San Diego October 2009

[Actual Itinerary]
Thanks Sarah, Caleb, Victoria, Mike and others who helped me plan this trip!

Set Up
- 2-day, 2-night family trip (Mon-Wed) to San Diego: Wendy, Anthony, Kaiya, Anthony's mom

- Already in LA for a wedding and family stuff, quick drive down to SD for a couple days

- First time really visiting San Diego for the whole family

- Original trip adjusted due to family being under the weather

Lodging

- Sofia Hotel - independent boutique hotel in downtown SD

- Convenient location: walking distance to Gaslamp/East Village, close to public transit, short walk to ferry to Coronado, short drives to Balboa Park, Hillcrest/North Park, and 15-20 min drives to Pacific Beach, La Jolla

- Well appointed, modern rooms in charming, old building (modern enough for Wendy, independent enough for Anthony)

- Regular rooms looked a little small; we booked the suite with "living room" (including pull-out sofa bed) since there were 4 of us

- Very friendly staff, everyone from front desk to valet

- Nice eco-friendly touches

- Dog-friendly if we ever want to bring Cooper

- Found 20% discount on Yelp

Day 1:
Arrive in SD mid-afternoon, check into Sofia Hotel, Kaiya nap

Dinner: Sushi Ota in Pacific Beach w/ Mike Chin (universally recognized by friends and websites as best sushi in SD) - random location near PB, but nice clean ambiance and good food (great sushi and good selection, just okay karaage, chicken teriyaki), reminds me of Fukisushi in Palo Alto; wouldn't mine going back because it's good but would probably rather try new restaurants on future trips to SD

Day 2:
Brunch: Hash House A Go Go in Hillcrest (recommended by Sarah, won lots of awards for best brunch in SD) - has interesting edgy character, HUGE portions, long wait (even on a Tues morning), varied menu for hearty brunch, hash plates are interesting and tasty, but don't need to go back

Early afternoon: San Diego Zoo - stayed mostly on Easy St (Orangutan and Monkey trails, flamingos), plus Panda exhibit (very cute)

Late afternoon: stroll in Gaslamp & East Village, tea & dessert at Cafe Chloe, pick up snacks at Venissimo Cheese and Zanzibar Cafe - I really like this neighborhood, lots of interesting looking cafes, bars and restaurants

Dinner: date w/ Wendy at George's in La Jolla (recommended by Ron, 4.5 stars on Yelp) - decent food, liked their emphasis on seasonal and some local food, really good service, nice fancy ambiance, supposed to have a nice daytime view (we were there at night), fine with going once but don't need to go back because the food was good but not great; would only go back to eat outside during the day to enjoy the ambiance and view

Late night: Barona's (1/2 hr drive from downtown), decent poker room, but not that many penny slots for Wendy

Day 3:
Brunch: Cafe Chloe in East Village - trolleyed there from hotel, good food (yummy pomme frites and their applewood smoked bacon) with interesting menu (although small selection), very nice ambiance for a date or 1:1 with friends, not so great for kids; worth going back to if Kaiya is in a good mood

Saving for next time...

Food:

1. What I definitely want to eat on my next trip

- Carne asada fries! (Caleb highly recommends Colima's in North Park)

- Logan Heights: Mariscos German (home-style Mexican, recommended by Caleb)

2. Other places that seemed interesting to eat at

- La Jolla: WhisknLadle

- North Park: Gulf Coast Grill (Southern / fried chicken, recommended by Sarah)

- Little Italy: dessert at Extraordinary Desserts

- East Village: Neighborhood, Coffee & Art

3. Other food options that we didn't get to this time around

- Downtown/Gaslamp: Oceanaire (highly recommended by Jennie & John)

- Pacific Beach (don't need to go to eat, only if looking for place on Garnet in PB): Latin Chef or The Fishery

Activities

1. What I would like to do next time

- San Diego Zoo: 40 min bus tour, Children's Zoo, Elephant Odyssey, Outback (Koala bears, kangaroos)

- Stroll around North Park (carne asada fries at Colima's, dessert at Heaven Sent Desserts and/or coffee at Claire de Lune)

- Ferry to Coronado, farmer's market (Tuesdays), walk around

- Walk around Pacific Beach or Ocean Beach

2. Other activities we didn't get to this time around
- Walk around Seaport Village in/near downtown

- Harrah's (1 hr drive)