Last summer holidays Tracy and the boys came down to San Diego with me and had such a nice time that we decided to do it again! With an alarm clock waking us all up at 4am it was time to spring into action. Bags had been pretty much packed the night before so it was just up to us to throw some clothes on and jump in the car, which we did. With the car parked we arrived in a chaotic terminal, dropped our bag and went through security. Breakfast was purchased on the way to the gate and then we say waiting to board. As we waited there was an announcement saying that our flight had some free space in first class. As one of us boys had ever flown in anything higher than premium economy we decided that we deserved to upgrade!! A handful of dollars later and we were in first class with amazing perks like a bigger chair and a free breakfast!! How exciting!
To be fair, once we had boarded the seats in first were actually pretty comfy – better than anything I’d sat in on a plane before anyway. Just after take-off at about 7:30am we were being served our second breakfast of the day!! Pretty impressive! The flight was pretty uneventful other than an amazing view of Mt Rainier and just after 9am we were touching down in San Diego.
We collected our bags and, after reading some reviews of where we were about to rent a car from we decided to forget that reservation and go get a car from somewhere else! Once in the car we drove across to our hotel to see if our room was ready. as it was still mid-morning it wasn’t so we went for a brief drive along Mission and Pacific Beach and then decided as we’d only had two breakfasts we should go to Old Town and get ourselves some yummy Mexican! Lots of other people clearly decided to do the same thing and even though it was only midday it was chaos in all the restaurants.
We got a table at our restaurant of choice and ordered drinks and food including a giant margarita for Tracy and a diet coke for Toby which he promptly knocked all over the table and chair! After stuffing ourselves with all the tortilla chips and salsa our giant meals came out and before long out stomachs were all in pain from eating too much! We left the restaurant with out bellies aching and went back to the hotel to get into our room and unpack. After some relaxation in the room we went over to the pool in the evening to watch the movie – it wasn’t a late night though as we were all tired from our early start.
On Sunday we decided to take a trip to down town San Diego as we’d never been there before. We went to the Gaslamp district, parked the car and started to explore. It had a very familiar feel to the UK – lots of bars, pubs and drinking! Toby and Harry saw the outside of the San Diego Padres baseball stadium and that got them asking about going to a game. They certainly know how to get something they want – just ask and ask and ask! Anyway now wasn’t the time for baseball matches as we walked down to the marina front and then along to Seaport Village which was an area with lots and lots of shops – much to the delight of the boys.
After mooching around here for a while we went back to car and then back to the hotel again for a play by the pool, a few drinks and watching the movie by the pool again.
On Monday we decided to go to Seaworld as the boys both wanted to go there and we had managed to last time. It was only a 15 minute walk from the hotel so we set off just after 10am to check out Shamu and friends at Seaworld. As we walked across to the park the sun came out and we baked in the sunshine as we stood for a long time in the queue. It was hot, hot, hot! We got into the park at just after 11 and speed walked across to Shamu stadium to watch the killer whales doing their stuff.
httpv://youtu.be/MDRi6Jk95zs
After their show was over we watched them under water and then walked off checking out all the other weird and wonderful creatures including some ugly looking spitty turtles! Next up was the sea lion and otter show which had the boys laughing away and then onto polar bears, beluga whales and dolphins.
With the animals watched it was time for some rides. The park had a lot of rides in it and Harry was feeling in the mood for a roller coaster! After a few minutes consideration Harry decided to go on a whirly gig thing followed by the journey to Atlantis. Toby was not so keen on these rides so I took him to get a cuddly toy and then we were back just in time to see the adventurous ones on their way to Atlantis:
httpv://youtu.be/_yUp2Wj7QnQ
This ride was enough for Harry and we decided to head back to the hotel to relax for a while before we headed back to downtown San Diego and the Padres baseball match. At 6:30pm, my San Diego friend Norman picked us up and off we went to the game. The Padres were on a 10 game losing run but we were sure that tonight was the night that the winning streak would start. It didn’t! The Colorado Rockies gave them a beating but it was ok because Tracy and I discovered a buffalo chicken wing flavoured pizza which was yummy!
The next day poor old me had to go to work. Going to work meant walking about 50 yards to a meeting room in the hotel so it wasn’t too stressful! Tracy and the boys spent the day relaxing at the cinema and playing in the pool – very nice too. On Tuesday night I’d been out for a meal with my team and got back to the hotel room room just after 10pm. On my return, Tracy was snoring away in bed while the children were in bed playing on their PS Vitas! Apparently “mummy said we could stay up playing as long as we like”, so they had! Miserable Daddy came home though and told them to go to bed!!
On Wednesday, while I was still working very hard Tracy and the boys went to the beach but it was covered with seaweed and flies so they didn’t stay too long. The rest of the day was spent enjoying the pool while I was working really, really hard (although I will admit the team did go to the zoo and have a nice dinner there but it was very tough!).
Thursday was our final day. Work in the morning again for me and some pool time for the boys. After lunch we packed the car and took it back to the rental place and then it was back to the airport. There was no first class on the flight home as the plane was packed so we had to slum it! So there we go, another summer break in San Diego and good fun was had by all. Toby has already requested that we go back again and stay in the same hotel. Maybe next summer, maybe!