Just Press Go Travel

I love to travel the week of Thanksgiving. Love. Only need to take three days of PTO, can travel for at least a week, and the weather tends to not be awful yet for travel delays. (I’m writing this from my hotel room in California – so these may be famous last words as we have a connecting flight home tomorrow). We tend to leave home the weekend before Thanksgiving and return home either on Thanksgiving or the day after.

Note: We love our families, but we have made the compromise to stay home for Christmas.

This year my husband and I chose San Diego, CA. This was our third trip to San Diego together, and our first with our son. We absolutely love it here and have been excited to get our son out here for a visit, and it did not disappoint. We chose San Diego for the mild weather and the seemingly endless family friendly activities. Read along to see where we stayed, what we did, what we missed, and some things we’d do different in the future.

As always, none of these links are commission – just information and vibes.

Where We Stayed

We stayed at the Hilton La Jolla Torrey Pines. My husband is a golfer and golf fan, and my toddler is an aspiring golfer. 

Pros:

• The hotel backs up to the famous Torrey Pines Golf Course. The view from our room is gorgeous (on the days that we aren’t in the clouds – this weather can be wild). Note: Torrey Pines hosts the Farmers Open PGA Tour Event the last weekend of January every year.
• The hotel has a walking path over to Torrey Pines and a discount at the Pro Shop. I believe that they also have a deal with the golf course to help get you tee times, but we didn’t try this trip.
• Heated pool
• Several sports options on property
• Yard games at “The Lookout” that overlooks the golf course
• 2 drinks a day at the hotel bar
• 2 bottles of water a day from housekeeping

Cons

• The Fees. $36 Resort Fee and additional cost for parking, and with the location of this hotel, you do want to rent a car.
• Food options. Most food options are going to be either North (Del Mar, Encinitas, etc), South (La Jolla), or East (anywhere inland). The only food options at the hotel are the market/gift shop, a coffee stand open for a few hours in the morning, Torreyana the onsite restaurant, or room service. Personal opinion – we didn’t think Torreyana was worth the price, but you can’t beat the convenience other than room service.

The room itself was fine – standard hotel room in my opinion. I did love that one of our windows could slide open a few inches to let in fresh air.

Overall, would stay here again. For my family, the view of the golf course and the ocean just can’t be beat.

Things to Do

What We Did This Trip

• San Diego Zoo | I’m going to write a full blog post about visiting the Zoo and Safari Park, but overall, there is a reason it is consistently ranked in the top 5 zoos in the country. It is large. It has unique animals. It is incredible. It is one of 3 zoos in the US where you can see Pandas – how cool is that?! It is 1000% worth the price of admission and you should not miss out on this any trip to San Diego. Just make sure to bring your walking shoes.
• San Diego Zoo Safari Park | Same as above, I’ll be doing a full post on this, but the Safari Park is a unique experience. A large portion of the park is only accessible via either the complimentary Africa Tram or via a reserved Safari Tour which is an added cost. Again, the Safari Park offers glimpses of unique animals such as a platypus – which the males are highly venomous, who knew (I did not, I hope this is not common knowledge that I look silly).  The Safari Park is undergoing major renovations on the elephant enclosure which is sure to be amazing once it opens. If you only have one day – go to the San Diego Zoo. The Safari Park is pretty remote outside of San Diego and you’ll get more out of your day going to the Zoo.
• San Diego Botanic Garden | Mid-November – early-January the San Diego Botanic Garden offers Lightscape, a “garden glow” where they light up the garden with light installations, festive music plays, and there are concession stands every so often with holiday snacks and drinks (except for Hot Cocoa – that was only at one of the stands). It took us about an hour to walk through the experience, and we absolutely loved it. Timed entry tickets and parking need to be purchased in advance as tickets do sell out. Parking does not have to be purchased in advance, but if you pay onsite they raise the price $10. 
• Village of La Jolla | This is a town about 20 minutes north of the San Diego airport. La Jolla Cove is famous for its sea lions. You will smell them before you see them. We enjoy walking the path along the cliff, and then grabbing a bite to eat and shopping in the village.
• Coronado Island | Home of the famous Hotel del Coronado (inspiration for Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa), shopping, restaurants, and beautiful beaches – we love to make a stop here on our San Diego trips. 
• Torrey Pines Gliderport | Located next to the University of California San Diego campus, you can watch professional paragliders take off and fly, and if you are brave enough, get on the list for Tandem Paragliding (pricing available on their website). While watching there is a café with a bar and some quick serve food items. You can also meander along the cliff and there is a path down to the beach to watch local surfers.

What We Missed Out On

• Torrey Pines Golf Course | One of the most famous public courses, Torrey Pines plays host to the annual Farmers Open PGA Tour tournament the last weekend of January. The course is on a cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean is stunning. There is a North and a South course to play. My husband played the North course on a previous vacation, and according to him the North is the easier course. 
• Hiking Torrey Pines | North of the golf course is Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve. There is a cost of entry/parking. Once past the pay booth drive up the hill and there are several parking lots to choose from and different hiking paths to take down to various cliff overlooks. I would call these moderate hikes as there is not a paved path and it can be slippery with the dirt. Plus, you are going down to get to the viewpoints and then up the whole way back to your car.
• Gaslamp Quarter | This is the bar and restaurant district of downtown San Diego. Our friends are big fans of food tours when they visit new towns, and we did a walking food tour of the Gaslamp Quarter on our last trip. I highly recommend finding one that fits your tastes to get the full experience of this unique neighborhood.

Places to Eat

• The Grill at Torrey Pines | Reservations recommended. Again, we are big golf fans, and it has a patio overlooking the golf course. Food is pricey for what it is, but I find it’s more paying for the experience and it’s worth it.
• Donut Bar | Get there early. The line will be long. The donuts are massive. Try the Pop Tart donut. You will not regret it.
• The Spot La Jolla | Sports bar in the heart of La Jolla Village. Great service and pub food. Has all the TVs to catch whichever sporting event you’re wanting to watch.
• Lobster West | Three locations around San Diego, we went to the Encinitas location. It was small and cute. Quick service and a great lobster roll. 
• Island Pasta Coronado | Small eatery on the main strip in Coronado. They had indoor and outdoor seating. Service was quick and the food was good. 
• Pizza Taproom | Good pizza and self-serve beer. ‘Nuff said. 

Things We’d Do Different

1. My son is young and a bit short for us to get our money’s worth out of the local Amusement Parks:
   • Legoland
   • Sea World
   • Sesame Place
   • Belmont Park
2. Birch Aquarium | This is undergoing renovations, and a large portion of the aquarium is closed. Would love to visit in the future to see the full aquarium. 
3. Potentially visit during baseball season to take in a game at Petco Park.

Questions? Interested in Booking?

Reach out to melanie@simplyperfectvacations with any questions, comments, or help booking your next vacation!