San Diego came about when I was due for a weekend away, my friend Sara in Ohio needed to visit her uncle in La Jolla, and as a bonus we could visit her other friend, Angela, on Coronado Island.  Double bonus when another Ohio friend, Alison, also decided she, too, wanted a weekend away.  Fun fact –  in a group of four women, three of us had names beginning with A, and two of us were Angela’s.

I’ve been to San Diego probably more times than any other city except those I’ve lived in.  My roommate from college was from San Diego and it used to be part of my ex-husband’s territory for work, so when our daughter was little she and I would tag along with him.  Since I feel I’ve done a good job exploring San Diego, I really didn’t have an opinion on where we stayed or what we did.  We opted to stay on Coronado Island which was new to me!

Where We Stayed

We were gifted hotel points so our stay got split between two hotels.  The first night, we stayed at the Sheraton Four Points Downtown.  We scheduled our flights so we landed at approximately the same time and thanks to a flight delay on Sara and Alison’s end, they landed right as I pulled my bag off the carousel.

The hotel had been recently remodeled and they offered free coffee in the morning.  We heard it was loud as it sits right off the highway, but it didn’t bother any of us.  And it actually does sit right off the highway; the off ramp was the view from our window.  It’s also one of those iconic round hotels from the 70’s that used to be Holiday Inn’s and only special cities have them.  Like San Diego.  And Denver…

The next two nights, we stayed at the Coronado Island Marriott, which was super nice and we had a beautiful view of Downtown San Diego.  No free coffee, but they did have fancy fruit infused water.

What We Did

Point Loma – On Saturday, after our tour of the Naval Base, we took a drive up to Point Loma for beautiful, sweeping views of the city.

Nail Studio Coronado – Also on Saturday, we had mani/pedi’s back on Coronado Island after our visit to Point Loma.

Naval Base Tour – Angela’s husband was in the Navy, so she got us on the base and gave us a tour.  At the time, they were filming Top Gun: Maverick there.  We found one of the sets, but they weren’t shooting that day.  No Tom Cruise sighting.

Sea Lion Viewing – We went to check out the sea lions in La Jolla because it’s what you do when in La Jolla.  They stink.  Really, really bad.  I almost puked, which made me laugh, which made me almost puke even more.  It’s worse than changing a baby’s diaper.  But look how cute they are!

Also, people are stupid.  I was shocked, although I shouldn’t have been, that people were climbing over the small retaining wall, to stand next to the sea lions for the perfect photo.  So lame.  Don’t do it, just let the sea lions do their thing and admire from afar like this:

Shopping in La Jolla – After sea lion viewing, we strolled around the shops in La Jolla.  Then we went to visit Uncle Ron who had recently moved into some new digs.

Where We Ate/Drank

C3 – The first night we ate at the hotel because we were tired and just needed a few snacks and a glass of wine.  The fried green beans were yummy.

The Cottage – The next morning, we had brunch in La Jolla.  It was a beautiful day so we ate outside and I don’t remember what I ate, surprise, surprise.  Whatever it was, it was good!

Crown City Inn Bistro – We had brunch here on Saturday morning.  It was a little rainy from the night before, so we sat inside.  What did I eat?  I can’t remember, but I liked it.

Hotel Del Coronado – After our day in La Jolla, we went for sunset cocktails at the Hotel Del.  The pink, cotton candy sunset that night was amazing.  And then the rain came.

The Little Club – When we said we wanted to drink where the locals drink, Angela and her husband took us to this little gem.  It was amazing.  The perfect dive bar with a juke box we quickly highjacked, and lots of men who were in the Navy.  Also, this is how they pour a glass of wine:

We walked back to the hotel tipsy from The Little Club, getting caught in what we deemed “The Great Flood of 2018.”  All that rain a few hours earlier made some of the streets impassable, so we had to improvise.  We made it safely.

Napizza – For lunch on Saturday, we ate pizza in Little Italy on our way back to Coronado from Point Loma.

Saiko Sushi – For dinner Saturday night we went for sushi.  It was super yummy.  Ironically, it was right down the street from The Little Club, so yay!  We ended up closing the night out there once again.

The Tavern – After sunset cocktails Friday night, we ate dinner at the Tavern.  It started raining and we ducked into the closest place that didn’t have a huge wait.  I remember I had the grilled Halibut tacos and a Moscow Mule.  Yum!

I love San Diego and it’s a great destination for a quick girls trip.  Where to next?

xoxo