San Diego With Kids: The Highlights
Arguably the best thing that came out of grad school is my friendship with Kacy. Yes, even more than my actual degree that has led to my actual career. The two of us have traveled together over the years, mostly to conferences, but this past summer, we decided to take a mom and son trip with Harrison and her two boys. With three little guys ranging in age from 2 to 10, we knew it would be an adventure. After considering several potential locations for our inaugural trip with our boys, we settled on San Diego. We barely scratched the surface of all that there is to see and do (and eat) in the city, but I feel like we managed to fit in some of the best highlights during our short weekend trip.
We maximized our 4 day, 5 night trip (we paid for 3 nights of accommodation) by leaving after work on a Thursday, driving the 15 plus hours south overnight. This essentially gave us an extra day and a much less stressful car ride, as all three boys slept for most of it. Entertaining a toddler for an entire 15 hours drive? Not my idea of fun. Making the drive overnight? Exhausting but worth it. Between 5:30 am Starbucks and caffeinated Run Gum, Kacy and I survived and were ready for a day of fun.
Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve:
After the long drive, we all needed some fresh air and to move our bodies. Torrey Pines was the perfect first stop. With several hiking trails along the scenic coastline, we all felt better after a short hike. Harrison even managed about a mile on his own. Our primary destination was the Guy Fleming Trail. That plus just a little further exploration was perfect for our boys.
Tacos, tacos, and more tacos:
When in San Diego, one must eat all the tacos. I think it’s the law. After a morning hike, we headed a little further south to La Jolla. One could spend an entire trip to San Diego in this area, but we only had the afternoon. Our first stop was for an early lunch at The Taco Stand. Oh my goodness. The hardest part was narrowing down which tacos to order. Add in some chips and guacamole and the corn on the cob and we ordered entirely too much food. No regrets, though. They also serve a variety of house made salsas. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. There are several locations throughout the San Diego area, but the one in La Jolla is the original location.
Later in the trip, we also tried Rubio’s Coastal Grill, which falls into the fast food category. But sometimes you do what you have to do when traveling with kids (who had just patiently endured a trip to Target because it sounded like fun to the moms). This is a solid choice if you need something fast with plenty of healthy options. Of course there are so many other taco shops I want to try, which I am pretty sure means we have to go back sometime.
Birch Aquarium:
After a delicious lunch at The Taco Stand, we headed to our primary destination in La Jolla - Birch Aquarium. Everyone found something to love. From interesting fish to giant aquariums to astounding views of the bay, we all enjoyed our time here. One quick note - because of covid, all tickets are timed entry and must be purchased in advance. On a weekday, we didn’t have difficulty getting tickets the same day, but tickets can sell out on weekends.
Stay in Mission Beach:
Thoroughly exhausted after an overnight drive and an already packed first day, all of us were ready to check into our Airbnb and relieved to find our home rental was just perfect for our little group. The two bedroom, one and a half bath home had space to spread out and all of the thoughtful details that make staying in a home rental so convenient when traveling with kids. There were even beach items we could borrow.
We also found this to be an ideal area to stay with kids. From our rental, we could walk to several restaurants and the beach. There is also a boardwalk and a small amusement park nearby. Mission Beach was centrally located to all that we wanted to do in San Diego. It was the perfect family friendly location.
Nearby restaurants I can recommend are Olive Cafe (great for breakfast) and Miss B’s Coconut Club, where we all enjoyed an outdoor meal one evening. The cocktail menu is especially fun and interesting. We also Doordashed Luigi’s pizza one evening when we were too tired to go out - it was delicious as well - and Better Buzz was our go to coffee stop during our stay.
San Diego Zoo:
The day we spent at the zoo was probably my favorite day of the entire trip. We initially intended to spend only a few hours there before exploring more of Balboa Park, but there was just so much to see and we were having the best time. Of course the animals were amazing. We also enjoyed the bus tour around the park (and the chance to sit for a while), multiple skytram rides (highly recommend doing this around sunset), and surprisingly good meals and drinks. We may have left with more than enough souvenir cups to go around (although to be fair, I am still using them). There was live music throughout the day and a parade just before park closing. We spent the entire day here, leaving exhausted well after dark. If it’s your first time to visit, you can plan on spending an entire day here and you still won’t see everything. I also recommend downloading the San Diego Zoo app - you can buy tickets, see the event schedule, and generally plan your day.
Legoland California:
To say this is in San Diego is a bit of a misnomer. It’s about 40 (plus, depending on traffic) minutes north in Carlsbad. Although this could certainly be a day trip from San Diego, we decided to make it a stop on our way home, spending the day here before pulling another all nighter of driving. Seriously, I think it was weeks later before I fully recovered from this trip. By happenstance, we perfectly timed our day here to coincide with the first day of school for most Californians, so the park felt almost empty. Harrison was a bit young to enjoy many of the rides, but Kacy’s boys had a blast, spending the moments between rides plotting which Lego sets they were going to buy at the end of the day. If you’re looking for a decent meal in the park, the ramen at Everything is Ramen was surprisingly good. This is worth a stop if your kids are into Legos, especially if you can plan it for an uncrowded day. Like with the zoo, I recommend downloading the app to have all the information you need.
There is something almost magical about traveling with Harrison. And in between the exploration and the laughter and the awe, there is a lot of exhaustion and sometimes a meltdown or two. This first family trip with one of my best friends was the best of both worlds - all of the amazingness of toddler travel, plus a friend who is a little further down the parenting road to step in to distract a kid on the verge of losing it or give me a short break when I might be on the verge of losing it, sweet moments of discovering new places with my son and equally sweet moments of watching Harrison play with his friends, looking up to the older boys. Best of all was just getting to spend time with friends we don’t see often enough. I am so thankful we were able to take this trip and hope there are many more trips together in the future. Up next, all the budget details. What are your favorite things to do in San Diego? You know I’ve already started my “next time” list.