2009 - San Diego

This was our frist trip post baby, Bryce. Bryce was about 5 months old when we took the cross country flight to San Diego. He was so well behaved on the plane and we had no issues whatsoever flying with him. He adjusted well to the time change and we had an enjoyable vacation as a new family.

Coronado Island - I loved this island! It is across a bridge from San Diego about 2 miles from San Diego. The town is so beautiful, quaint and just feels welcoming.  We stayed for 2 nights at the Coronado Island Marriott in a Villa and it was so amazing. The resort was right along the bay, so we just walked out of our villa with the stroller and enjoy the walking trail along the bay. The resort was slightly older than other Marriott resorts we have visited but it was well kept and the staff was very accommodating and friendly.  

We walked down to the Ferry Landing a few times during our stay. It was a nice area, with plenty to see and a few cute places to sit.  We stopped at the Coronado Cupcakery one day. Mike and I shared a pricey cupcake. We had the Black Bottom Betty, which was good, but nothing special. We did have lunch at the Lil Piggy’s BarBQ and it was good food, at a reasonable price with great service and an awesome view of the bay.
 

I think our favorite place to get food on the island was the Boney's Bayside Market. It had a great selection of deli foods, pre-made meals to go and great bakery items. I actually enjoyed my chocolate cheesecake from here more than the cupcake at the cupcakery. We bought food here one day and ate it outside on their tables and we also took a few items to go for later at a picnic table along the bay.

We also spent a few nights in LaJolla. Our hotel was near a grocery store which was great. We stopped at the store for sandwiches, snacks and drinks for our day long trips to the zoo and the wild animal park. The grocery stores in CA are so much nicer than those in PA and have such better offerings (so jealous). 

We spent a day at both the San Diego Wild Animal Park and the San Diego Zoo. Both were great but we enjoyed the wild animal park so much more. It was a lot of walking but it was so neat to see the animals in an environment "closer" to their natural one. It was more economical for us to buy a family season pass since we were doing both parks and it included free passes for the sky tour at the zoo and the safari tour at the park. The safari tour at the park is a MUST DO but the skifari tour at the zoo is "do it since it's free but it's not worth paying for" type of extra.

On our way back to the hotel in La Jolla we stopped at the beach and saw the Sea Lions. It was neat and we got some amazing sunset pictures overlooking the water. We went to a fish taco restaurant/stand. All of the guidebooks we read had suggested we do this. I can't remember too much because at this point in the day I was about as exhausted as Bryce.