Weekend Getaway: San Diego
The stars aligned just right for my 60th birthday - it fell over Labor Day weekend, my sister was going to be babysitting her grandkids in San Diego, my daughter was going to a wedding in LA and friends were celebrating their anniversary in Southern California. So it was a no brainer to grab a quick flight to San Diego to celebrate such a big zero birthday! Here's how the weekend went - spoiler alert: it went swimmingly - and what we did to celebrate my 60 trips around the Sun!
Temecula Wineries
Temecula is some 40 miles north of San Diego and has a fantastic climate for growing grapes. That are made into wine. It's a bit of a hidden gem with nearly 50 wineries in this area. And if you've been visiting this blog regularly, then you'll know I love a good winery visit. So it's no surprise that I picked Temecula and winery hopping for my actual birthday event.
Robert Renzoni Winery
Our first winery stop was a delight. Robert Renzoni Winery is a tuscan style winery and serves not only wine but also is a restaurant. It was my choice for my birthday lunch - italian food on a patio overlooking the Temecula hills with Frank Sinatra playing in the background. What a fantastic birthday!
Peltzer
Peltzer Winery was a totally different style winery - rustic, farmhouse style and I'm not ashamed to say that I enjoyed a wine slushie while listening to country music here.
Bottaia
Bottaia came at the recommendation of friends. Once again, totally different than the first two, Bottaia is on the upscale side of things with not only wine tastings but snack plates, fantastic views and even a swimming pool. We enjoyed our time here, also, especially the view.
Three wineries seemed to be enough for one day and I was thrilled that we were able to visit three different wineries. I'd love to go back to Temecula another time and sample some more wineries. But for now it was time for some birthday dinner...and key lime pie!
Mission San Juan Capistrano
Mission San Juan Capistrano, the "Jewel of the California Missions", was a Spanish mission founded in 1776 in San Juan Capistrano by Spanish Catholic Missionaries of the Franciscan order. It was the 7th of 21 missions in California and features a chapel where Saint Serra once celebrated mass. (It is the oldest building in California)
Today it is a historic landmark and museum with 300,000 visitors annually. We drove up and over the mountains from our Air BnB - passing Lake Elsinore and stopping at an In n Out for lunch - to San Juan Capistrano. We spent a few hours here learning about the history - which I found fascinating as I didn't know much about the Spanish missions - and touring the gardens. (The only thing I knew about San Juan Capistrano is that swallows migrate from Argentina here every year and nest in the walls of the mission.) If you have a couple of free hours and you're in this area, it's worth a visit. Especially if you're a history buff.
Doheny State Beach
We ended up at Doheny State Beach in Dana Point for a different reason than most - we were looking for somewhere to eat. We wanted something light and by the water so the Doho Cafe came up on our search. Not realizing that it was actually a cafe at the beach - and more like a beach shack - we still decided to go for it.
Doheny State Beach is lifeguard manned, has restrooms, and the above mentioned Doho Cafe. You do have to pay to park since it is a state beach - and you pay on the state park app - but the facilities make up for the paid parking, in my opinion.
We ordered our food - mainly baskets of burgers, chicken, fish tacos or bowls - and grabbed a concrete patio table. There were views of the ocean, live music, alcoholic beverages - what more could you ask for? Except maybe table service. It turned out to be a fun choice. You just never know when you're traveling how it will turn out but I think 9 times out of 10, it turns out great.
Little Italy
On a previous visit to San Diego, one of my favorite spots was Little Italy. You can't go wrong with Italian food and the area is delightful. So I picked a restaurant here, Caravello, for a delicious birthday dinner where we ate outside and enjoyed people watching, delicious food and good company. I highly recommend a visit to Little Italy if you're in San Diego.
Highway 101 Drive
US Highway 101, or the Pacific Coast Highway, is a major north south highway route for some 800 miles along the coast of California (also Oregon and Washington) It follows the historic Camino Real which connected the California Missions. It seemed a fitting end to our San Diego getaway- a drive through some charming coastal towns and visits to scenic beaches. We started the day with a delicious brunch at Angelo's Burgers in Oceanside and then started the drive south stopping at Torrey Pines State Beach.
La Jolla
La Jolla calls itself a neighborhood but I think of it as a small town. It's known for its rugged coastline, Torrey Pines State Natural Preserve, Birch Aquarium at Scripps, Scripps Institute of Oceanography and the bank accounts of its residents - you need a good bit of money to live here in this picturesque part of California. We were driving through on our way down Highway 101 so we stopped in the posh little village at a small brewery - Viewpoint Brewing - and then made our way down to the shore.
If you walk down a set of stairs to the coast from the village - passing the infamous Sunny Jim's Cave and Store (don't laugh, there was a long line for entry) - you will come to La Jolla cove. Known for its sea lions and seals, there were lots of people viewing these loud big - and little - creatures. We watched for a long time - until the smell was overpowering, they certainly don't smell good - and then walked back up to our car after a good dose of the coast and sunshine.
Mt Soledad
Soledad Mountain, otherwise known as Mt. Soledad, is the site of a Korean War Memorial and a large concrete cross. It has fantastic views over San Diego and the Pacific Ocean. It's also popular to cyclists as a destination of several rides.
We chose to drive up it, not cycle, to enjoy the views and check out the war memorial. Nice little stop - and the drive up was a good way to see the residential area also.
Juan Cabrillo National Monument
In 1542, Juan Cabrillo stepped out of his boat and became the first European to set foot on what is now the West Coast of the United States. Cabrillo National Monument celebrates and tells the story of that event- along with a whole lot more. Here you can learn Cabrillo's story, go tidepooling (they had just closed the tidepool area when we arrived), visit the Old Point Loma Lighthouse, or walk along several trails with views.
We arrived quite late in the day but with still enough time to enter the park and explore. We took in the views from the Visitor Center and learned about Juan Cabrillo. Then we walked - a bit hurriedly before it closed - to the lighthouse where we learned its history (built in 1854) and about what it would be like to have lived there. It's an interesting park/monument to visit and I'm glad we made it before closing! Now we were off to the airport after a very fun, celebratory weekend.
As I stated at the beginning of this post, it was a fabulous weekend. And I was so glad to be able to have a fun getaway weekend for my birthday. Cheers to another trip around the Sun!
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