Y’all. I have had the BEST summer, but oh my gosh, am I exhausted! Work sent me ALL over the country for conferences and meetings, that it feels so good to be home for the next month.
Even though there was a ton of travel this summer, I did relish in the opportunity to finally travel for pleasure when Jim was able to get a week off. We went to his old stompin’ grounds of San Diego, which was amazing to see. He lived there for two years, so he knew all the best spots to explore. Allow me to share.
1. Go see the seals at La Jolla. OK, so I have to admit that I wasn’t paying a ton of attention to where we were going. Jim managed to get a very cool rental car, so I let him drive. I think La Jolla is a suburb of San Diego, but maybe it’s a borough… And I have no idea what direction from downtown it it. Anyway, La Jolla is GORGEOUS, but the seals (actually, they might be sea lions…) steal the show. I don’t have a major zoom lens, so, as you can see, we were pretty close to these cuties. In the first photo, however, there was a dad and his two little girls who got “yelled” at by one of the big seals. They got too close and obviously did not read the signs that said to not get too close… 
2. Go to the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. If you had asked me before I went to SD what the first thing I thought of when I heard “San Diego” was would have said the zoo. Well, according to my hunky tour guide, the Safari Park is where it’s at. The Safari Park isn’t cheap, but it is SO cool. I guess the San Diego Zoo is where the “geriatric” animals go and the Safari Park is where the spry youngsters are. It’s also where a lot of the breeding happens. We saw a week-old giraffe, a two-week-old elephant and a two-year-old gorilla. Amazing! Another cool thing about the Safari Park is that there are interactive exhibits, where you can actually go hang with the animals in their environments. Get ready for a photo overload…
3. Check out the San Diego Mission. So, the California missions are quite cool to me. I know it’s not altogether hip to be Catholic these days, but I do appreciate that the reason so many California cities are named what they are was because of these Spanish missionaries that came through hundreds of years ago. Having been to two missions now, I can say for certain that they sure are beautiful!
4. Have brunch at the Hotel Del Coronado. Coronado might be the most precious little island/city I have ever been to. It’s gorgeous, quiet, and very swanky. The “Del” is a historic hotel on the beach that has amazing shops and restaurants. Just being there makes you feel so classy:). I felt so classy, in fact, that I forgot to take more pictures. Whoops.. Anyway, again, brunch isn’t cheap but it’s delicious and the scenery (not pictured, but trust me) is amazing . Also, excuse the horrible photo of me below…
5. Rent a boat. Can we do this? Yes, we you can. I had only ever rented boats with my dad in Florida, so renting a boat with just us felt very unnaturally adult to me, but we had a blast. We got to see the city from a different angle, and I got to see Jim sail, which was awesome.
I have to admit that I had never really understood to appeal of California. I had been to L.A. twice before and didn’t love it. San Diego > L.A. Significantly.
Hope you enjoyed this post! I have to be honest, I don’t know how frequently I’ll be posting. My job entails staring at a computer screen all day, so I don’t always have time (or, frankly, desire) to blog. Check back on occasion, though! I’ll do my best!