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Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Racecation Day 1: San Diego Adventures

Sunday, August 25, 2013 – Astros game; Houston, TX & Vlog
>>Monday, August 26, 2013 – San Diego and Old Town<<
Tuesday, August 27, 2013 – My Birthday and Sea World
Wednesday, August 28, 2013 – San Diego Zoo
Thursday, August 29, 2013 – Travelling to Disneyland/Downtown Disney
Friday, August 30, 2013 – DCA and the Disneyland Half Expo & Vlog
Saturday, August 31, 2013 – Disneyland 10K and Park time & Vlog
Sunday, September 1, 2013 – Disneyland Half Marathon and more park time & Vlog

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San Diego was absolutely beautiful! I loved the weather, the sights, and the food. I have lots of pictures to share so let’s begin!

California from the air

The terrain of the West amazes me - I come from completely flat land and marshes/swamp terrain. As we flew into Cali, I kept my eyes glued on the window! Beautiful!

San Diego Airport

We made it. Too bad the Padres weren’t in town…would have loved to catch a game!

I have to interject here with a  funny story. Several months ago, I reserved a car for our SoCal vacay – 3 days in San Diego. My husband is in LOVE with convertible Mustangs and although I reserved a vehicle under the “convertible” category, there was no guarantee to which car we would end up with. After picking up our luggage at the San Diego airport, we rode a bus to the Alamo distribution center. We checked in, then walked outside to the car area and were asked by the attendant which car we reserved. I told the attendant that our reservation said “Chrysler Sebring or similar”. She looked around then informed us that she was out of Sebrings. Jason spoke up immediately and said, “That’s ok! We’ll take that white Mustang right there!” The attendant looked at our paperwork, shrugged her shoulders, and said OK! She had NO idea how happy she made my husband.

California Mustang

He was seriously like a kid on Christmas morning.

California Mustang 2

I found it rather adorable! :0) Glad he was happy!

After putting the top down (of course), we drove to the nearest In-N-Out Burger for our first taste of this SoCal goodness!

In-N-Out Burger

Jason ordered everything Animal Style. I had my fries and burger “regular style” and it was delicious!! I wasn’t too keen on his animal style fries. I’ll take just ketchup, please!

Paradise Point San Diego

After lunch, we checked into our resort, Paradise Point.

Paradise Point San Diego 2

It was a lovely resort with little bungalow type rooms near the bay. Stay tuned for a review of our beautiful resort!

Paradise Point San Diego 3

All we had to do was walk out our door, take a few steps, and there was the beach.

We dropped off our luggage, then hopped back in the ‘Stang for a little San Diego exploring.

Camera Angle

Why hello there! :0)

Coronado Island Bridge

First stop: Coronado Island and the Hotel Del Coronado.

Hotel Del Coronado 1

I’m so glad we stopped by to visit this gorgeous resort, especially since the Grand Floridian was modeled after this one. (Side note: several months ago, we watched a Marilyn Monroe movie called “Some Like it Hot” – this movie was filmed at the Hotel Coronado! Pretty neat!)

Hotel Del Coronado 2Hotel Del Coronado 3

We quickly discovered that parking would be an issue in San Diego – parking lots were scarce, most people parked on the side of the road. Hotel Del Coronado charged $20 for use of their parking lot and because we couldn’t stay long, we decided to drive down the beach and find a spot along the side of the road (ie: FREE!).

Hotel Del coronado 5Hotel Del Coronado 4Hotel Del Coronado 15

We spent only a short while at the Hotel Del Coronado, then we made our way to Old Town.

Old Town 1 (2)

Old Town is a Historical Park and is known as the “Birthplace of California”.

Old Town 5Old Town 6

Along the road were several historical buildings depicting life in San Diego around the time period of 1820-1870.

Old Town 3Old Town 11

Funny…..I buy this at my local Wal-Mart for $1.50.

Old Town 10

We enjoyed shopping the markets and seeing the sights around town. After spending several hours sightseeing, dinner began calling our name. Lucky for us, there were several Mexican restaurants inside of Old Town to choose from!

Old Town 8Old Town 9

Old Town 4Old Town 12

Jason had nachos…

Old town 11 (2)

I had quesadillas….

Old town 13

…and because of FourSquare, a dessert of churros was on the house!

Old Town 14

After dinner, we watched dancers on stage for a few minutes, then said goodbye to Old Town!

San Diego Sunset

On our way out, we chased the sunset to the nearest beach.

San Diego Sunset2

It was absolutely breathtaking, and we caught the sun just as the tail end dipped into the ocean.

We had a fabulous first day in San Diego and really enjoyed seeing the sights! (Now I’m hungry for a burger!) :0)

Stay tuned for a Vlog of Day 1 – up on the blog tomorrow!

If you’ve been to San Diego, what was your favorite thing to see?

16 comments:

  1. love the hotel room so cute! I love san diego, amazing weather.

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    1. Thanks! We definitely loved our hotel and would stay there again! :0) Yes, amazing weather is right!

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  2. What an awesome day! I love exploring! And I had no idea the Grand Floridian was modeled after Hotel Del Coronado! And you're husband smile in the Mustang is priceless!!!

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    1. Right?! Isn't that too funny! He was so excited! Thanks, Mindy!

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  3. That looks beautiful...and surprisingly chilly? Was it? I've always wanted to go to Southern California, it looks so nice!

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    1. It was a little chilly to me, but I loved it! :0) SoCal is beautiful!

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  4. WOW love the pics! San Diego is hands down the most beautiful city I have ever been to. I'd love to go back one day just to do more "touristy" stuff like you did. I only really saw it from the Naval base there (visiting my ex-husband). So I need a do-over for sure of San Diego! Loving the pics and the racecation recaps!!!

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    1. Thank you! You do need a do-over...there's so much to see we didn't cover half of it in our three days there!

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  5. I absolutely love the hotel room!
    I haven't been to California in nearly 28 years! Maybe it's about time to visit again!
    Funny about the Mustang! Sometimes it's those unexpected surprises that make a vacation so enjoyable!

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    1. Thanks, you are right...sometimes it's the little things that add so much to a vacation! :0)

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  6. I was in San Diego once last summer and it was absolutely my favorite place I've been. So gorgeous and perfect weather!

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    1. Agreed to all of the above! Would love to go back one day and spend more time seeing the city!

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  7. Never been to San Diego, but I'm pretty sure I'm supposed to live there.

    Is it just me or is it funny that the Grand Floridian is modeled after a hotel named something another one of their hotels is named?

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    1. I thought the same thing about the hotel! Too funny!

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  8. Looks wonderful! As soon as I saw the Hotel Del Coronado, I thought "hey, that is the hotel the GF is designed after" and sure enough there it was. Isn't it silly the trivial kind of info we Disney lovers know?? I think it is awesome that the haunted mansion was modeled after one of the Harry Packer mansions here in PA!

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    1. That's so neat...I didn't know that about the Haunted Mansion!

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