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Since we have been thinking about moving out west to the San Diego area, we thought a family vacation was in order. We wanted our son to see where we are thinking about moving to and give us his opinion about it.
We told Tyler about the trip before Christmas when we booked it. He couldn’t wait to go! He was so excited to be going on a plane! We told him about all the fun things we could do out there and he couldn’t wait to leave! We also brought my mom along with us as she had never been to the west coast before.
We flew in on a Friday night so we stayed just outside of the airport at the Porto Vista hotel in Little Italy. We were exhausted when we finally got there so we just ate and passed out.
The next morning we went and explored Little Italy. We had breakfast at a cute little diner and you could see the planes flying into the airport! We then walked around and saw a ton of fountains and tourist spots to take some pictures.
The feel of the city is just fantastic. Low-key and relaxing, even in the downtown area. The sun was shining and there was a huge market on the streets. It was a great start to the day!
We had a meeting with our realtor after that (which helped to kill some time between checking out of our hotel and checking into the Airbnb). Tyler and my mom walked around outside while we discussed the types of properties we would be interested in looking at.
We then headed down to Chula Vista where we would be renting a House for the rest of the week. This is the area we would like to live in. The schools are good, the housing market is affordable, it is a safe suburb of San Diego County, and the fire risk is very low.
The house we stayed in was very close to Third Ave which is like the downtown area of Chula Vista. This means we could walk everywhere!!! Once we were in the neighborhood, we decided to walk around and check it out. There was a nice park we could walk around in too.
Once we checked into the house we went food shopping and relaxed for the afternoon. We went out to dinner at the Johnny Rockets on Third Ave. Let me tell you, I would not go back there. The place was extremely busy, the food was overcooked and dry, it was not what we were expecting.
We headed home to rest because we would have a busy rest of the week! Now just a tip, if you are traveling far and want to check out some great sites, buy your tickets online ahead of time. We got our tickets from a program my work uses, Workers Advantage. This gives you discounted tickets to all sorts of places! We got our Midway tickets, Downtown Trolley tickets, plus a 2 day pass for the Zoo and Safari. We saved plenty by doing this so definitely look into it if you are planning a family trip!
The next day we cooked breakfast at the house and headed out to the U.S.S. Midway! The museum is a docked Navy aircraft carrier. This boat is HUGE!!!! I get motion sickness so I was a little nervous. Let me tell you there is no way some little waves in the harbor would move this thing!
We were a little nervous that Tyler wasn’t going to be as interested as we were in the ship but he thought it was awesome! He loved running into all the old planes, pressing all the buttons in the control rooms, and all around exploring the ship.
We walked around the ship for close to 3 hours and I think we still missed stuff! By the time we were done checking everything out we were starving!!!! We decided to head back to the house. We had a late lunch and chilled out for a bit.
We then decided to try and do a little shopping as it started to rain. We went to a small plaza and checked out a couple of stores. We found a great spot for dinner too called D’Lish Gourmet Pasta & Pizza.
From the outside it looked like a tiny sub shop but once you were inside it was crazy busy Italian place! The food was amazing! Tyler ended up catching the attention of a couple of older ladies They told us we had an adorable son and so well behaved!!! Score!
We went home and relaxed. Jimmy chilled on the couch while me, mom and Tyler played some Uno. Mom won ha ha! Then was bedtime because we had to get up and go to the zoo in the morning woohoo!
Jimmy and I got up early and ran to Dunkin Donuts for breakfast. We also stopped at Taco bell for breakfast as Jimmy LOVES their breakfast burritos and we don’t have one near us at home lol. Once we were fueled up and ready to go we drove out to the zoo.
The San Diego Zoo is by far the best one we have ever been to. They have every animal you can think of! We also were there on a good day because we got to see all of the large cats moving around. The weather was perfect because the sun was shining but it wasn’t too hot.
After the zoo we relaxed back at the house for a bit. My mom offered to babysit for us to have a date night! So Jimmy and I got a lyft to La Jolla to a bar we had gone to the first time we came out this way, The Shack. This place is perfect!
It is a quiet dive bar with good food. It is small and since it was a Monday night, not too busy. We ended up talking to a few locals and the bartender for a bit getting all the info we could regarding our move.
One of the coolest things, I think, that we saw out there was that every bar or restaurant with an outside area allowed dogs! They had doggie water dishes, dog treats, and dog rules! We love our dog and hopefully once we are out there she will be behaved enough to come out to these places with us!
We stayed out a little later than we planned but were back home by midnight because we had to up the next day to hit the Downtown Trolley!!!
We got up in the morning and headed to Hob Nob Hill Restaurant just outside of Little Italy. We ate some FANTASTIC breakfast food and got to watch a couple of the planes come in. Tyler absolutely loves that! He thought it was one of the coolest things to see. Of course I couldn’t get any good shots of the planes but I’m sure I will someday!
Next stop, the downtown trolley! Now we had planned to park at the same day lot we parked in for the Midway however, there was a cruise ship docked so we couldn’t. We had to put money in a meter for a 3 hour limit. This meant we had to pick our stops wisely so we could get back in time so we didn’t get a ticket.
The first stop that we got off on was the GasLamp district. The buildings are just so beautiful to look at. The old architecture is just amazing.
We then road the trolley all the way to Coronado Island. Let me tell you, that was the most beautiful area I have ever been to. We definitely want to vacation there someday! The beach is just amazing and the views are spectacular.
The Island that you can see in the distance is actually in Mexico! On a map you see how close it is but to see it like this, amazing. And the houses were just so gorgeous!!!!!
