travelerfromtx

My 12 year old daughter and I enjoyed our mother-daughter trip to San Diego and Burbank during her spring break. As I promised I would do, here is my trip report:

Day 1: Flight from DFW to San Diego was uneventful; I liked the small airport in San Diego. We picked up our rental car and then went on the Old Town Trolley tour that afternoon. I was glad that someone else was driving as we drove over the Coronado Bridge and I looked down at that small concrete barrier with no shoulder present. Maybe it seemed worse being on the trolley bus, but oh my goodness! We “hopped off” and spent some time at the Coronado Beach which was lovely and also took a peek in the Hotel Del Coronado. After our trolley tour we went to La Jolla Cove for a little while and then had dinner at George’s at the Cove Ocean Terrace. Started off with Caesar salad and fried calamari, then grilled salmon for me and garlic shrimp for her. Wonderful food and wonderful views! Then we checked in to our hotel, the La Jolla Marriott. I discovered that my cell phone did not receive internet in San Diego, so therefore no Google Maps for me on this trip.

Day 2: Went to the bay front for a whale watching tour. After paying $13 to park and walking over to the San Diego Harbor Excursion tours, we found out whale watching cruises were cancelled that day due to rough seas. So we got back in our car and went to the zoo instead. We totally enjoyed the zoo, especially the baby gorilla, Frank. Even though the pandas were asleep we still enjoyed seeing them and the koalas were so cute. We had lunch at Albert’s on the patio. We were the only ones on the patio because it was a little bit cooler than usual but we had our jackets on and loved being out there with the waterfall feature. After the zoo we went to Balboa Park. We visited the Natural History Museum, the Timken Museum and the Botanical Building. Wish we would have been able to explore more, but we were tired from all the walking and drove back to our hotel after that. For dinner we had grilled fish tacos at a Rubio’s in La Jolla. It was my first time to eat fish tacos and they were delicious! We probably should have split a plate because there was so much food and we couldn’t finish them. We spent that evening at the hotel’s indoor pool and hot tub.

Day 3: Called San Diego Harbor Excursions first this time to make sure whale watching tours were still a go this day. So glad to hear they were back on. The tour was excellent and our guide pointed out all the things in the harbor. At sea, we saw Pacific white sided dolphins, 2 minke whales (unusual sightings per the naturalist), and 5 gray whales. On the way back in more dolphins put on quite a show for us and we saw a large group of sea lions on a pier. That afternoon we headed to La Jolla Shores and went kayaking with La Jolla Kayak. Got lost trying to leave the shores area and get back to our hotel, thanks to the kind gentleman I flagged down on the sidewalk for directions! For dinner we headed back to town at the Corvette Diner (got lost on the way there). This is definitely a fun place for kids. The servers there are great. Afterwards we went to the Whaley House (got lost on the way there, thank you so much to the front desk manager at the Old Town Inn, George I think, for your help with directions!!!) My daughter thought it was cool to see “the most haunted house in America” and I found the historical part interesting.

Day 4: Checked out of our hotel and went to the Children’s Pool area that morning (got lost on the way there – aaarrrgghhh!). We had a wonderful time watching the seals with their babies. Lots on the beach and rocks, plus there were several pair swimming and diving all around, I guess they were teaching them how to catch food. Also enjoyed watching the pelicans fly and the little ground squirrels scurrying around. We left La Jolla at 10am and made it to the Burbank Marriott at 12pm. Checked in and had lunch at the hotel’s restaurant. I had planned to go to an In N Out Burger in Burbank but got worried about getting lost again and perhaps missing our appointment at Warner Bros Studio for the VIP tour. After driving around Burbank and Hollywood, I think this fear was unfounded as I found streets were clearly marked and it was easy to get around and find places. Oh well. The Warner Bros. studio tour was interesting and it was fun to see the Central Perk set of Friends.

Day 5: Went to Universal Studios and had a great time. We enjoyed both studio tours, but my daughter said Universal was her favorite, especially the earthquake effect on the tour. I had to ride the Mummy ride with her 3 times; she would have liked to ride it even more. Had a late lunch at Bubba Gump’s in Citywalk, delicious shrimp scampi, and then went to the Griffith Observatory afterwards. Very nice place with great views (including of the Hollywood sign), wish we would have went later in the day though so we could have looked through the telescope.

Day 6: Went to Hollywood Blvd and Highland Ave. to see the Walk of Fame, Grauman’s Chinese Theatre and Kodak Theatre. Then back to Burbank to the Bob Hope Airport for our flight back home. I really liked how easy it was to get in and around this small airport also.

Hope this wasn’t too long and that it might help someone else in their planning.

ksucat

Awesome report!
Whaley House is very haunted and have seen things move that are behind glass.
Glad you went to George's and saw LJ.
Whales are a plenty this year.
Come back anytime to SD..we love our tourists!

SandyBrit

travelerfromtx:

What a great trip report. San Diego airport, small and very friendly. Always greeters on hand to answer your question or help you out.

We are vising San Diego once again in May. How much time do you think we should allow to visit the Whaley House?

Thanks.

Sandy

kansasmom

Great report! Did you enjoy the kayaking? I think that sounds fun, but I've never done it.

travelerfromtx

Thanks everyone, glad the report may be helpful.

ksucat, thanks for your advice before our trip. We really enjoyed George's.

SandyBrit, the Whaley House is seen by guided tours. The tour lasted about 30 minutes. Right now the only night they are open is Thursday, although that might be different in the summer. But it added to the fun for my daughter to go at night.

kansasmom, the kayaking was pretty good. I imagine it would have been better in the summer though. The seas were a little rough so we couldn't go into the caves and we didn't get to see the leopard sharks that most get to see. We've kayaked at other places and it wasn't the calm ride I was hoping for, but it was nice. Riding out the waves was kind of cool.

travelerfromtx

Finally got around to posting some pics on Shutterfly. Here is the site: http://travelerfromtx.shutterfly.com/pictures