This has been the hottest summer I can recall in the valley of the perpetual sun. There have been more days over 100 degrees than I care to mention. Last week I decided to escape from the heat and took a short road trip with my husband and dog to San Diego, California. The trip is only six hours from Phoenix but I guarantee the roads you travel are not photographed for Arizona Highways magazine. You travel through some dingy and dilapidated cities like Gila Bend and the thriving town of Yuma which is trailer park heaven. Eventually you reach the ocean after a fairly boring six hour drive.
Our first destination in California was straight to the beach to introduce Romeo, our Australian Terrier, to the ocean. We stopped at
Mission Beach first and headed straight to the beach. We weren’t on the beach 5 minutes when we were stopped by the beach patrol. Apparently, dogs aren’t allowed on the beach there except before 9:00 a.m. and after 6:00 p.m. Mission Beach is the site of the
Giant Dipper roller coaster at Belmont Park. One of the nice things about this place is that parking is free and there are lots of restaurants and outdoor cafes where you can take your dog. We were instructed to go to Ocean Beach which is the original dog beach in San Diego. Romeo was more interested in smelling the washed up seaweed then anything else. It was great fun to see dogs of all sizes and breeds romping, swimming, fetching balls, and playing. CAUTION . . . there are doggy poop landmines to be aware when you are walking anywhere at this beach.
J.R. and Romeo at Mission Beach Boardwalk
Charisse and Romeo at Mission Beach Boardwalk
Giant Dipper roller coaster in Belmont Park
Romeo and unknown friend at Ocean Beach
Charisse and Romeo at Ocean Beach
Traveling with a dog obviously makes your hotel accommodations quite limited. We ended up at a hotel that I will not recommend here but in the past have stayed at
Hotel Solamar which is part of the Kimpton Hotel boutique hotel chain. They are centrally located in the Gas Lamp district of San Diego. The hotel staff will bring you a gold fish to keep you company if you were unable to bring your pet. All of their locations are pet friendly. I have stayed at ones in Portland, Seattle and Chicago and will be staying at the one in Scottsale, Arizona called FireSky Resort since I won a free night’s stay there. Eating out can also be a challenge but we were able to find outdoor dining and cafes most places we went. We had dinner in the area of downtown San Diego known as
Little Italy and had fish and chips at the outdoor cafe at
Princess Pub and Grille. Shopping was not on the agenda while in Little Italy, but I highly recommend checking out a darling shop called
India Ink where you will find unusual cards and stationery.
India Ink
Certainly a trip to San Diego would not be complete if you didn’t learn something about the history of the place. So you must travel to
Old Town to see the original birthplace of California and the first permanent Spanish settlement. The Old Town State Historic Park has a main plaza, museums, and exhibits of the original heritage there. There are also lots of shops and restaurants and beautiful shady spots to stop and take a siesta.
Old Town Buildings
J.R. and Romeo near a restaurant in Old Town
Romeo trying to take a siesta in Old Town
One of the old trees in Old Town
J.R. and Romeo in front of Fiesta de Reyes
Outside a shop at Fiesta de Reyes in Old Town
There were some lovely shops in this plaza known as
Fiesta de Reyes. I purchased a Talavera platter at Fiesta Cucina and visited the
the Seaport Tile Shop where you can purchase handmade talavera tiles and handpainted tiles of various California Missions and
Urban and Seed and Flower for dishes, linens, candles, and gardening supplies.
Talavera Tile
Handpainted tile of a California Mission
Urban Seed and Flower
Another obligatory San Diego destination is Balboa Park known for its museums and gardens. Of course, with a poochie in tow, you cannot visit the museums but we did visit the Alcazar Garden patterned after the Alcazar Castle gardens in Seville, Spain. There were lovely plants that grow so well in California and a beautiful pergola.
California Tower Dome at Balboa Park
Alcazar Garden
Gorgeous Succulent at Alcazar Garden
We drove to Coronado Island to check out Hotel Del Coronado. The fog had come in over the city which made everything cool and misty. You can certainly see why all the plants are so happy there since they have a built in misting system.
Charisse and Romeo with view of San Diego from Coronado Island
Our final destination before we left California was to travel to La Jolla and look at all the beautiful homes overlooking the beach. We had lunch at Extreme Pizza because my husband liked the name of the place.
One of my favorite interior design stores is Seaside Home where they carry some high end lines of furniture and accessories. The temperature was actually 10 degrees cooler in La Jolla than in San Diego which was a welcome relief as it was in the upper 80s while we were there.
I hope you enjoyed my travel trip report.
Charisse
