From the airport, we headed straight to Little Italy and the Saturday morning flea market complete with music, dogs, crepe carts and lots of homemade items to buy. From this vantage point, the view down the hill into the harbor is amazing. What a beautiful day.
After satisfying our hunger pangs with one of the best fruit crepes ever, we headed over to the downtown "mall", Horton Plaza. I say mall, but it's not really. It's outdoors and the parking garages are a great location to park to head almost anywhere downtown. Since it was just us girls, we took our time and shopped, needing many trips to the car to unload packages. Finally after an afternoon emptying our wallets, we walked down farther into the Gaslamp area and found a street celebration. Everyone in San Diego seemed to be outside celebrating the wonderful weather on a Saturday afternoon. It was intoxicating.
We stopped at a cute restaurant called the Tin Fish just a block or two from the ballpark, Petco Park. What a perfect location. We ordered fish tacos and beers from the cashier inside and settled on a prime table out on the patio overlooking the convention center. What a wonderful place to sit, chat and take a break from the day as the sun went down. After a quick side trip over to the new Hilton on the waterfront to check out the view, we headed back out to the 'burbs for a movie with friends.
A visit to California is never complete without a stop at In N Out burger and the best shakes in the world. If you haven't been, you must stop in!
San Diego is a great place to spend a Sunday watching football and we did it right by hitting a restaurant called The Blue Wave on the marina on Shelter Island. With the television showing players and fans freezing in the winter snowstorms out east, we were able to both watch the game and head out on the deck watching the boats go by. When the game was over, we were in the perfect location to take a walk on the beach and enjoyed all the sailboats heading out to see from the harbor. Another beautiful day.
On the neighboring Harbor Island, one of the best views of San Diego and the harbor can be found at Island Prime. With a never ending patio, the wait is long and the prices are steep but the views are worth it. One of my favorite places in San Diego. Before heading out to Harbor Island to watch the sunset against the city backdrop, make sure to stop at the Midway Museum. For a nominal fee, you can tour the famous aircraft carrier and even go below decks to play fighter pilot in a simulator run by Navy pilots. It's the coolest thing ever. You just can't compare to the feeling of practicing a carrier landing at night. Very cool.
After our football breakfast and lunch, we headed up through the hills and came down on the other side into Ocean Beach for a quick stop at an awesome bakery, Azucar. This is a not to be missed dessert. Order the red velvet cupcakes!
For the first time ever, my cousin took me to a great Chicago pizza joint, Lefty's. Being a Chicago native, I can tell you, this is authentic - from the decorations on the wall to the pizza, Italian beef and all the fixings. It was the perfect ending to a day that started with the Bears winning a playoff game.
For our last day in San Diego, we started with the traditional walk down the hill to my favorite bagel shop. Sitting outside in the sunshine in the middle of January eating breakfast is important to me knowing how cold it is back home... We headed downtown with no real plans in mind and wound up back at my favorite place in the city - over the bridge to the Hotel Del on Coronado Island. For those who have not been, it is worth the trip over the bridge. Rent a taxi if you don't have a rental car. There is plenty of parking nearby at low rates if you can't find on street parking. Don't go in the front door - walk along the beachfront and approach the hotel from the beach, passing the bars and restaurants. There are plenty of places to choose from to sit and take a break. Take a leisurely pace.
Some of the best and most fun and fanciful stores can be found inside the Hotel Del. Take time to do some shopping. You won't find these items in any other place. After wandering and shopping and re-acquainting myself with the hotel, we headed out to the beach bar to have a drink and sit in the sun. With endless ocean views and $8 beers, the afternoon couldn't last long enough.
