No doubt about it, pregnancy is stressful. There is physical stress, emotional stress, worries about finances, worries about labor, and in my case worries about family for various reasons. For me, it's not really until the third trimester that all these feelings start to arise. That's where I am too, at 36 weeks pregnant, I was feeling a lot of pressure and really wanted to just escape for a couple days. We made it happen. Fortunately for us, our favorite place to vacation is San Diego. Living in LA that makes for a pretty cheap getaway, and also makes it possible for a two day trip to be worth it.
Although we were able to scrounge up enough money to go, we still had to save as much as possible. So we made the two hour drive early Saturday, stayed one night in a hotel, and drove home Sunday evening. I packed a lunch for Saturday, which reduced costs a bit, and we also took advantage of anything free. Two days still isn't long enough to do everything we enjoy doing in San Diego, but it's was enough to enjoy our favorite Old Town, and to explore some new areas as well. It made it all the more fun to have all three of us there having fun together.
Day one, Old Town: On Saturdays, Old Town hosts a small and free artist marketplace. Local people come set up a booth to showcase and sell their creations and art. It reminded me a lot of our own local Venice Beach. Much smaller, and of course, not right on the beach. Same basic idea though. We wandered in and out of all the great shops there. I was thrilled to visit my favorite soap and candle store and find my ultra favorite SOAPTOPIA being sold there! While we were in that store, my son and I dipped our own candle sticks. We explored the park and played on the covered wagon, cannon, visited the free museums including the old school house. After lunch, we headed to the hotel to check in and take a nap. While there, we were surprised with a bird in our room. It was flying everywhere but out the door, and after the poor, scared and exhausted creature finally couldn't take it anymore, my husband was able to catch him and send him outdoors. Back to Old Town for the evening. More shops and then the climb uphill to my favorite restaurant Acapulco, for a quiet and beautiful sunset dinner.
Day Two: We check out of the hotel, pack up the van, get a discounted breakfast at Denny's and head over to the ships. My son was thrilled about seeing the "Star of India", which he calls a pirate ship. We passed the metered parking and found two lots. Thinking the one farther would cost less, we chose that one and found it to be $9 for an hour or $13 for 1-10 hours. Being in an extremely busy tourist area we thought we wouldn't find much better and just stayed for an hour to see the ship. As we walked to the ship we passed by the much closer lot and found it to be $5 for an hour and $10 for 1-10 hours. Well, that was an immediate slap in the face, but we tried to forget about it, what was done was done. We get to the ship, and find the admission is $14 for an adult, free for our son, but it includes all the ships and subs parked there. We were there for only one and I didn't mind too much, so I sent my husband in with my son and hung outside to save some money. They spent the whole time in the ship, while I was outside watching people leaving the metered parking we had passed. I found out it isn't metered on Sundays... it's free parking. Therefore, it's very worth it to circle around and find that free front row parking. Now we know.
Next was our adventure to find parking right down the street at Sea Port Village. We had never been there. Parking is free for two hours with validation. If you can find parking. After about 20 minutes, we did. Ahhh.... finally time to relax. We watched some free live entertainment like a flame eater, explored the many fun shops there, ate some snacks and fed the very brave ducks (they ate right out of my sons hand), and went on a carousel. The carousel was particularly exciting for me because I learned it was a travelling one that had not only been around since the 30's, but it was the exact same one that once sat in the center of the mall in my hometown of Burbank, Ca. That meant I had been on the exact same one before, and to me that was thrilling. It had also been in Santa Monica, Ca in the 50's, which is exciting, since I now live by Santa Monica.
Time to head home for dinner. We took PCH home and enjoyed a fun chat along with a great view and a lot of fun new things to look at. That was the best part in my opinion. Quality time spent with my husband talking about all kids of things, laughing and having a good time. We ate dinner at Outback and then came home to relax. We were refreshed and had a great time. We all needed it.
Although we were able to scrounge up enough money to go, we still had to save as much as possible. So we made the two hour drive early Saturday, stayed one night in a hotel, and drove home Sunday evening. I packed a lunch for Saturday, which reduced costs a bit, and we also took advantage of anything free. Two days still isn't long enough to do everything we enjoy doing in San Diego, but it's was enough to enjoy our favorite Old Town, and to explore some new areas as well. It made it all the more fun to have all three of us there having fun together.
Day one, Old Town: On Saturdays, Old Town hosts a small and free artist marketplace. Local people come set up a booth to showcase and sell their creations and art. It reminded me a lot of our own local Venice Beach. Much smaller, and of course, not right on the beach. Same basic idea though. We wandered in and out of all the great shops there. I was thrilled to visit my favorite soap and candle store and find my ultra favorite SOAPTOPIA being sold there! While we were in that store, my son and I dipped our own candle sticks. We explored the park and played on the covered wagon, cannon, visited the free museums including the old school house. After lunch, we headed to the hotel to check in and take a nap. While there, we were surprised with a bird in our room. It was flying everywhere but out the door, and after the poor, scared and exhausted creature finally couldn't take it anymore, my husband was able to catch him and send him outdoors. Back to Old Town for the evening. More shops and then the climb uphill to my favorite restaurant Acapulco, for a quiet and beautiful sunset dinner.
Day Two: We check out of the hotel, pack up the van, get a discounted breakfast at Denny's and head over to the ships. My son was thrilled about seeing the "Star of India", which he calls a pirate ship. We passed the metered parking and found two lots. Thinking the one farther would cost less, we chose that one and found it to be $9 for an hour or $13 for 1-10 hours. Being in an extremely busy tourist area we thought we wouldn't find much better and just stayed for an hour to see the ship. As we walked to the ship we passed by the much closer lot and found it to be $5 for an hour and $10 for 1-10 hours. Well, that was an immediate slap in the face, but we tried to forget about it, what was done was done. We get to the ship, and find the admission is $14 for an adult, free for our son, but it includes all the ships and subs parked there. We were there for only one and I didn't mind too much, so I sent my husband in with my son and hung outside to save some money. They spent the whole time in the ship, while I was outside watching people leaving the metered parking we had passed. I found out it isn't metered on Sundays... it's free parking. Therefore, it's very worth it to circle around and find that free front row parking. Now we know.
Next was our adventure to find parking right down the street at Sea Port Village. We had never been there. Parking is free for two hours with validation. If you can find parking. After about 20 minutes, we did. Ahhh.... finally time to relax. We watched some free live entertainment like a flame eater, explored the many fun shops there, ate some snacks and fed the very brave ducks (they ate right out of my sons hand), and went on a carousel. The carousel was particularly exciting for me because I learned it was a travelling one that had not only been around since the 30's, but it was the exact same one that once sat in the center of the mall in my hometown of Burbank, Ca. That meant I had been on the exact same one before, and to me that was thrilling. It had also been in Santa Monica, Ca in the 50's, which is exciting, since I now live by Santa Monica.
Time to head home for dinner. We took PCH home and enjoyed a fun chat along with a great view and a lot of fun new things to look at. That was the best part in my opinion. Quality time spent with my husband talking about all kids of things, laughing and having a good time. We ate dinner at Outback and then came home to relax. We were refreshed and had a great time. We all needed it.
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