A wedding in Escondido brings me to CA for the first time with my 2 adult children. What should we not miss.

Definitely go to the San Diego Zoo, it is top notch! Also make it over to Coronado if you can, the hotel is beautiful, has a great beach, and there are some cute shops along the main street. At night, go downtown to the Gaslamp District, there are lots of great restaurants, shops, and bars.
Have fun!

The Wild Animal Park is part of the Zoological Society & we like it better than the zoo (it's close to where you'll be) but 1st timers seem to want to go to the zoo itself. We always take people to Coronado & La Jolla--especially the cove & Children's Pool to see the seals.

Also visit the Cabrillo National Monument on Point Loma. There are interesting exhibits and the view of San Diego is fabulous.

go to the marine room in la jolla for a drink

Ditto the Marine Room for a drink. Got to get that in on the agenda.

If you go to Marine room try to time if for sunset. Otherwise eat at the the upper deck of George's at the Cove in the La Jolla village on Prospect ave for one of the best views of the cliff lined northern coast of La Jolla. I agree with all the other posts if you can squeeze in as many as possible. Escondido is about at the farthest edge of San Diego so expect a lot of driving and try to time your trips around traffic. I'm sure your friends up there will tell you the times.