San Diego, Here We Come
/Dates: December 19 - 24
Airlines: Southwest
Hotel: Hilton La Jolla/Torrey Pines
Day 1 - We had an early wake-up call to make our flights… like alarms set for 3:20 early. The departure lanes at the Austin airport are insane with college kids returning home, families, and singles with their dogs.
So. Many. Dogs.
We love flying Southwest with a baby. Before Lincoln, we would do our best to look grumpy and miserable to discourage folks from choosing to sit with us. It is easy to get an empty seat now because no one wants to sit in a row with a baby!
We booked this trip because it was on sale with Southwest. This typically means a layover. But something tells me Billy planned this layover because we have an hour to kill in Vegas. Billy gambles, of course. I watch him gamble while wearing Linc and then get scolded for bringing a baby into the gambling area. Oops!
We luck into another empty middle seat onto the quick 45 min flight to San Diego. The last passenger on the plane chooses to skip our row and sit behind us with the BILL WALTON. We do our best to not stare at the NBA legend but it's tough when you notice his feet are nearly the size of Lincoln!
After picking up our rental car, we head straight to the Seaport Village. Our appetite is growing but we figured a little strolling and shopping would distract us enough to get our bellies on Cali time.
For lunch, we land at a food trailer Burgers, Bait, and Beer. It is located right on the water with a small pier with a few people fishing. The shop allows you to rent a fishing pole for $5/hour. While it sounds like fun, we both know we would be bored after 20 minutes.
Our conversation gets a little deeper on our long walk back to the car. We both realize having Lincoln has changed us (...just like everyone says). But he has mostly changed how we think about the future. We both know our future is different but we are struggling to know what we really want out of it. And that's tough for two goal setters like us.
Since we can't check into our hotel until 3pm, we continue with our plan to check out the San Diego Zoo. We skipped this on our first trip to SD but figured the Zoo was a great family-friendly way to pass the time. We opt to wear Lincoln over bringing his stroller in the park. He tends to only have eyes for the person pushing him when in his stroller. And while we know he won’t remember this trip, we wanted to see his face as he saw all the things around him.
We didn’t really factor in how tired we would be (see: 3:20 AM alarm). Linc is in and out of sleep for our time at the zoo, but we don’t have the same luxury. Rather than forcing ourselves to see the rest, we wrap up early to save us the exhaustion. We walked out of the zoo not feeling wowed, maybe we have been lucky to check out some pretty awesome zoos in our lives.
We take a little time to chill and settle into the room before heading back out for dinner. Yelp leads us to Seasalt Del Mar where we end our day enjoying cocktails, seafood, and pasta.
Day 2 - As the Hawaii-obsessed couple that we are, we kick off our day with a late breakfast at Duke's. Looking out into the hills we have a great view of the coast or looking down we see the sea lions of the La Jolla Cove.
We left Duke's a little sad because we didn't save room for their famous Hula Pie. We scope out the cove and wander around just taking in the views. We were blown away to see people in the water in the middle of December!
Back at the room we do baby things and decide what else we want to do with the remainder of our day. We still have Hula Pie on our mind and make an early reservation at Jake’s (in the same family of restaurants as Duke's) in time to catch the sunset.
Despite having a reservation, we wait a while for a table. And that's AFTER getting a hard time for bringing our stroller in with us from the host. We are a little annoyed because our stroller is small and likely takes up less room than their high chairs. Heck, it's the reason why we invested in the Doona!
Our waitress more than makes up for the unpleasant host and seems to enjoy having a baby at one of her tables. The restaurant may not have been very baby friendly but all the staff (including a different host!) loves stopping by and checking out Linc. Maybe they don't get many babies here..
Our bellies are finally satisfied getting some hula pie. We even hear a few parties asking what we had and order some for themselves.
Since sunset is early (like 4:45), we spend the next hour looking at Christmas lights at Clairemont before calling it a night.
Day 3 - Lincoln gave us another 4:30 AM wake up call. I got up with him and settled him down until Billy woke up at 6, changed Linc and fed him. They continued yesterday's tradition of going on a walk around the resort to let me catch up on some extra Zzz's. But this time they brought me a blueberry muffin on their return.
We had plans to visit a friend in Newport. We get dressed and plan to take the scenic route, which takes a little bit longer. And since Newport is the setting from one of our favorite shows as teenagers (The OC), we create a playlist of songs from the show.
The views are spectacular with gorgeous hills filled with homes, cute towns & shops, and endless ocean. Once our playlist winds down, we sit in silence just taking in the views.
While the entire town of Newport is gorgeous, Yelp once again guides us to pick The Lighthouse Cafe because of the view. We catch up with our friend over brunch and bottomless mimosas. We continue the conversations over on the Balboa Pier and of course have a balboa bar.
Billy's allergies have been getting the best of him which made the drive back really rough. We skip our idea to check out Christmas lights in Carlsbad and end the night with room service and a little Hulu (The OC, of course).
Day 4 - The next day revolves around the Philadelphia Eagles game and all subsequent plans were made around the 1PM kickoff. Billy once again took Linc on a walk in the morning to give me some time to catch up on sleep from getting up early with him. We take a slow start to the day before brunching at Farmer & The Seahorse.
We indulged in mimosas once again during brunch. We watch the crowd grow with several large parties, families with young kids, and even a band. While there was no view, we could have spent all day here. Plus we were so intrigued by the building… coworking space? Conference center? We still aren't completely sure but really loved the vibe of this place.
Billy has been looking forward to this week's Eagles game against the Cowboys. It is a big one. He opts to watch it from the room. This also gives Linc a chance to not be in his carseat/stroller. He is in and out of sleep during the game but awake to watch the Eagles win and do the fight song with Billy.
We take our time getting ready for a nearby dinner in Del Mar. Trattoria Ponte Vecchio is a quiet Italian restaurant that likely has a good view. The sun sets so early leaving everything pitch black for us... even our short walk from the parking lot.
Over dinner, we make plans to spend the next day focusing on our 2020 goals. . Both of us are having difficulty figuring out what we want to do next. We know we want to expose Lincoln to the life & world around him, but the method is hazy to us. We aren't entirely sure what that really means. We think of families we know and the elements of their lives we want to weave into ours. But are we courageous enough to do them and make sacrifices in other parts of our lives?
Day 5 - It rains overnight & stays overcast for the remainder of the day. Could we have planned a better day to stay in and focus on our 2020 goals?
The process starts with us in some quiet reflection. We frame our time back together based on our 10 questions to ask yourself before the new year. Some tears are shed. We welcome the belly laughs. 2019 was nothing like we expected, but it has been good to us.
We move to goals and do our best to separate personal goals from our business goals. When your spouse is your business partner and your biggest cheerleader the lines get blurry. It’s helpful to have our blinders on and not focus on our business… yet. We finalize our together goals in our Action + Accountability Plan before heading to lunch.
Spending the morning in our pjs has us feeling a little lazy. Lugging the Doona into the car (sans base) takes 2 mins we aren’t willing to put energy into. Its misty outside but walking somewhere close to lunch seems like a better use of energy. We opt to take the short but scenic walk to The Grill at Torrey Pines, located on the famous golf course.
The afternoon is spent in & out of naps, caring for Linc, and continuing our conversations. We opt to save our business goals for our (Linc-less) trip to Las Vegas. Plus, it’ll be a great way to keep us out of the casino.
Between food & drinks (including a delicious pineapple cream soda at dinner) that remind us of Hawaii, we are getting excited about coordinating a big family trip to Hawaii for my dad’s retirement. Our happy place is having our next three trips planned. And between Las Vegas and Puerto Rico (with Linc), we are getting jittery without a third trip. The distraction of looking at flights for six adults is welcomed. Side note: Hawaii was booked days later with our family’s input!
Day 6 - Another lazy morning is in store for us and we prep for a long day before we are back in Austin. Plus, we have plans to attend Midnight Mass back at our home parish.
We stay in our room until the last minute we can check out. And head to no other than Duke’s for an early lunch. Are we predictable?
We roam the streets of La Jolla coming in and out of stores. I am extremely proud of us for not making a single purchase on this trip (especially our beloved Banana Republic). We started a big purge before this trip and enjoyed the feeling of less stuff so much that it has resurfaced as a goal. Look at us getting ahead of those 2020 goals!
Before Linc’s first flight to Philly, we didn’t realize a lap child still needed a ticket. It is an easy & free addition on Southwest, but it requires you to see a customer service agent. We are so accustomed to going at our own fast pace through the self-service kiosks. Waiting in lines is not our speciality.
The news yesterday informed us that Christmas Eve (today) is expected to be the craziest travel day for the holidays. By the sight of the terminals, the news is correct. We do several laps around the nearby gates to find a seat. We are grateful for gate check because it allows us to hold onto the stroller a little bit longer as we navigate through the crowds.
The crowds are even more apparent in the bathrooms. As a female, I am quite familiar with waiting in line to use the restroom but waiting to change Linc was a first. My preparedness doesn’t matter to him. Just as we are are to line up to board, he poops and I get to do it all over again. The timing of this child...
With Southwest’s pick your own seat policy, we elect for Billy to upgrade to board early and grab seats. He carries the stroller in our travel bag and drops off for gate check. I hang back with Linc and board with the families between A and B group. It lets me skip the line a little since I was in the B group.
This time our flight back is direct - which rounds out Linc’s total flights to SEVEN. As we have been travelling, other parents let us know that Linc’s age is the easy days for flying. We will embrace this time as much as possible including our upcoming trips to Puerto Rico (February) & Hawaii (May)!
