So Cal Part 1: San Diego

I came into this post with 101 pictures...just for the San Diego area. Woof.

Allow me to start from the very, very beginning. I've always had driving the PCH in California on my bucket list. When we first planned and did the northern part of the state, I fell so much in love with the coast and the trip as a whole, that I knew I wanted to travel all the southern parts the following year. You can definitely combine these trips into one, as many people do, but we just decided to do two seperate trips. If you do combine them, I highly recommend going for at least two weeks to truly experience it all and not rush yourself.

So, why do I love California so much? In my humble opinion, it has everything you could ever want for a trip...the beach, mountains, desert. It offers so much, especially when you live in a place that you don't have a beach or mountains. I love that one day I can be laying on the beach relaxing, but the next hiking or eating in a town that doesn't feel like you are in a "beach town", when you are looking for more adventure.

{the flight there was one of the most gorgeous flights I have ever been on}

How did I plan our itinerary? How did I know where we wanted to go? If there is one thing I'm good at (come on-give me one), it's planning trips. I research, read reviews, visit the most popular restaurants (this is a must), and I have probably lost many valuable hours of sleep over them. First, I looked at all the cities we wanted to visit in So Cal and then picked how many days we could go. We knew we wanted to spend the most of our time in San Diego, so we flew into San Diego, and got our return flights out of LAX because all the other stops are in between both of those locations. When it was time to leave San Diego, we traveled the PCH in our trusty rental car (only way to do it! do NOT take the freeway) from San Diego to Laguna/Newport Beach which is a little over an hour drive, then from Laguna/Newport Beach all the way to Los Angeles (about 2-2 1/2 hours depending on how much you stop), and on that leg we stopped at Huntington Beach, Venice, and Santa Monica as well before arriving in LA. We actually chose to drive all the way to Malibu before going to LA, which I highly recommend, but I will get into that in a later post.

San Diego:

This was my favorite stop of our trip, with Newport Beach coming in a very close second. There is nothing about San Diego that we didn't like. The food? Phenomenal. The weather? Don't get me started. All the different areas to explore? Sign me up. The thing I miss most about it, though, are the views and pretending to be a local. That's right, I faked it....

Every morning while in San Diego (we spent 3 days here and felt it was enough time to see everything), I got up bright and early from our place in La Jolla (more on this in a minute) to run alongside some of the locals. Billy even ran with me one morning, which I loved. I had the ocean to my right and gorgeous beach homes on both sides. I found this awesome spot in La Jolla, called the Juice Kaboose, that serves the most amazing juice drinks and acai bowls. You know a place is good when each morning you go, the SAME people are there every morning. I know running on vacation isn't exactly appealing all the time, but in this instance it was one of my favorite times of the day because I got a feel for how it would be living there and got to know the area really well.

 

After going back and forth about what area to stay in (La Jolla, Coronado Island, or Downtown), we are so happy that we picked La Jolla. We stayed in one of the few oceanfront hotels right in La Jolla Cove (hotel here) and the location could not be beat. I booked us one of the king suites, and while it isn't the Ritz, it was a good place to stay. It came with a fully equipped kitchen and like I said, you are in the best spot in town.

These were our views right from our balcony and from the cove right below...

 

That is really all we wanted when looking for a place...somewhere with a good location, decently priced, but still clean and it was just that. La Jolla is one of San Diego's most expensive areas and the town is filled with high end shops and restaurants.

 

Not to mention, the views from the cliffs are pretty spectacular...no?

FYI-It only took us 15 minutes to get downtown San Diego from our hotel, so it was the best of both worlds (imo). We did say that next time we would like to spend maybe one or two nights on Coronado Island, so if you are planning a trip I would recommend staying in La Jolla for a few nights and also maybe one or two on Coronado. Either way, you can't go wrong. 

As for the places we visited, the restaurants we ate at, and the beaches we explored, here's a quick rundown of our favorites. I could be here all day going into detail about each, but I figured I'd highlight them and if you have any questions further, email me.

Little Italy (downtown):

We ate here 2 nights because we loved the area so much. The food...omgoodness, THE FOOD! We ate at Trattoria Fantasica and Buon Appetito and absolutely loved them both. The Butternut Squash Ravioli from Trattoria Fantastica and the Linguine allo Scoglio from Buon Appetito were both top notch and I will have dreams about them in the future I'm sure.

There are some really awesome bars right by Little Italy too if you want to grab a drink after. We liked Craft and Commerce and this semi-newer place called Queenstown. We actually walked by this place on our first night, and regretted not going in, so we stopped in on our second night. The outside had the coolest decorations..pumpkin, fire pits, vintage signs, etc. It was love at first sight.

I don't have any pictures of it, but the Gaslamp District downtown (close drive from Little Italy), is a must. It is FILLED with great restaurants, bars, and is always hopping with people.


Hillcrest:

Brunch at Hash House A Go Go (our personal favorite that has been featured on Food Network) or Snooze...both winners.

Fun town to explore that is located right by Balboa Park, so you can get brunch, explore the town, then hop on over to see Balboa Park. 

 

These pictures from Hash House don't do the size portions justice...the plates are massive. You could easily split, but since I love brunch/any food in general, we tried two different things. I got the Griddled French Toast and Billy got Andy's Sage Fried Chicken Benedict..both popular items on the menu and BEYOND delicious.

Balboa Park:

Billy really enjoyed seeing this. It was really pretty and is right by the San Diego Zoo (which if you are wondering, we didn't end up doing because the zoo in our town is pretty legit and it just wasn't high on our list of to-do's)

Areas in La Jolla:

Dinner at George's on the Cove for a stunning view
Cupcakes from Cups (SERIOUSLY THE BEST CUPCAKES I have ever had. I'm not lying...)
The Cottage, brunch
Gelato off Girard (can't remember the name)

Mission Beach and Ocean Beach:

Great place to rent a kayak or to sit by the water or take a long walk around.

Eat at Hodad's for one of the largest and best burgers of your life (I wouldn't know being a vegetarian and all, but I saw them and trust that this is in fact very true). 

Old Town:

Loved exploring this area...it is so fun! Another favorite in San Diego. Spend a day walking around in the shops and street vendors (I got the cutest Christmas ornament and drink coasters!) and of course, do not leave without eating the Mexican here. I mean, do NOT.

We ate lunch at Cafe Coyote. Couldn't recommend this place more. It is the largest mexican restaurant I have ever been in! The food and service were A+...nom nom nom. GO HERE.

Last, but not least: CORONADO ISLAND:

L-O-V-E. Seriously. Spending the afternoon here was my favorite day on our trip.

Go park by the famous Hotel Del, walk through it, have drinks on the Sun Deck (the view is pretty much heaven), and rent bikes for the day and take them all around the island. We had the BEST time doing this. It took us about an hour and a half to ride the bikes all the way around and is the best way to see everything Coronado has to offer.

See what I mean? 

If you have time, stay to watch the sunset. Then, go visit one of the local breweries and get a Coronado Orange Ave. Just thinking and writing about this day makes me miss it so much. Coronado is the best.

(we went to The Tavern for drinks after our bike ride and really liked this place...the drinks in mason jars and rustic decor won me over) 

Final thoughts: San Diego/La Jolla now has a very special place in my heart. Thumbs up to you, San Diego. Thumbs up to you.

Part 2 coming soon.

 

PS: Thank you x 100 to those who sent me recommendations...seriously. You all rock.