Admittedly, I feel like a novice writing about San Diego.
It’s one of those West Coast destinations that seems like a given to most people in America, not just adventurers and travel bloggers, but every day blue collar folks. This is a destination city.
Still, at 35 years old, I found San Diego in my “hasn’t made time for it” bucket, where I keep things like skydiving or getting in shape.
Lucky for me that changed with a quick family conversation between my wife and daughter and we found an upcoming weekend that would work just fine for a quick trip to the coast.
Before we set out we made sure to get ourselves a Go San Diego City Pass. At first, I admit, these passes seemed like a scam of some sort, but now, when traveling throughout the U.S. I always check for a Go City Pass. It really does save time and money.
San Diego is about 5 hours from Las Vegas (or 3.5 hours if you drive like my wife), so we made it there on Thursday afternoon in no time even with a little bit of that good ol’ Los Angeles 5pm traffic.
We usually try to stay at a Marriott (build those travel rewards baby!) so we booked a room at the Four Points by Sheraton San Diego Downtown Little Italy for the weekend. It’s a good hotel within a few minutes of most things that you may want to do in San Diego.
Day 1
I guess this would technically be Day 2 but after an afternoon of driving, we checked into our hotel, grabbed some dinner at the in-house C3 Restaurant and got some sleep. So I’m not counting that.
Anyway, we hit the ground running the next morning and made our way up the road a bit to Escondido to the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. The Safari Park is a part of the San Diego Zoo but their main focus isn’t just to show off animals from all over the world… their mission is to encourage active breeding and to fight extinction outright.
San Diego Zoo Global is committed to saving species worldwide by uniting our expertise in animal care and conservation science with our dedication to inspiring passion for nature.
San diego zoo safari park mission statement
Hands down, this is one of the best places I have ever been.
No, I’m not being dramatic, I absolutely loved this park.
A lion says “roar.” 
A big headed dolt meets a baby elephant! A scenic overlook, checking out the Safari Park. My two blonde bombshells checking out some of the safari lands while on a tour. The controlled hot air balloon ride is in the background.
You can select “safaris” to go on and they’ll drive you out to interact with animals, pet lemurs, watch some cheetahs run around, they even have a controlled hot air balloon ride to see the entire park from the sky… all kinds of stuff. We spent about five hours there even though we said we were only going to spend two, and we still didn’t see everything we really wanted to.
You really can spend all day there, it’s one of those places.
We had to tear ourselves away from the monkeys and tigers to head back to the hotel, clean up a bit and hit our next destinations, Seaport Village and the Gaslamp District.
There’s tons of family fun in Seaport Village and the Gaslamp, with numerous shops and dining options… way too many for me to try to list here. The area is very clean and safe and amazingly beautiful.
As a kid who grew up on the water who now lives in a desert, it made me miss the feel of a spray of water and the sound of seagulls.
My blonde bombshells indulged in a few delicious cupcakes from ‘Frost Me – Gourmet Cupakes’ (a Cupcake Wars Champion… for those of you who watch Food Network), and we shopped along water and had dinner in the Gaslamp.
It was a long, but incredibly satisfying day.
Cupcakes from ‘Frost Me Gourmet Cupcakes’ Sunset from Embarcadero Marina Park South The Gaslamp District Arch
Day 2
Saturday morning found us heading to Balboa Park in the heart of San Diego for a visit to the beautiful and scenic Japanese Friendship Garden as well as the San Diego Museum of Art.
The garden puts you at ease. It really does. There’s no rush in anything, just a gentle pace that pushes you deeper into this amazing, serene place. It’s hard to believe it sits in the middle of Balboa Park which is bustling with activity all around it.
The San Diego Museum of Art is the same.
You can check out the entire place at your own pace. I found myself, several times, staring at a painting or sculpture for what seemed like it would be too long if it were more crowded and loud.
I think the best thing about this area, and Balboa Park in general, is that you don’t have to do any of these things. There are tons of museums and places to go and dining options, but you don’t have to do any of that.
You can find a park bench and just watch people go by. Some are visitors like we were. Some are locals just hanging with their families or pets.
Regardless, it’s a great place for people of all ages to just kick back and take in this beautiful city.
We ended the day with a fun and surprisingly chilly (it’s June!) Flagship Bay cruise. I’m still 12 in my mind, so the family rightly disowned me when I started barking back at the seals we saw.
If you head to San Diego at the right time, between December and April, you can book whale watching cruises as well. Around 20,000 gray whales migrate along the coast and I hear it’s an incredible experience. I hope to come back soon and enjoy that once in a lifetime moment.
One fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish A look inside the Japanese Friendship Garden Water falling at the Japanese Friendship Garden A gateway leading deeper into the Japanese Friendship Garden Performers pose outside the San Diego Museum of Art Dance with me. The wind… is not our friend. Bark Bark Bark San Diego from the bay A Bob Hope Tribute statue The Unconditional Surrender Statue
Day 3
Our finally day saw us visit the majestic USS Midway Museum.
This aircraft carrier turned tourist treat features exhibits like virtual reality programs for the kids, war films for the older folks, and tons of historical fact for the war nerd is all of us.
The USS Midway was the longest-serving aircraft carrier in the 20th century. Named after the climatic Battle of Midway of June 1942, Midway was built in only 17 months, but missed World War II by one week when commissioned on September 10, 1945. Midway was the first in a three-ship class of large carriers that featured an armored flight deck and a powerful air group of 120 planes.
USS Midway museum website
This is another one of those places where you plan on spending an hour and end up staying for nearly three. There’s just so much to see.
I saw families of every make up and size checking out this amazing place and I don’t blame them. It’s definitely a cool place to bring the family. My teenage daughter, who was reluctant at first, really loved the place by the time we left.
Our final stop was gorgeous Pacific Beach.
We walked along the beach for just a little while, but this pristine beachfront made us consider another day in the area.
I genuinely felt sad to leave Pacific Beach. I wanted to stay another night and listen to the waves crash on the sand. I wanted to hear the families, including mine, laughing and just soaking up the sun.
We reluctantly headed for the car and for our short drive back to Las Vegas, but not before staring off into the horizon, laughing together at different moments from this wonderful weekend.
I loved this trip.
And I really fell in love with this city.
USS Midway Museum Inside the USS Midway Even teenagers are fascinated by the USS Midway! Patriotic scene on the USS Midway Bay view from the tip of the USS Midway Staring out to the horizon, reflecting on a great family weekend Under the Pacific Beach Pier A great, great weekend!
