my little fitness app told me that i walked *35 miles* between sunday and wednesday of my vacation, so i've essentially been sitting on my butt for a week since i got back. i've earned it, man. it was a great little solo trip, and i feel refreshed and recharged and all that jazz.
DAY 1:
since the only direct flights from boston to san diego didn't get in until like 4 or 5pm, i figured i'd make a mini-road trip out of it by flying into LA, spending a day and overnight there, and then driving down to SD the next day with some stops along the way. and despite my drive taking place on a day that san diego received the most rain in a single day in 100 years (!!!), i somehow lucked out and avoided any areas of flooding and had a great time; my friends were sending me tiktoks of cars floating away being like "...are you okay out there?" hahaha.
weirdly, at the ripe old age of 37, it was my first time ever renting a car?! i typically don't like to deal with the hassle of finding parking and all of that nonsense when i'm on vacation, but it made the most sense for my purposes this time around.
and it was indeed a quintessentially LA experience to basically drive across the entire city via gridlocked freeway from LAX to silver lake, past palm trees, as "sweater weather" by the neighbourhood played on the radio of my brand-spankin'-new corolla. iconic, really.
i had some time to kill before my airbnb was ready, so i stopped at the new-ish and gorgeous cafe nido for a cold brew. i loved the indoor-outdoor setup and there were plenty of places to sit, plus a little trailer with books for sale. cute cute cute!
since i was close to some landmarks in los feliz, i took a house-stalking stroll to see the "snow white cottages" (which have seen better days, but allegedly inspired snow white and the seven dwarves!)...
walt disney and his wife's first home...
and the majestic-looking shakespeare bridge:
i got to check into my airbnb a little early, so i set out toward beautiful beachwood canyon. the drive was so picturesque and pretty; at one point, i was driving with the hollywood sign straight in front of me and it felt like a movie scene!
i've stayed in several airbnbs at this point, but this studio was a top three for me for sure. it was spacious, well-decorated, and airy, with windows that wound open to let that lovely california breeze in, a kitchenette (which i didn't have time to use, but was a practical touch) and a deck that looked out at the hollywood sign. my host even left a bottle of red wine, a toblerone bar, and oranges for me! best of all, it was less money than any hotel i looked at for the night. loved it and would recommend it in a heartbeat to anyone who is looking for affordable accommodations in a gorgeous area of LA.
it was only about a 20-minute walk up to the "last house on mulholland" where you have an unobstructed and close view of the hollywood sign and it was beautiful out, so i took the opportunity to check that out. and a nice fellow tourist took this fun photo of me! bless.
this day was mostly a "redemption arc" (a strong term because i still did a ton the last time i was in LA) in which i hit up all the spots i didn't get the chance to last time. one of them was musso & frank, the oldest restaurant in hollywood — which was also featured in the movie once upon a time in hollywood! i nabbed one of the last seats at the counter and enjoyed my whiskey sour, prime rib, and baked potato.
OK OK OK AND THEN. i had been looking into the feasibility of grabbing a drink at the renowned chateau marmont because my ragtag posse of strangers-turned-friends got turned away last time i was in LA (even though i learned the next day that one of them was margot robbie's husband, and he totally could have pulled the "don't you know who i am?" card and he didn't. dammit!).
DAY 2:
before hopping in the car and heading down to SD, i took a rainy stroll down to the beachwood cafe, which has become famous because of its mention in the harry styles song "falling." even though we're nearly 5 years on from fine line's release, i was still half expecting a line of "harries" (the name for his enthusiastic fans) to be waiting outside. but much to my delight, a few minutes after the restaurant opened, i was the only one in there!
i ordered the cornflakes french toast and it was delicious:
the drive, though a bit rainy, was pretty chill. i stopped in:
laguna beach, which was a bit too sterile and bougie for my tastes, but the rain gave me the perfect excuse to sing "come clean" by hilary duff in my head the entire time i walked around (IYKYK).
san juan capistrano, which i was low-key obsessed with because of the cutesy old town area that reminded me of st. augustine, florida.
i grabbed lunch — a delicious crab cake salad — and a lemonade at the adorable, open-air ramos house cafe.
encinitas, which was also pretty "meh" to me...i strolled the main drag of shops and restaurants and it was extremely dead (probably because it was a weekday at 3pm) but overall, just kinda whatever.
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| it was, in fact, not sunny |
i ditched the rental car once i arrived in san diego because it was expensive af even for 28 hours, and lyfted to my airbnb, which was a dooope "casita" studio secluded behind a cool house. i swear it felt like i was in the middle of the rainforest, and the fact that it was raining when i arrived only added to the tropical vibe:
the neighborhood i was staying in, north park, is basically the hipster 'hood of san diego, with lots of vintage shops, cafes, breweries, restaurants, and bars.
i popped into verbatim books, which i think was the most visually fun bookstore i've ever seen:
and then i warmed up with the best coffee beverage i think i've ever had — the "old west" with sarsaparilla, vanilla, sage, espresso, and milk — at lovesong coffee + market. it tasted like a hot root beer float, which might sound gross but i SWEAR it was amazing.
mabel's gone fishing was the perfect, cozy spot for a light dinner on a slightly chilly, rainy night. it was highly uncharacteristic of my typically always-hungry nature, but i just couldn't stomach huge meals on this trip for some reason, so the flavorful mussels escabeche and grilled sourdough were just the ticket, washed down with a glass of some natural riesling from a local winery. the staff was super friendly and helpful, and the ambiance was understated yet upscale. lovely! and now i'm having that experience where i've been craving those mussels for the past week and can't stop thinking about themmmm.
i was pretty pooped from the drive and the bar i had on my list, part time lover, looked like an unremarkable dive from the outside — which is fine because i love me a dive, but i didn't think i'd be missing anything by not stopping by for a drink. but i said "what the hell? i can just leave if it sucks," and strolled behind the big silver doors to enter the coolest fucking bar i've ever experienced in my life.
DAY 3:
after a minor delay in which i didn't have hot water in the bathroom and had to use my airbnb host's luxury spa shower (a blessing because it was ballerrrrrr), the rain had cleared and i headed out to enjoy my first full day in san diego!
i wandered down to south park — north park's equally hip counterpart — and over to communal coffee, an indoor-outdoor cafe, where i grabbed an orange cardamom latte to go.
there were some sweet-ass bungalows and spanish-style homes in the vicinity, which called for a brief house-stalking stroll:
and then it was onto balboa park, which took me forever and a day to get to because, once again, you cannot walk anywhere outside of the northeast ever. as the crow flies, i was seemingly right outside of the park, but somehow, i ended up on a goddamn muddy nature trail on a hill by myself trying to actually access it and scared a homeless man as i popped up from it at an intersection because that was the only way to get there on foot? i was laughing and crying and vowing to take lyfts everywhere thereafter. but anyway, the spanish village art center was colorful and fun! i took about a zillion photos, and one of the gallery owners was like, "i was wondering why you were taking pictures of these shops that aren't open yet..." in a very snotty tone of voice. and i was like "um, because i'm visiting from boston and they're beautiful!" and she just smirked and harrumphed. i don't often get the urge to call someone the c word, but it was rattling around in my brain for a minute there. the audacity of a tourist to take pictures at a POPULAR TOURIST ATTRACTION!
i lied about that part where i said i'd stop walking, because then i walked all the way to little italy to have lunch at morning glory, this extremely instagrammable brunch spot where i snagged the last seat at the indoor/outdoor bar and had myself a non-alcoholic orange julius and some delicious fried rice with scrambled eggs and pork belly. and, random but fun: they had a champagne vending machine!
on my way to seaport village, which was just kind of a little shopping area, i wandered through the gaslamp quarter and downtown. kinda gross, but there were some fun sights:
the invigatorium was a delightfully wacky venue for a midday cold brew, replete with dinosaurs, a massive disco ball, and a life-sized ronald mcdonald. gahhh.
originally, i had planned to stop in la jolla on the drive from LA since it was on the way. but as mentioned, the weather was terrible on monday and i had to return the rental car by 4pm, so it didn't work out. it was definitely worth the lyft trip up there in nice weather, though! i watched the hang gliders for a bit at the torrey pines gliderport, then headed up to the la jolla cove area to scope out the birds and sea lions:
but i was racing a bit against the clock, because i had big plans to TIKI at 5pm. the hottest tiki bar in town, false idol, is first-come, first-served at the bar. so i arrived just in time to jump in the line that was forming and get a seat. i had one of their happy hour specials, but i forgot to take a picture of the menu and completely forget what it was. it was painkiller-y, though, TALL, and delicious! but the vibe, man. i truly felt like i was in a polynesian cave.
as an aside...i'm sure i've mentioned it many times before, but perhaps my #1 travel pro tip/hack is to ASK BARTENDERS WHERE TO GO! as service industry locals, they know all the good spots, and they'll rarely steer you wrong. for dinner, i was deciding between herb & wood, an italian spot with a top chef alum at the helm, and the lion's share, a dark and moody bar with a menu focused on wild & game meats. so i asked my bartender at false idol, and without hesitation, he declared that the lion's share was probably his favorite bar in the city. and after that, he just kept volunteering info and recommendations and it was delightful.
and indeed, his recommendation was solid. at the lion's share, i ordered a cocktail that involved donut-infused bourbon, and some bison tartare(!!) that was just wow. my food theme this trip was apparently "meat and/or seafood with pieces of bread." here for it.
DAY 4:
i began my final day at santos coffee, a cozy north park cafe that seemed to be popular amongs the locals and their pups.
the caffeine and cheese danish was necessary, because then i was off to the world-famous san diego zoo. i wouldn't consider myself a "zoo person," but YO, this zoo was legit. i spent just about two hours wandering and it was well worth the hefty price of admission.
my feet were getting pretty tired at this point, so i was thankful that i had gone full tourist and purchased one of those hop-on, hop-off trolley tickets for the day. it not only let me sit for a bit, but i learned a lot about san diego while i was transported to my next stop, coronado island.
i popped into the delightfully retro clayton's coffee shop for a tuna melt and cherry coke (which, sadly, was not actual cherry coke, but just coke with maraschino cherries in it. hmph)...
...and the island's requisite haunted hotel, hotel del coronado:
and the house where l. frank baum wrote the wizard of oz (supposedly, the hotel del coronado was the basis for the emerald city!):
i needed to charge my phone real quick, so i popped into parakeet cafe for a honey cinnamon latte.
back on the mainland, old town was a little touristy, but made for some really fantastic photo ops.
i hailed another lyft to go watch the sun set at the appropriately named sunset cliffs...
and walked down to ocean beach, which is basically the slightly seedier venice beach of san diego. there was this cool street market happening, and i got some vintage duds!
and because i somehow hadn't eaten any fish tacos yet, i grabbed a couple at mike's taco club, a hole in the wall less than block from the beach.
it wouldn't be a proper socal beach evening without a hippie drum circle! i took in all of the drumming and dancing and good vibes.
for a nightcap, i stopped into kindred, a whimsical bar that plays death metal. my drink, the snow bird, included rum, biscotti liqueur, fruitcake fassionola, sherry, ginger, and allspice bitters, got me back into the holiday spirit real fast. then, i couldn't stop thinking about the milk and cookies on the dessert menu, so i ordered them too. the girls next to me —whose conversation i had previously interrupted because one of them mentioned the broad city episode where ilana is dating the improv comic, aka my favorite episode of television ever — were like "oh yeah, you're on vacation. do it up." cheers, ladies!
all in all, a superb socal adventure.
