San Diego: Part 1

San Diego. This was honestly a great trip, I mean it wasn't my best trip ever with work, but it definitely wasn't the worst and it was pretty nice to stay in the US.

Plus the last time I was in Cali I was 11. And I knew people in the area which also made things much better.

San Diego though, an awesome place to take kids. There are so many things to do, for everyone, and as I'm sure you've all heard before, the weather ain't too bad (I was actually wearing shorts!)

We did quite a lot while we were around, and we got our money's worth with the San Diego GoPass. I highly recommend this if you are going to the city for three or more days and plan to do all the tourist stuff, like us.

Break the week down:
Friday: SeaWorld San Diego
Saturday: San Diego Zoo Safari
Sunday: Balboa Park
Monday: USS Midway
Tuesday: Legoland
Wednesday: Old Town San Diego
Thursday: The Children's Museum and Balboa Park (again)
Friday: San Diego Zoo

All of these things were either free or included in the GoPass. Balboa Park is a very large park (surprise, I know) in San Diego that houses over 15 mini-museums, plus several restaurants, entertainment centers, playgrounds and more. And at the top of the park is the world famous zoo. You could spend several days hanging out at this place, which we did.

SeaWorld
I'm not sure there is too much to say about SeaWorld, it's a lot of fun animal shows, walk-throughs to see aquatic animals and some rides. The kids loved it, I hadn't been to a SeaWorld since high school so it was nice to go back to one, and we did just about everything we could do in a single day.

San Diego Zoo Safari:
This is an extension of the San Diego Zoo located about 30  minutes north of San Diego. If you've ever been to Animal Kingdom at Disney -this was very similar. You can walk around and look at animal enclosures, and take a little cart tour around the "African Plains". You can also add on with other safari expeditions that do other behind the scenes tours, all for an additional fee. The park was nice, for me the best part was a good friend of mine from elementary school drove down with her husband and son and spent the day with me. I hadn't seen her in about 3.5 years, and was able to meet her boy for the first time. And the kids were all super cute together!

it was really hot out..I don't blame this lady for just plopping herself in the pool.

Balboa Park:
We hit the first our of many trips to Balboa Park on a beautiful Sunday morning starting at their Air and Space Museum. The whole park is full of these little museums, each take about an hour to an hour and a half to walk through. Air and Space is, as imagined, full of airplanes, space related items and lots of other memorabilia related to the two. After Air and Space we made a stop for lunch at Panama 66. It was delicious and right on the edge of a sculpture garden the boys ran around in after they ate along with many other kids. They even had blankets available if you wanted to picnic. We also hit up the Model Railway Museum and The Science Museum. We took a ride on the mini-railroad and the carousel.

it's a mini Chupacabra! (if you have small children and have ever watched Planes, you will know what this means..)

we spent a lot of time playing with this contraption at The Science Museum

USS Midway Carrier Ship:
Monday took us to the USS Midway. This is a large naval ship that is now a museum filled with old planes and WWII and The Vietnam War Memorbila. The kids loved this and it was an all day thing. If you've ever been to the Intrepid in NYC, this is very similar, but much better. The layout is better, the information actual pertains to certain eras along with the actual ship and they had more kid stuff. And they had a free audioguide with many stops having a family friendly option. Overall a win. We were actually the last people off the boat that day. Not sure if that is good or bad..

That's the first four days! I think my highlights of the trip were getting to see my friends who lived in the area. I took many of my evenings off, instead of during the day, and this allowed me to grab some good local food and beer with people I actually wanted to hang out with. A friend of mine from college lives in San Diego and we went out for sushi, California burritos and she showed me all the great beaches. This made for a happier me.

Check in tomorrow for Part 2!