MFNYC

Those are really good suggestions. We do plan on going to the zoo (something we haven't done in many, many years), so I suppose we can maybe make a long day of it and check out some of those museums as well. We have 5.5 days, so I think we have more than enough time to do plenty.

L84SKY

The Contemporary Art Museum in La Jolla is one of my favorites. They've had some great exhibitions, Robert Irwin, Andy Goldsworthy etc although sometimes they've had some dodgy ones but that is with every museum.
It's a small museum, with great views. Well worth a visit.


What does your daughter want to do in TJ?
I'll try to be fair about Tijuana but it's difficult. First, personally, I would never drive there. Crossing the border takes too much time and once you get there it's dirty and not that much fun, IMO, yuck!

MFNYC

I think my D has visions of cheap silver jewelry in Tijuana. If that's not the case that's fine with me...we definitely won't go.

Barbara

I would not recommend a trip to Tijuana. I used to go down often with friends for lobster and magaritas, but none of us has been for years now. It's just too dangerous and not worth the risk.

Here's the most recent of many articles in our local newspaper about the current situation:

http://preview.tinyurl.com/2ejsvd

MFNYC

Ok, you talked me out of TJ. We've been to Mexico a few times, but primarily coastal resort areas.

Barbara

Further south in the main tourist areas, it's not like this, But the entire border area is very bad right now.

dawnnoelm

Barbara - I had no idea about the situation in T.J. very good to know - like yourself years ago we would go down for lobster/drinks...

GiuliaPiraino

Last time we stayed at Mission Beach we found it pretty icky. There were many vagrants and we found needles in the sand, and not sewing needles. Thank goodness we both had sneakers on. I like La Jolla but find there's not enough beach area and it's quite expensive.

My personal favorite is Encinitas (Moonlight beach), it's about 20-30 minutes north of downtown San Diego, two towns up from La Jolla, just north of Del mar. Its impecably clean, there are lots of great restaurants, and the beaches are usually quiet unless it's a holiday. There's a great children's playground on the beach, as well as a snack bar and showers on Moonlight beach. We love the Moonlight Beach Motel, it's only 2 blocks from the water. It's not the Ritz, typical surfer motel, pretty modest accomodations but it's incredibly clean, everything is in good repair and you can't beat the location. You can walk to tons of great restuarants, the vintage movie theater, shopping, and not to mention the pristine beach. Additionally, the view from the southern 3rd floor rooms is amazing, 307 or 308 are the best but always get booked months in advance (207 and 208 are a good backup). YOu can lay in bed and watch the waves crashing, it's gorgeous. All the rooms come with a full size fridge, stove, etc. A kitchenette I guess you'd call it. Just a warning though, the live in manager Chen is pretty particular and doesn't stand for any loud "partying" or monkeybusiness, so if that's what you are looking for it's definitely not the right place. Also, she will not allow children on anything but the first floor, however, room 108 still has an ocean view just not as great.

On the historic 101, I Trulli is an exquisite Italian restaurant. Don't miss the fresh calamari appetizer with spicy marinara!

tennislvr1

If you stay at the La Jolla Shores Hotel ask for a second floor room...taller ceilings make the room "feel" bigger.

As for one that faces the park to the north...it was a pretty crowded weekend, but we weren't bothered by the noise.

It was a great hotel and we would return in a heartbeat.

Just be warned...the parking lot downstairs is pretty tight to move around in...we had a brand new suv and it was hard to park in there!