Stay Classy, San Diego

Chris and I just got home from a nice little jaunt to Southern California for the holiday weekend. Four days staying in a luxurious hotel in San Diego was not the worst way to spend the Memorial Day weekend. We had an amazing, relaxing, and very fun time together. Just the two of us!

We stayed at the L'Auberge hotel in Del Mar. It is located right off the beach and has an amazing way of making you feel like a straight-up celebrity as you walk in the doors.

After a day at the spa and laying by the pool all day on Friday, we were up for an adventure on Saturday. We took a two hour bicycle tour along the coast and through the beautiful neighborhoods of La Jolla. It was amazing. The homes were gorgeous, the scenery was heavenly, but the hills were killer.

We started at the very top of a hill in La Jolla and made our way down to the beach. Down. That's right, I was dying of fear going DOWNHILL for two hours. Being the klutz that I am, I knew all it would take was one sneaky pothole to send me flying over my handle bars. But, we both survived and loved it. We were wishing we had rented bikes instead of a car to travel around San Diego.

Along our tour, we stopped to say "hello" to a family of seals. Such unfortunate animals.

Very cute, but unfortunate.

Let's be honest, we went on daily runs and long bike rides just so we could indulge in all the fabulous food. Other than relaxing by the beach, the number one reason that brought us to San Diego was this restaurant, Aqua al Due. When we were poor newly weds living in London, we traveled to Florence, Italy and had the best meal of our lives. We MAY have thought this was the best meal due to the fact that we were eating Snickers and plain bread for every meal, but to this day, it remains in our memory as the best. When we learned the family had a restaurant in San Diego, we swore we would visit it someday. Eight years later, we finally made it. And every bite was as good as we had remembered. I especially enjoyed the Blueberry Fillet. Sounds bizarre, but it is the best thing I have EVER tasted. It was a marathon of a meal; a true Italian feast We closed down the place and then discovered we lost our rental car.

I think our only complaint with Southern California is the sun that invites you to come out and play at 5:30am. We were awakened bright and early on Sunday and decided to go for a nice run on the beach to work off our 5 course meal. It was great to have the beach to ourselves, and talk about PERFECT running weather. Nice and sunny, with a little bit of a cool breeze right when you think, "it's getting a little warm out." We ran to Torrey Pines on the beach and then decided to go for a hike up and down the hills of Torrey Pines State Reserve.

Here we are at the tip top of the mountain. It was beautiful. We got a little lost, so our hike lasted about an hour more than we bargained for, but it was one of our favorite adventures while in San Diego... and it was FREE!!!

Our run and hike did us in for the rest of the day. Thanks to a crisp Andrew Jackson, the hotel pool guys saved us a set of prime lounge chairs by the pool. And this is where we planted ourselves for the rest of our kid-free trip to paradise.

We are moving to San Diego. Maybe not this year, maybe not next year, but someday. It was far to perfect of a place for the two of us not to be there everyday.

By Monday morning, we were ITCHING to get home to our little man. But, for some reason Southwest wasn't in a hurry to get us home. Eventually, we were reunited with Josh and he was adorable, of course. He squealed like a monkey and gave us both a big hug at the same time. I thought he was going to rip my neck off of my body. I would have been okay with that. Today, he hasn't let me leave his side. We have sat on the couch all morning, snuggling and watching Toy Story, reading books, and looking at pictures of the beach.

Paradise of a different kind.

While we were away, Aunt Betsy came to take care of Josh for us. They had lots of fun playing with Betsy's new puppy, Baxter and her kitty cat, Major. Josh has been looking for them all morning. They made a few trips to the park, Chicken Play, and to the neighborhood Memorial Day Parade. All reports indicate he was a very good boy while we were away. I have decided not to tell Josh about all the fun things he could have done in San Diego. We will save Sea World, Lego Land, and the San Diego Zoo for our next trip to paradise with our little man.