San Diego

Between visiting my sister when she lived in La Jolla, dog sitting with my friend at her dad’s house in Rancho Santa Fe, and exploring the San Diego Zoo for a bachelorette party, I’ve done a few long weekends in San Diego! With that said, I’ve got a few favorite places to check out if your journey takes you there!

Beaches: 

• Ocean Beach – Only a few minutes away from the airport, Ocean Beach is a really cute area with great shops and restaurants leading up to the beach. Don’t miss Hodad’s burgers for a huge burger and yummy shakes!

• La Jolla – This beach is huge and has a beautiful park along side it as well. If you are into kayaking, snorkeling, or scuba diving, there are some amazing caves and reefs to explore right off the beach. You can rent the gear or go out in a kayak tour to check out the caves for a really cool experience!

• Black’s Beach – When I went to La Jolla with my parents and little sister, we decided to hike down from Torrey Pines to the beach and then walk all the way back down the beach to our hotel. Little did we know that Black’s Beach, a large nudist beach, was in between! Not only did we walk through the nudest beach with my semi-conservative parents making the funniest / embarrassing comments along the way, we did so during the 3rd largest gay pride weekend in America – the beach was PACKED! I tell you, it was the funniest hike I have ever been on! Just be aware that it is there and that there is no way out once you start walking since there are 100 foot cliffs on the land-side of the beach. Needless to say, I do not have any pictures of this particular beach!

Hikes:

• Torrey Pines – Torrey Pines is a beautiful national park right on the coast line. The parking lost starts at sea level and then you have to walk up the side of the road to the top of the cliffs. The views from the trail are stunning! There are quite a few trail options of different lengths and intensities. Bring a hat, water bottle, and some sun screen and you will have a perfect day with Torrey Pines on the itinerary!

• Annie’s Canyon Trail – Annie’s is a short hike across the highway from Torrey Pines. It has a really cool slot canyon that you can walk through and then climb up. If you are claustrophobic, you may want to skip this but if you can handle a narrow pass, this is a really cool hike to check out.

Things To Do:

• San Diego Zoo – The San Diego Zoo is huge! It feels like you are walking through a jungle to get from exhibit to exhibit. There is even a huge bridge hundreds of feet above the road that feels like a canopy walk. The animals have huge areas to roam and all seemed very happy (especially the polar bear that was playing with a ball for a good hour). Outside of the Sydney Zoo , the San Diego Zoo was the best I’ve ever been to.

• La Jolla Cove (Seals!) – Only a few miles up the road from La Jolla beach is the cove. There is a wonderful park and small beach. On the beach and rocks around the cove are hundreds of seals! Big ones, baby ones, brown ones, and black ones, you can get up close and personal. So personal that one started barking at my friend that got a little too close! On top of hanging with the seals, there are some great boutiques and sea-side restaurants right by the park if you have the time to walk around.

• Seaport Village & The Gaslamp  – Seaport Village is a really cute little shopping area right by the wharfs with great shops and restaurants with water front views. You can walk from their down the coastline and there are cute little parks and bars along the path to sit at, enjoy the view, and soak up the sun! Once the sun sets, head over to the Gaslamp district for great restaurants and bars for some night life.