GETAWAY SERIES: Sunny San Diego

Thursday

As an early anniversary gift to ourselves, Andrew and I planned a trip down to San Diego to enjoy some sunshine and relaxation time. Our evening flight on Thursday was out of Paine Field in Everett and we were eager to see how that experience would stack up compared to other airports. We had only ever flown into Paine Field before and found the small airport to be quaint but a welcome change from other ones we’ve gone through. From curb to gate, it only took us maybe 15 minutes. After our last fiasco with flights to California, this was an appreciated positive experience.

We booked our stay at The Lafayette Hotel, a boutique hotel located in San Diego’s North Park neighborhood. The décor was a nice callback to it’s 1946 opening and the hotel had a fun, historic vibe.

Friday

Andrew and I took our sweet time when we woke up, enjoying a leisurely morning that we don’t normally have on our vacations. Usually we’re up and at ‘em. Eventually we headed out and walked to Breakfast Republic for a hearty and delicious brunch. From there, we walked to Balboa Park, which was the one place I wanted to visit while we were in San Diego. The 1,200-acre park is filled with trails, museums, a botanical garden, theaters, and is home to the San Diego Zoo. Andrew and I walked around, exploring the Botanical Building, Spanish Village Art Center, the San Diego Museum of Man, and the surrounding grounds. The park is so vast that we were only able to scratch the surface of what Balboa Park has to offer.

After a quick nap back at our hotel and dinner at In-N-Out, we went out to the Gaslamp Quarter for a few drinks. Our first stop was at Tin Roof where we lucked out by getting a waitress who lived in Issaquah for a year and gave us some recommendations on where to go for the rest of the evening. After Tin Roof, we went to Trailer Park After Dark, a trailer park themed bar which was quite a sight to behold. Imagine keg-shaped urinals, beers served in paper bags, WWF home videos on the TVs, and red Solo cup string lights. Our last stop was at Coin-Op Game Room, where we played Pac-Man, skee ball, and pinball.

Saturday

Saturday offered us another leisurely morning. I took a book out to read by the pool before Andrew and I took a little swim. Normally I’m too busy on vacations to enjoy the hotel amenities, so this was a nice change of pace for me.

Once we were ready to leave the hotel, Andrew and I went to the Little Italy neighborhood where I, funnily enough, enjoyed breakfast tacos. I know, tacos in Little Italy? But they were delicious and I had no complaints! We decided to then walk around the waterfront and spontaneously decided to check out the USS Midway Museum. It was pretty impressive, as the aircraft carrier offered multiple exhibits and the chance to check out military planes and helicopters.

After the museum, we visited the statue “Unconditional Surrender”, which many may recognize as the kissing sailor and nurse. We then grabbed some drinks at Ballast Point Brewery and walked around Little Italy more before ending our evening.

Sunday

The last day of vacation is always my least favorite. I never want the fun to end, but we had to carry on!

I read a little bit more by the pool in the morning before Andrew and I headed out. I met up with my old college roommate, Brittany at Fig Tree Café and enjoyed another delicious brunch and quality catch-up time. Andrew was able to watch part of the Seahawks game while I was with Brittany, and afterwards we met up and lounged around at Pacific Beach. After some sunshine and ice cream, we were off to the airport for our trip home. It was a relaxing end to an equally relaxing vacation.

If you’d like to watch my vlog from our San Diego trip, you can find it here.