My sister, Sarah, lives in Baltimore, but I got to spend 24 hours in San Diego with her while she was in town for a neuroscience conference. She was going to arrive on a Friday and start her conference sessions on Saturday afternoon. I hadn’t planned on seeing her since San Diego is a decent drive from LA, but I had requested a random Friday off work as my monthly Mental Wellness Day and that happened to be the day she was coming to town, so it worked out!
SAN DIEGO DAY 1: Friday, November 11
I left my apartment around 8:30 and made it to San Diego around 11:30am. I parked in a McDonald’s parking lot a few miles from the airport while I waited for Sarah to land and ate the Greek salad I packed for lunch. She deboarded the plane soon after and then we drove to Coronado to walk around Hotel Del Coronado.
The weather was nice, and we got gelato at Nado Gelato: stracciatella and tiramisu for me and pear and Mexican chocolate for Sarah. Then, we went and checked into Sarah’s hotel, the Andaz by Hyatt, which was a few blocks up the street from the convention center. The women’s bathroom was Audrey Hepburn-themed.
Downtown San Diego is just like any downtown and there were a bunch of homeless people around. It didn’t feel that unsafe, but I still don’t think I’d walk around at night alone and overall probably wouldn’t recommend staying in downtown San Diego if you don’t have to.
I wanted to get photos at the Greetings from San Diego mural, so we quickly drove over there. The mural was just on the side of a building next to a small parking lot. A stranger took our photo, then we hopped back into the car to go to Sunset Cliffs Natural Park for sunset.
Sunset Cliffs had been on my list for years, and it did not disappoint! It’s my new favorite place in San Diego! We were lucky enough to get a free parking spot in a small lot right by the cliffs, but there seemed to be plenty of parking in the neighborhoods nearby. There were several weddings being set up, and we saw many photo shoots going on as well. We walked along the coast for an hour before finding a place to sit closer to the car to watch the sun go down. It was windy and cold, but the sunset was very nice. It got pretty crowded, so I’m glad we came early.
Leaving Sunset Cliffs, there was a lot of traffic on the main street, so we cut through the neighborhoods to Oscar’s Mexican Seafood for dinner, as recommended to me by my co-worker. It was a little taco place that only had a few chairs outside. The tacos had fresh seafood and each one was $5-$7 except the crispy fish was $2.50. Each taco was pretty large, so I’m glad Sarah and I shared five. Do not skip the sauces! I would recommend the white and pink sauce. The red one was a little too spicy for me.
Sarah had woken up at 3am for her flights that morning and I was tired from a day of driving, so we were both showered and in bed by 8:30pm. The windows were super thin and we were only on the third floor, so I was glad I brought my earplugs (Amazon affiliate link). I don’t think I could have fallen asleep without them.
SAN DIEGO DAY 2: Saturday, November 12
The next morning, we got up and checked out the pool area on the roof of the hotel. It was still pretty early and only a few people were up there.
To get hungry, we walked along Fifth Avenue and saw the convention center. They were setting up a market, so we decided to come back after breakfast. We were successful in walking up an appetite so we went to Cafe 21, only a block from the hotel. It was a farm-to-table restaurant where all the ingredients came from a farm in central CA. Everything on the menu sounded amazing, and our server was super nice. We got the turkey Benedict, Mediterranean fried rice, and a banana and caramel Dutch baby. Everything was in somewhat small dishes and it was definitely more expensive but much yum!
Then, we walked back through the market and we got some (expensive) tea from the Tea Bazaar stand. Sarah got the Clear Skin From Within tea and I got the Breathe tea. It wasn’t a farmer’s market or an art market. The rest of it was mostly jewelry stands.
We had some time to kill before Sarah had to be at the conference, so we drove up to La Jolla to go see some seals. In the spring, a ton of seals and their babies just come up on the sand of La Jolla Cove (type Children’s Beach into Google Maps). In the fall, I didn’t think we’d see any babies but we did still get to see some seals sunbathing on the rocks! There were also a ton of different sea birds!
We walked along the coast and saw some people selling artwork and other things. I got a beach/picnic blanket since I had been using a fleece blanket for picnics. Around noon, we headed back to the car and I drove Sarah back to the hotel so she could get ready for her conference.
Recommendations from my previous trips if you have 24 hours in San Diego:
- Balboa Park: It’s massive and has museums and gardens.
- Pigment: A cute little boutique with a fun pink mural outside
- Communal Coffee: A coffee shop with food and flowers and very Instagrammable.
- The Taco Stand: There are several locations so I can’t speak to all of them, but the La Jolla one was good!
- Liberty Station: There is a big food hall that has fun stands, as well as other shops.
- Amplified Ale Works Kitchen + Beer Garden: It has a nice outdoor seating area, good food options, and beer tasting flights.
Google map of everywhere we went!
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