, ate, checked out adorable beach houses, visited the Hotel Coronado, went to a farmer's market, and walked all around this beautiful island.
Beach house stalking...
I could eat this for lunch every day of my life. Lobster, shrimp and crab rolls.
After walking the beach at the beautiful Hotel Coronado where there are literally gold flecks in the sand, we went to the hotel patio bar and had ourselves a little happy hour.
California just gets me...
On the way back to the ferry, we shopped some more and I found a place with Kombucha on tap...LOVE! It totally looked like I was drinking a small cup of beer with a straw on the ferry ride back. :)
After cleaning up, we took an Uber to Old Town for dinner at Cafe Coyote.
It was the best Mexican food I have ever had in my life. From the handmade tortillas to the mariachi band that played to us over chips and salsa, it was an epic date night.
After dinner, we walked and checked out the vendor carts and shops and then captured this amazing sunset...
The next morning, we took an Uber over to Little Italy. One of our favorite parts of traveling is heading to random parts of the city and getting lost for a few hours. Also, eating...
We met the nicest shop owners, ate some amazing Italian food and wine for lunch, walked through yet another farmer's market and had a fabulous start to our day. After lunch Dan needed to head back to the convention center to go to work, so I took an Uber to a nearby mall and shopped by myself for over four hours! I honestly can't remember the last time that happened and it was so fun! I found a lot of good deals and knew that packing everything I bought was going to be very interesting in that carryon I insisted on sticking to.
I headed back to our hotel, freshened up and set out for the Gaslamp District to get dinner. ComiCon was in full swing at this point and the people watching was amazing. I spotted the E News stage but didn't see Guiliana or Jason...
The Gaslamp District at night...
I actually ended up sitting in the hotel lobby bar area and ordered a glass of wine and appetizers. I used the time to work on homework and blog and met Dan for a late dinner when he wrapped for the day.
The next morning, Dan set out early to do a live show and attend events. We had to switch hotels for our last night (which we planned in advance), so I did my absolute best to shove everything into our two suitcases and headed north thirty minutes to Del Mar. We stayed at an adorable boutique hotel called Hotel Indigo. I had the whole day ahead of me, so I through on my suit and coverup and set out for the beach. I do not mind being alone in a new city and that is one of the main reasons that Dan and I enjoy combining work and play with these trips. We get a few days together and then he can work while I explore and he doesn't need to worry that I'm bored.
I ate my lunch with a good book and a far off view of the water. The weather and the food options are two of my favorite things about California.
After lunch, I headed to my happy place...
An Amtrak train runs right along this beach. I would love to take our kids on that train ride someday.
It was a perfect day, so I threw on some sunscreen and a cute sun hat and settled to to finish my book. It was the perfect way to spend my last day.
San Diego did not disappoint. Both Dan and I agree that it is one of our favorite west coast cities.
We set out for the airport early the next morning so we could catch Parker's game later that day. When we got to the airport, were told that our checked bag was ten pounds overweight. Did I mention that I had shoved that bag full of my purchases because my carry on wasn't cutting it? Ha ha! Dan was not about paying the extra $100 to fly my good deals back to Illinois, so we opened that bag right on the curb, shoved some things in our carry ons and layered up. He was super happy with me. :) It all worked out in the end...
Such a fun week with my guy!
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