Some stray thoughts about a three-day trip to San Diego that we took last week. Staying in La Jolla, a laid back beachy place populated with transplants and densely packed with second homes, San Diego was the right mix of nature and urban, allowing us to get around via walking and public transit, taking relatively inexpensive ride shares when needed.
The Shoal La Jolla¶
Though not as centrally located as some other higher-end hotels in the area, staying at The Shoal, a recently renovated travelodge, meant having a base that was away from the noise of downtown. Staying during the week, in particular, meant that there were few other guests and almost no outside traffic in the night. There's a pool area and a front desk with free sugary instant oats. It's very conveniently located to a bus line that connects to the downtown as well as a transit center - highly recommended if you're traveling without kids and are able-bodied. If I had to lodge one complaint, it would be the bathroom door being a sliding barn door instead of one that shuts completely which is (not to be hyperbolic) a design choice that should be punishable by imprisonment at the bottom of the ocean.1
The Taco Stand¶
Every listicle will tell you that the Taco Stand is a must-visit in La Jolla and: it is good. We went during the day and it was empty enough to grab a table inside - at night the line gets long and there are a bunch of other places nearby that are also really solid, so don't be afraid to ignore the hype. Mexican food in SoCal is like pizza and bagels in New York - the bar is already high and the best places to eat are usually whichever one is closest to you when you're hungry.2
The Santa Fe Depot is a historic train station with beautiful ornate ceramic tiles covering the walls and high redwood beams lining the ceilings. More importantly, it has this old school cafe with incredible hamburger and hotdog neon signs.
Coronado Island¶
If you walk past the area with souvenir shops and restaurants and venture very slightly deeper into the island, you can find the Coronado Brewing Company, which is more family restaurant than typical brewery. The beer and artichoke dip are good, but the burger and fries were too salty, so maybe find another place nearby for food-food.3 Then you can walk back to the piers and watch people fishing, and the sunset, if you're into that sort of thing.
Torrey Pines¶
With no shortage of easy trails, Torrey Pines is a fun way to spend a morning, as long as it's not too hot. The accessible hikes are clearly marked - I think most of them are fairly accessible, with the main "beach trail" having some moments that may be difficult/impossible based on your fitness. But it's still far from the hardest trips out there. The beach itself is a pretty-but-precariously-rocky sprawl that most people double back on to get back to their cars - if you instead choose to walk past it, get ready for a long, winding uphill path with plenty of steps leading to the Torrey Pines Golf Course (and a patch of dirt on the roadside where you can safely call a car).
The tide pools at low tide, allegedly a place to catch marine creatures stuck in the earthen pockmarks, though we didn't see any.
The Tide Pools¶
This was one of my favorite parts of the trip and a great place to take golden hour photos or, if you're me, take dozens of photos before realizing that the spool didn't catch the film in your camera and instead hastily take 3 photos before rushing to dinner, briefly stopping to tell a kid to quit harassing an unhoused person trying to sleep on a bench by shoving a phone in their face for their hilarious video. Walking up the shore, you can check out other hotspots like the Children's Pool and watch seals flop around in the sun.
Balboa Park¶
Though not much for zoos ourselves, we took a morning trip to the massive Balboa Park, home to an extremely famous zoo, and instead went to the Japanese Friendship Garden and OneWorldbeat Cafe - both of these are highly recommended. The latter has solid African-inspired vegan food - with the peanut curry being a standout - a nice outdoor patio, and doesn't suffer from the museum-cafe markup of many of the other restaurants in the area.
This was a really nice trip and there were plenty of honorable mentions, such as the really fresh eggplant sandwich I got from Girard Gourmet, but I'll put a plug in it. Do you have any San Diego tips? If you do, great! I don't have comments on this website enabled, so whisper them into an empty bottle and throw it into the sea.