I can see how people who venture to this beautiful state end up staying there, (as my cousin did many years ago).
The last time I was in San Diego I was 6 years old. I don't remember much except going to Sea World and even those memories are quite faded. My mom has been telling me for weeks now that it is such a beautiful place and one of her favorite places to visit. It all makes sense now.
It IS absolutely gorgeous with tons and tons of things to do.
Knowing I have to renew my AANP certification next year, (crazy it will be 10 years I have been practicing as a nurse practitioner!), I needed to start earning some continuing education credits. My employer is very generous and gives all providers a nice lump sum each year to spend on CEUs. Most of the time I don't even come close to using all of that money as often times I don't travel too far for conferences or won't attend any at all for various reasons. Last year I went to a conference at Mayo Clinic with a dear friend. We had a great time, but I wanted to do something different this year.
This year I decided to do it right! I scoped out all the renal-related conferences around the states, (even looking at some in Hawaii and in Europe), before I decided on attending Kidney Week in San Diego. I liked the time of year, (right before my birthday), the location, and the topics that would be presented at the conference seemed interesting. We went back and forth about whether Justin was going to go with me and in the end decided to purchase plane tickets for 2!
As things always do, this "vacation" sort of snuck up on us and I didn't feel prepared at all to leave. It was probably a good thing, however, or I would have been more worried about leaving the little ones behind. With one page of written directions for the grandparents, the kid's insurance cards and a letter stating the grandparents were allowed to make medical decisions for the kids, we packed our bags, parked the car at Keck and took off. (Note: We STILL have not completed our will. I know, I know, only 6 years too late! It's moved to the top of our "to do" list).
We seem to never have good luck with traveling/vacations so I wasn't surprised when we had an extended layover in Phoenix while they searched for another co-pilot! Seriously?! However, the next day we were driving around downtown and saw that quite a few streets were closed off by police cars. We later learned there was a standoff in the neighborhood and all flights into San Diego were shut down. I overheard people at the conference saying they had to spend 6 extra hours at their layover destination! Whew, at least we avoided that fiasco.
After getting the rental car it was close to 9:00 pm, (11:00 pm Iowa time), and we were over-hungry and tired. We walked to Little Italy and enjoyed some delicious Italian food before running back to the hotel during a thunderstorm. The locals were in awe of the thunder and lightning because that NEVER happens there. We were more annoyed because we didn't come to California to see a thunderstorm!
Thankfully it was sunshine and perfect temps the rest of the stay.
Wednesday was our only day together to sight see so we really had to narrow down what we wanted to do. I was all about going to the zoo and the safari but Justin wanted to spend our time doing other things. In the end, I think I would have wanted to see the zoo with our kiddos anyway.
We started at Coronado Island, walking along the beach and seeing the sights before heading to Imperial Beach, Seaport Village, (lots of restaurants and shops), and then to Balboa Park. There is a ton to do at this park and unfortunately we just didn't have time to do it all. There are 10-12 museums and various gardens to walk through. For dinner we headed to the Gaslamp Quarter, famous for it's dance clubs and restaurants
Thursday was the start of my conference which was at the largest convention center I have ever seen. It makes sense why it had to be at a place so large: This conference was HUGE! There were well over 1000 people from over 100 countries. In fact, English speaking people were the minority. Of the 10 people I ate lunch with, only 3 of us spoke English and only one other was from the US. Friday morning we had breakfast burritos during the presentation and I spent a good 5 minutes explaining to my table-mates what they were!
While I was stuck inside all day, (OK, I did skip out on a few talks to do a little more shopping at Seaport Village and enjoy the San Diego Bay), Justin spent the day doing a seal tour on land and in water and touring the USS Midway Museum. I met him at the museum and we headed to Old Town for some sight seeing and Mexican food. Wouldn't you know it, the restaurant we picked just happened to have a special on the 5th of every month if it was your birthday. Since it was November 5th, my meal was free :). The food was excellent and Old Town was really cute: Picture original buildings from when the Europeans first settled, workers wearing clothing from that era, old time candy stores, etc. I loved it!
We ended the evening at a new location in Little Italy called iDessert. This is right up my ally: You use an iPad to create your dessert, choosing the meringue, gelato, cream, and toppings. I would have gone back if we had time.
Friday our conference started a little earlier, but I decided to leave after lunch so we could do a little more sight seeing. Justin spent the morning touring Petco Park, (where the Padres play), and finishing his tour of the USS Midway. Our adventures together on our last day took us up the coast to a few more beaches and an evening in La Jolla for cocktails, dinner and shopping. There are also quite a few free museums to browse through which were very impressive. I particularly loved the Peter Lik gallery we went through. He is a world renowned photographer who sold the most expensive photograph in history, at 6.5 million, (www.lik.com).
This definitely ranks high on my list of places to visit. Our hotel was nice and in a perfect location. We walked to most of the areas we visited, with the exception of Balboa Park and our La Jolla trip. The San Diego bay is gorgeous, full of sail boats, blue water, beautiful parks. I was most impressed with how clean the entire city was and how friendly the locals were.
We will absolutely be planning a trip back in a few years. We'll spend this trip as a family of 5, visiting the zoo, Sea World and Legoland!
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