Summer So Far

Yikes. For some reason, the whole "schedule your posts! post regularly! consistency is key!" part of blogging has totally fallen through lately.



My apologies, friends.



So, to catch up...school ended beautifully, and literally 6 hours after logging out of my Upper Dublin computer for the last time, I was en route to sunny San Diego, one of my absolute favorite places in the world.



If you've never been, go. Like, now.



If you can't magically transport yourself to the gloriousness that is Southern California, you can console (torment?) yourself with the following pictures from our trip.



My first day there (Dan had already been there for a few days for a business trip) we went to Balboa Park, which the 1200 acre urban park in San Diego that encompasses the San Diego Zoo, and a vast array of other museums, gardens, and architecture. About halfway through our day there, after visiting two museums and enjoying glorious foliage and buildings, Dan asked, "How have we not visited here before?"

Balboa Park

Botanical House at Balboa Park

Gorgeous lily

Balboa Park

If you'll remember, this is our third visit to San Diego, and he was astonished that we had missed out on this huge awesomeness. I told him that it had previously been passed over in favor of good beer.



He was glad we got to do both this time.




That evening we went to Coronado Beach, one of the most famous beaches in SoCal due to the crazy expensive hotel on the island.

Sunset over the Pacific. 

Also, I feel the need to point out: do you notice the slight haze on the horizon? Yeah, apparently that's called the "June gloom." That haze, which exists on every skyline in Philadelphia from May until October due to the ridiculous smothering humidity, occurs for a couple weeks every June in San Diego. And it's the worst weather they get.


It's not even humid. Just hazy.


Ugh.

We asked some super friendly and chatty natives to take our picture. 

The next day we went to La Jolla Beach, where we took a kayak/snorkeling trip with a guide company. It was completely awesome, but sadly we did not get any pictures. Frankly, I'm ok with it...I was fine walking around in a wetsuit, but I don't mind the lack of photographic evidence.


We did get to kayak from the beach to the cove, and then we snorkeled around for probably an hour. The water is so.freaking.clear. This Philly gal, raised on the grayishness that is the Mid-Atlantic, was in awe. And I swam until the last possible moment, even though I was shivering as I flippered. One of our tour-mates told me that I looked like Rose in the last scenes of the Titanic.

Source

And, being the major geek that I am, I immediately pictured this.
Source

I digress.



Back to San Diego!



We had an absurd red-eye flight home on our last day, so we decided to check out of our hotel and drive up the coast a bit. We drove through Encinitas and Carlsbad, and stopped at a local farmer's market along the way. Dan was in awe at that. Best peaches of the summer.



Finally we found a scenic look-out point.

Gorgeous. 

The weather is ALWAYS perfect. 

Finally, we drove back down the coast to the airport.



So, yeah. If you've never been to San Diego, you definitely need to go.



More coming soon!

Vacation Part 2: San Diego

After five days in Colorado, we boarded another Southwest flight (more kids) and headed for our second favorite place on earth: San Diego!



Besides having gorgeous weather all.the.time, beautiful beaches, and a very fun, laid-back vibe, San Diego is also home to some delicious food and beer. So naturally we're obsessed.



We rented a sweet ride, too.

It was suuuper windy in the backseat (especially on the highway, which is mostly how we got around) so I decided to channel Audrey Hepburn to keep my hair presentable.

Or something.

Anyway, we had three days to cram a lot of fun and food (and beer). We got right down to brass tacks.

I was super excited to offer what I believe is my first actual contribution to vacation plans. Like, ever. Yep, I'm the girl who usually shows up with a suitcase and that's about it. Anyway, Picky Palate posted an Instagram photo of this awesome looking meal at this place called Hash House a go go. We dropped by for breakfast! 

And ate maybe 1/3 of the portions. 

It was totally delicious though, and would be still be a great meal if you want to share plates. Ha. 

We spent one day in Coronado Beach.

I highly recommend it.

In addition to being gorgeous, there was a fantastic little beach town with cute shops and restaurants and such. We had perfect weather, so we strolled around before parking ourselves on the (free) beach to enjoy the sunshine and surf.


We also stopped by the San Diego Zoo Safari Park.

We hit up the actual zoo last year, and which was amazing, and I'm not a zoo person. We got Groupons for the safari ride, and it was pretty cool. We all agreed that the full price for the particular ride we did (it was the trolley car thing, with lots of people and a tour guide driver) would have felt like too much, but the discount we got made the price just right for what we got to see and enjoy.

Chad and Liz had a fancy date night planned, so Dan and I dropped them off and went to La Jolla Cove to hang out with my favorite San Diego locals...

Seals! 

Seriously, I could watch these guys for hours. We almost did.

Nearby to La Jolla, we also hit up Torrey Pines very briefly. Apparently the state reserve is really cool, but we only had time for some scenic driving and photo ops.

And this awesome dude. What could be cooler ?! 

One of our last stops was the Gaslamp District, which is apparently a thing. It was another really neat stretch of cool shops and restaurants. I guess it's kinda touristy? But we enjoyed it anyway.

Oh, and anyone wondering--some of our favorite San Diego beer included Lost Abbey/Port Brewing, Alpine Brew Company, Green Flash, and Stone Brewing Company (we visited Stone last year, but didn't go back this year).

Green Flash Tasting Room

Lost Abbey/Port Tasting Room (duh)

Food recommendations must include Hash House, as well as Pizza Port in Ocean Beach, and Spike Africa in downtown San Diego. Yum!