CA Road Trip Day 1 - San Diego

Yesterday, I posted here about the planning of our California road trip.  Today’s post is about the first day of our trip….San Diego!

California Road Trip Day ONE Itinerary

In preparation for day one, I had in a folder the following: printed version of our flight tickets, car rental and hotel info/reservations, an itinerary of our day, printed directions (in case our phones failed us) and menus from the websites of the restaurants we reserved.

3:00 a.m. - wake up

4:00 a.m. - leave house

4:30 a.m. - arrive at Indianapolis airport, check bags and go through security

6:55 a.m. - flight leaves Indy

7:32 a.m. - flight connects in Denver (CO time)
8:20 a.m. - flight leaves Denver

9:43 a.m. - flight arrives in San Diego (CA time)

10:00 a.m. - pick up luggage and take shuttle to Dollar Rent-A-Car

10:30 a.m. - pick up rental car and drive to La Jolla

11:00 a.m. - park in parking garage at by restaurant for lunch and walk La Jolla shops

12:00 p.m. - lunch reservations at Brockton Villa

1:00 p.m. - walk around La Jolla Cove

2:00 p.m. - drive five minutes to La Jolla Shores for an afternoon swim

4:00 p.m. - 30 minute drive back to San Diego and check into Sheritan San Diego Hotel and Marina

4:20 p.m. - clean up and get ready for dinner

5:40 - drive 10 minutes and find street parking by restaurant for dinner

6:00 p.m. - dinner reservations at Café 21

7:00 p.m. - enjoy the evening in the young, urban Gaslamp district of San Diego

8:00 p.m. - drive back to hotel and enjoy pool and hot tub

10:00 p.m. - try to get a good night’s sleep

A few pics of our day…..

My biggest worry for day one was that our flights would be delayed.  Thank goodness that didn't happen, and we made it to San Diego right on schedule.  Getting our rental car took a little longer than expected though.  Catching a shuttle from the airport was a little stressful, and once we arrived to pick up our car we found long lines and well.....well, let's just say that there were few glitches with this part of our day.  It's a long story, and I'll explain it in a different post at the end of this series about how things don't always go as planned.  Other than rental car issue, the rest of the day went pretty smooth. 

As soon as we got our rental car, we drove thirty minutes to the coastal town of LaJolla and ate lunch at Brockton Villa.  We had no problem finding a parking garage right next to the restaraunt, which made me very happy. 

The food at Brockton Villa was delicious…..

….and moderately priced at only $10-15 a plate….

….and the view of La Jolla Cove from the veranda where we ate our lunch was gorgeous!

The cliffs in La Jolla made for scenic views....

….as we walked along the coast….

….and took in all of the beauty around us. 

La Jolla was quite possibly one my favorite stops on our trip!

The seals were everywhere, making La Jolla a very memorable place to visit:)

La Jolla Cove is a great place to snorkel…

…or to just dip your feet in the pristine water.

A five minute drive from La Jolla Cove is La Jolla Shores, where the waves make for a great place to give surfing a try.  Prepare yourself though...becasue parking was a nightmare in La Jolla Shores!  It took us forever to find a parking spot, and we had to walk a long way to get to the beach.  I didn't plan for that, and it cut into some of our beach time.  I suggest getting here early if you want good parking.

Overall, La Jolla was one of my favorite stops on our vacation and it’s definitely someplace that I would revisit again!

After leaving La Jolla we drove back to San Diego and checked into our hotel.  We stayed at the Sheritan San Diego Hotel and Marina.  Using Priceline Negotiator, we were able to get this four star hotel for half the cost.  We've always gotten great rooms when we've negotiated with Priceline in the past, but I was a little disappointed with our room in San Diego.  For one, it had two double beds instead of one queen bed.....that's never happened to us before!  Second, it was on the bottom floor, so we didn't get a view.....that's also never happened to us before!  Lastly, it was right next to the pool, so it was loud while we were trying to sleep!  That was a huge negative, because the first day of our trip we were awake for 23 hour day due to the time change.  Not to mention we only had three hours of sleep the night before.  What can I say, priceline is a gamble.  Sometimes it pays off and sometimes it doesn't.  In this case, I don't think it paid off.  Overall, the hotel was great, but the room was not so great:( 

The hotel did have an awesome pool area though....

....and the fact that it was right on the marina was pretty cool too:)

After checking into our hotel and cleaning up, we drove five minutes to the young, urban Gaslamp district of San Diego....

......and had dinner at Cafe 21. 

I really loved the historic, urban details in the design of the restaurant....

.....and the food was really good too!

Street parking was inexpensive and easy to find. Afterwards we walked around the outdoor mall, before heading back to the hotel for an evening swim and a good night's rest. Day one of our trip was a long one, but I wouldn't have it any other way!