For those of you following, you know we started our journey in San Diego with our intention to move there permanently. We absolutely love this part of the country, and it's especially near and dear to our hearts as we started our family out here. Joe and I were both stationed in San Diego from about 2012-2017, we got married at the San Diego Courthouse and both boys were born at the Naval Medical Center.
Since our plans shifted a bit, we were able to really explore the county and experience different neighborhoods in SD that we wouldn't have necessarily chosen if we were permanent residents. In our six weeks in Cali, we had the opportunity to stay in the downtown area, Clairemont Mesa & El Cajon. One of the first things we did was visit the San Diego Zoo. The kids were pumped to go and if you've been there before, you know it takes more than one visit to walk the entire property. If you plan to stay in the SD area for a little bit, a membership is definitely worth it and it gives you access to both the Zoo and the Safari location.
Another amazing day trip we took was about 45 minutes away in Alpine at an amazing falconry https://skyfalconry.com/. I've been dying to visit Sky Falconry since we left SD in 2017 so I was pumped to go and especially excited to go with the kids. The owners were fantastic & worked around our schedule to get us in before we left. We got to handle their Great Horned Owl & fly their Harris' Hawk and Falcons from person to person. I highly recommend going!
Fun fact - did you know that Harris's Hawks weighs only two pounds fully grown? I was expecting these large birds to be heavy!
San Diego also has some of the best food in the country IMO. There are plenty of healthy options which is huge for us, but also some incredible spots for some decadent splurging. A few of our favorite spots are Filippis Italian, Vaqueros, Bahn Thai, Barrio Dogs, In-N-Out, The Donut Bar, Jamba Juice, & Mitches Seafood. Oh & Better Buzzed for some great coffee!
(Barrio Dogs pictured above)
A must-see area is Ocean Beach for sure. Head to Sunset Cliffs for the most serene view of the sun setting over the ocean. There's a ton of great spots to grab dinner & drinks on the water as well if that's your thing. OB also offers a slice of heaven for your pup; Dog Beach is a popular spot to let your four-legged friend run around and play while you hang on the beach.
Honestly, I could go on forever about San Diego and all of the great spots to visit. It made writing this blog post so difficult because there's no way I could cram all of our SD favorites into a short read. Here are some of my other recommendations if you're visiting the area:
The Midway Museum:
Seal Beach, La Jolla:
Coronado Island:
Cabrillo National Monument:
We absolutely love Southern California and everything it has to offer, so if you have any questions about visiting San Diego let me know in the comments!