CA Vacation advice

[Coila]

Hello! We are going on vacation for the first time in 3 years!! So I am excited! We are going to California in the San Diego area. Does anyone know any nice places to stay? My husband wants to stay in La Jolla and we have friends staying in Oceanside. I have no idea where anything is. I haven't been to San Diego since I was 11 years old and we only stopped for a couple hours. Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance

[lovely1m]

I will point Christine here, that's where she lives.

[Traci Reed]

I <3 Oceanside but we have a timeshare there... The hotel on Coronado Island is pretty amazing:

[Coila]

Thanks Mari!

Oh my gosh Traci that is beautiful!!

We are going over 4th of July so I am sure everything is going to be super expensive

[CA Dreamer]

Are you traveling with your friends staying in Oceanside? LaJolla is beautiful. You can stay more reasonably on the opposite side of the highway from the ocean and still be close. Also, Del Mar is nice.

And, yes, Coronado is nice too. I stayed there once. I guess you should figure out what activities you are going to do while down there. The San Diego area is pretty spread out and you should stay near the places you want to go.

Have fun. DH and I always say that San Diego is the only place we would relocate to.

[coopert]

I was going to suggest the Bahia hotel in the Mission Bay area, sort of close to Sea World and Pacific Beach. I really like that area. But we are going to be in SD 4th of July weekend, and I checked it out, $300-$400 a room, that we paid $99 for last year around Labor Day. We won't be staying there.

We are going to stay in Del Mar, and I found quite a few hotels between about $150 and $250 a night. Del Mar is close to La Jolla and Solana Beach. Also close to the Carlsbad outlets. But it's about 15-25 minugtes from attractions like Sea World or The Zoo.

There are so many things to do in San Diego. I love going to Balboa Park, with all of the museums and the zoo.

[4noisyboys]

I live one hour from San Diego...there are a lot of fabulous places to stay, but unless you are really planning on hanging out a lot at the hotel, I wouldn't try to stay in an expensive one. I agree that you should decide on where you will be going so you'll know the area that you need to stay in. Encinitas is a cute little town right on the beach...super close to everything, but right off of I-5 too, so easy to go north or south quite easily.

Over the holiday weekend, it's going to be VERY expensive anywhere near the beach, and you might have a hard time finding a room anywhere.

Have fun though!! I drove to San Diego just last weekend and took a few of my boys to a Padres/Mariners game. We had a blast!! It's so gorgeous!

Our favorite place to eat breakfast in Encinitas
Potato Shack

there is an amazing Thai restaurant right up the street as well...

good place to start your search for hotels...
http://www.a-zsandiegobeaches.com/ho...tas_hotels.htm

[Robin Carlton]

La Jolla is soo much more convenient to the San Diego attractions than Oceanside is so I would recommend finding a spot there.

The Hyatt in La Jolla is amazing and the Embassy Suites is too. We've stayed at both and had fantastic experiences at both.

The Embassy Suites shares a parking lot with PF Changs, so you can go straight down to the lobby, walk 20 yards across the parking lot to pick up chinese to enjoy up in the room.

The steak sandwich at the Marriott (room service) is dreamy too. No other steak sandwich has compared since LOL.

Stay away from the Doubletree Club in San Diego. We stayed there for their family suites (king bed in one room, bunk beds in the second room) and had a terrible experience. Awful service, musty smelling rooms, we couldn't sleep because the beds were terribly uncomfortable, so yeah, wouldn't recommend them at all for the money.

I'm originally from So Cal and vacationed in San Diego every summer as a kid/teen and have taken the kids several times, so if you have any questions about anything else, let me know!

You're going to have a great time!
R

[Robin Carlton]

Wanted to add, if Sea World is on your agenda for the 4th of July, it is great fun, but PACKED. Get there early in the day and take your time to get through it. I've never seen more people in one place in my life except for Disneyland on New Year's Eve. Still if you're patient and go with the expectation that it is going to be packed, you'll have a great time.

Also, if you want to see the Shamu after dark show that night, get there to get your seats early and I mean EARLY. We watched the fireworks from another area in the park and tried to get over to the Shamu show about 30 mins before showtime WHILE the fireworks were still going off and the stadium was packed solid with a crush of people trying to get in and back out again as they were being turned away for a full show.

[nun69]

I was stationed in San Diego back in 1993 and all I can say is if the prices at the Hoetl Del Coronado are anything like they were then {comparably speaking} it was really overpriced! Especially if you aren't gonna spend alot of time there.....but there are ALOT of things to do and see in the area!

[Coila]

Wow, thanks for all of the advice ladies! I am not really sure what we have planned to do! I would love to go to Sea World... I've never been there. (Robin) I have patience with lines but my 3 year old not so much I was kinda hoping just to see the beaches and shop really. I just wanted a relaxing trip! I don't really think we will stay in the hotel that much...

This may sound crazy but we are going there for family pictures. My friend/fav photographer is in CA right now. I wanted to get my son's 1st year pics taken but when he told me he was in CA and to have pics taken there I figured we could make a vacation out of it! We live in AZ so it is not too far of a drive really.

Debra - I'm going to have to eat there! My kids would get a kick out of that!

Thanks for the links to girls! I'll have to let you know what we decide to do

Oh and as a side note Robin - I love PF Chang's lettuce wraps!

Angie my father in law is retired Navy and he was stationed in San Diego... I am not sure how long ago though. Hm I will have to ask him

Thanks again for all of the info!!

[glumirk]

We're going there the week after for a family reunion. We love going to Encinitas because it's a lot quieter than other parts of SD. We mostly go and play at the beach for half of the day, then clean up and go play at a park and have dinner. There are now 22 grandkids on DH's side, so having free-for-all play is really the best.

[supertwinkle]

Originally Posted by 4noisyboys

Our favorite place to eat breakfast in Encinitas
Potato Shack

Ha ha Debra, we go to the Potato Shack quite a bit for breakfast after our Sat morning runs!

I think most of San Diego's attractions are pretty close to the coast. If you stay in La Jolla, Del Mar, Solana Beach, Cardiff, or Encinitas, you should do well to get to anywhere else you might want to go, plus you'll also be closer to the beach.

Here is a list of San Diego area attractions, from north to south (Oceanside to Coronado):

• Oceanside Pier
• Legoland (there are actually three parks: Legoland, Sea Life Aquarium, and the brand new Legoland Water Park)
• Moonlight Beach in Encinitas is a beautiful family-friendly beach. Lots of parking and a playground for kids, plus the standard sand and waves.
• La Jolla Cove/Shores - great views and awesome restaurants and window shopping. La Jolla Shores beach is very family friendly as well. The seals at Children's Pool are cool to look at.
• Pacific Beach / Mission Beach - these are nice, but they will be packed July 4th weekend for sure. Not as family friendly as more younger 20-something people party here. They've banned alcohol on the beaches here but it can still get rowdy. You may want to check out Belmont Park at Mission Beach though, it's an amusement park on the beach.
• Sea World - definitely worth checking out, but will be super-crowded.
• Balboa Park - the largest urban cultural park in the US.
• San Diego Zoo - inside Balboa Park
• Seaport Village, Harbor Drive, Downtown Gaslamp Quarter, Petco Park
• Point Loma and Cabrillo National Monument - one of the best views of San Diego and Coronado.
• Coronado Island

I've lived in San Diego for over 10 years now and it's the best place in the world. I love it here! You can visit my blog here for more San Diego stuff.
http://www.listgirl.com/search/label/SanDiego

Hope you have a great time!