Last month I went to San Diego for a work conference and decided to head there the Friday before so I could enjoy a long weekend in a brand new city. You may remember I took a solo trip to Rome earlier this year and made a new friend on a photography your who lives in San Diego. He told me if I was in the area to let him know and I took him up on the offer. My title of “Solo Itinerary” isn’t 100% the case, but he and I only spent one day together, so I’m keeping it haha
Day One: Old Town and Sailing
I arrived in the afternoon, got off the plane, and booked a hotel. In the past I never would have waited until getting to my destination to get accommodations, but I’ve had so much success with the app Hotel Tonight (use the code AFREITAS23 to get $25 off your first stay!) that I wasn’t worried. I stayed at The Pearl Hotel, which is a retro motel in a good location.
Let’s talk about location for a second though. New York City has completely brainwashed me into thinking that every city should be walkable or at least have some sort of public transportation. This is not the right expectation to have, especially for SD where you have to take a car everywhere, so just be prepared to Uber and you’ll be all set.
After I dropped off my things, I set out to explore Old Town which is an area that has historic buildings you can enter for free and makes you feel like you’re in a Western film. I overestimated how long it would take to see Old Town and ended up heading to my next activity early…and thank goodness I did.
My next destination was a dock to go on a sunset cruise on a sailboat. The driver dropped me off at the wrong location and I didn’t know better because there’s water everywhere and I didn’t know the exact water I needed to be on…so I walked for 45 minutes to find the proper location and am embarrassed to admit how upset this made me. Traveling by yourself is great (see this post about what solo travel has taught me), but when things go wrong and there’s no one to help you other than yourself it’s hard.
I did in fact make it to my sailboat and had a lovely ride! Definitely wish that I had someone to share it with, however, I made new friends and Sophia was kind enough to take photos of me. Plus I got to steer the boat (my days as a coxswain paying off) and I got a compliment from the Captain 🙂 If you’re in SD and want to go on a real deal sailboat, check out Sail Liberty. And make sure you bring an extra jacket to use along with the blankets provided, because it can get cold out there.
Day Two: Balboa Park, Ice Cream, and a Ferry Ride
Hansel and I met up on day two at Balboa Park, a beautiful place with so many plants and museums. First we took a tour of the desert garden and I felt like I was in a Dr. Seuss book.
Then we explored the greenhouse and the art museum. And had a photo shoot. Naturally.
After hanging out in Balboa, we got tacos and ice cream. The ice cream place, Hammond’s, has so many flavors and you can get a sampler to enjoy a bunch!
We also went down to the water and took a ferry over to Coronado Island. The timing didn’t work out well for getting to see much of the island before we had to turn back, but I was just excited to be on another boat haha
There we have it, two days in San Diego! I love exploring cities and am glad I got to check another one off my list. During the rest of my stay I got to check out the gaslamp district and would recommend that as well.
Have you ever been to San Diego? What city do you want to go to next?
-AJF
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