The three DeSpain amigos are home from a long-weekend vacation to San Diego feeling refreshed from and thankful for a really awesome getaway.
Though the drive from Sierra Vista to San Diego is only about 7.5 hours, we knew we’d have to add some time traveling with a six month old. Back in March I looked up flights from Tucson to San Diego just to see what the prices were looking like, and I ended up finding roundtrip flights on Southwest that we could get for very few frequent flyer points. A 55-minute flight versus an all-day drive with an infant? Didn’t even have to think about that one. We were also able to rent a car with very few points, so that pretty much sealed the deal!
We left early Friday morning (5 a.m.!) and just got back to Sierra Vista a few hours ago. I usually love to go away but love to come home too, but we were both pretty bummed for our vacation to end.
We’d always heard San Diego was a gorgeous place, but neither of us really knew much about it. Besides booking our flights, hotel, and car, we didn’t have a single plan for our trip, which is just the way we like to travel!
Our four day trip consisted of lots of delicious food, tasty girly drinks (for me at least!), long walks around Coronado (where we stayed) and La Jolla, an afternoon at Sea World, daily beautiful morning runs, a champagne brunch cruise, quiet devotional time on the balcony, and plenty of playtime and relaxing at our absolutely wonderful hotel (another huge win thanks to TripAdvisor).
Going on a vacation with a baby for the first time was a breeze. The Ergo baby carrier and our BOB jogging stroller were our two best friends. We leisurely walked around town with her in the stroller and went everywhere else with her in the carrier.
We were determined to make sure she was comfortable and happy while also doing many of the things we would have done “pre baby”. We still went on our morning runs, but we alternated who took her in the jogging stroller. We still went to the beach, but we played with her instead of reading and snoozing. Those types of “adjustments” were a first for a us, but after traveling to Boston without her I learned that I would rather make adjustments to bring her on a trip than not be with her at all! She just made everything happier!
Since her usual daily routine was totally out of whack, we all survived and counted on her 20-30 minute catnaps. If she could squeeze in 4-6 of those per day, we were golden. She slept through the night all three nights (!!!) and did great on both plane rides. We were prepared everywhere we went with bottles, toys, books, and a fully-charged phone to watch veggie tales on YouTube. 😉
If I had to name my favorite moments from the weekend, I’d go with watching Jamie and Hadley dip their toes in the pacific ocean for the first time, my Sunday morning run on the beach, sipping champagne on the top deck of the cruise boat observing the sights, watching Hadley’s reaction to everything at SeaWorld, and every single moment that I got to sit back and just watch the love of my life be the best dad I’ve ever seen. He cannot get enough of his Hadley, and watching him with her is truly the sweetest sight I’ve ever seen.
Area suggestions:
Hotel: Glorietta Bay Inn (Coronado)
Attractions: Sea World (free for military!), Horn Blower Cruises (we did the Sunday morning champagne brunch cruise), La Jolla shores (to walk around), Hotel Del Coronado (to walk around), Coronado beach (insanely beautiful)
Restaurants: Cody’s (La Jolla), MooTime Creamery (Coronado), Casa Guadalajara (San Diego), Leroy’s Kitchen + Lounge (Coronado)
