San Diego

My family and I really enjoyed our trip to San Diego at the beginning of the month. The weather was warm and sunny, the food was plenty and delicious, and the sights we saw were stunning. For the first two nights, we stayed in the Gaslamp Quarters at a Residence Inn. It was so nice and quiet and hundreds of restaurants and shops were within just five minutes. For the first two days, my sister took part in a national dance competition. My dad and I would pop in a few times to go watch her dance and then explored the city.

We like to think we are hilarious

The Bay

The two large buildings in the back are the Grand Hyatt

We went to this super quirky store at Seaport Village called American Nostalgia. I was super close to buying this shirt! I love The Office!

The outdoor mall had supersize checker and chess sets so we played a little 

Loved the architecture

The most perfect Hannah store around

 On the 4th, we moved over to the Manchester Grand Hyatt right on the bay. My dad does a lot of business with the Hyatt so they set us up with a great room with a phenomenal view. He also tied our trip into a sight visit for a future conference his company will put on, so the visitors bureau set us up with lots of passes to experience the city. Our favorite was a trolley tour that took us all around the city, as well as to Coronado Island. We learned so much about San Diego and saw more than we imagined we ever would!

Happy 4th of July!

The view from the pool deck

The Big Bay Boom did not disappoint 

The USS Midway. The tour was very interesting-- I could not be in the Navy!

Going across the San Diego-Coronado Bridge

Such a beautiful hotel!

Sisters

Dancer on the beach

Who doesn't love the ocean? 

That very distant piece of land is the tip of Mexico!

Lily pond at Balboa Park

I would love to further explore Balboa Park

The bureau also so generously gave us tickets to SeaWorld! I was semi-conflicted about this after watching the documentary Blackfish. I am a massive whale lover. Whales are my most favorite animal in the world. I have swam with belugas (my favorite toothed whales) and seen wild humpback whales (my favorite baleen whales). I adopted a whale when I was about 11 or 12 (her name was Leilani) and wanted to be a marine biologist for quite some time. Needless to say, I do not at all condone the treatment of whales in captivity, however, this excursion was one my family wanted to do and I wouldn't want to miss it with them.

Fun fact: orcas/ killer whales are actually NOT whales

You could say the heat was getting to us

Such magnificent creatures

And we ate. Gelato is AMAZING in San Diego. There's several shops that boast quality gelato for sure. I ate a lot of tacos too. So good. Oh and of course, we had to lose out In-N-Out virginity. IT WAS SO GOOD.

Peach and lemon gelato from Chocolat - THE BEST

Family gelato selfie

Oh hey, wouldn't you know, I made a video too



We were busy and tired by the end, but really enjoyed California. It sure is an amazing state!

xo
Hannah