Hello Divas!
As long as you are living, you can live a wonderful life.
San Diego was voted as one of the top ten cities to live in the United States. After spending 4 days in San Diego, I discovered two reasons San Diego has this elite distinction.
While in San Diego, my best friend and I decided to take the kids out for a late afternoon to early evening trip to Coronado Island. Coronado Island is a peninsula attached to the mainland by the Silver Strand, a narrow strip of road and sand. We elected to take a ferry boat from the San Diego Marriott and Marina to Coronoda for some beach fun.
The ferry ride was actually a small water boat and it was a bumpy ride. However, within 10 minutes we were at Coronado. The ferry driver told us we could walk right through the peninsuala to get to Coronado beach. So we saddled up the kids and begin our walk to reach the beach.
View of the harbor from Coronado.
The walk was 10 long city blocks and was not a short jaunt at all. We walked down the main street and were able to see Coronado on foot. This beautiful town has lots of sidewalk cafes, restaurants, bars and speciality shops. There are many beautiful city parks and gorgeous buildings. The kids were a bit tired, but within 30 minutes we had arrived!
Taking a snack break!
When I saw Coronado beach, I was simply in awe. The beach has ivory PRISTINE sand. I mean the texture of this sand is soft and powdery like sugar. It has a nice ivory color and there is not a speck of litter in site. I loved walking on that sand. I simply dug my feet in and let the sand massage my feet.
Hotel del Coronado Resort sits on Coronado beach and it is a beautiful property. Since there were no public bathrooms on the beach (Yikes!) I had to take luxe baby to a bathroom located inside of the resort. This resort had my head spinning. First it is in a gorgeous location. Second, the resort is like a mini-upscale community. It has tons of speciality and fine shops at the
Shops at the Del including a Pinkberry, all located on the bottom floor of the hotel. Guests have the option to choose hotel rooms, villas, or cottages for accomodations. There are also ocean view restaurants and bars for dining. I was floored. I so want to go back to Coronoda and treat me and the luxe kids to a vacay stay at Hotel del Coronado Resort. Fabulous!
BFF profiling.
While we were hanging on the beach, the kids made sand castles, my best friend and I had girl talk and we were blessed with the sighting of Dolphins performing tricks in the ocean. I was so happy and content in that moment. A beautiful expectant mom said to me, "you look so peaceful and happy sitting right there." And for that moment, the world was perfect.
If you ever visit San Diego, Coronado peninsula is a must!
While at BlogHer I was fortunate to meet Monique Rubin of
Mo Travels and since she knew I was not leaving San Diego until late Sunday night, she was gracious enough to allow me to have Balboa Park Museum passes courtesy of the
San Diego Convention and Visitors Bureau. This pass allowed me and my guests to tour all of the Mueseums in Balboa Park. So Sunday afternoon, my best friend and I loaded up the kids in the car and hit Balboa Park for a day of fun!
Balboa Park is home to 15 major museums, performing arts venues, lovely gardens and the San Diego Zoo. It is like the Smithsonian in Washington, DC but more beautiful. What I immediately noticed about Balboa Park was the architecture. The buildings are Spanish-Renaissance style constructed in the early 1900s.
Our first stop was the Museum of Natural History. Here are some of the exhibits the kids enjoyed:
We then visited the Robert H. Fleet Science Center. This science museum was way cool. I loved that there were tons of interactive exhibits the kids could touch and explore. They spent the majority of their time in this museum. It was very engaging and they were actually learning something. Loved it!
The beauty of the Spanish Village Art Center caught our attention and we stopped to take a stroll through Spanish Town Square. Gorgeous!
Our last stop was the famous Air and Space Museum. The Air and Space museums has exhibits featuring some of the first planes to take flight and space capsules from various shuttle missions. It is big and inspiring. The boys really got a kick out this museum. However, I did too. It was impressive.
After the Air and Space Museum visit, we realized we had spent an entire afternoon at the park and it was closing time! All Musuems close between 5:00 and 5:30 pm daily. We did also visit the Zoro Garden, which is a very beautiful grotto style butterfly garden.
Another thing I noticed about Balboa Park was there were so many weddings taking place. The place is gorgeous and is a perfect setting for a wedding. It was a lovely addition to our beautiful day at the park.
The kids were happy, the adults were happy and we were exhausted! Walking on foot to all of the attractions was fun but it did wear us out. We drove back to the hotel and then we drove two hours to L.A. It was getting close for us to return back to Atlanta.
San Diego is a must city to visit. I am so glad I had an opportunity to really get out and see some of the attractions the city had to offer. It was an amazing time.
Toodles!
Disclaimer: Museum passes were provided by Mo Travels via San Diego Convention and Visitors Bureau. However, all opinions are 100% honest and my own.
