lisaland
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Jan 3, 2006
Saturday: Arrived in SD. We got our rental car upgraded to a Chrysler 300 which was nice. We tried to fit luggage in a convertible pt cruiser but it didn't work. The 300 was roomier than a compact so I was happy. We checked into hotel. We stayed at a brand new (1 week old) Homewood Suites. (Liberty Station) I love this hotel! It was so nice...two outdoor fireplaces, heated pool, hot tub, free breakfast, free drinks in evening plus food, and a beautiful setting...a boardwalk on the waterway. After checking in, we found a Rubios Mexican restuarant that I had heard about on Tripadvisor.com. I hated Rubios. We topped it off with ice cream so that was good. We drove up to the Rosecrans National Cemetary. It was interesting to see grave markers dating as far back as the Spanish American War. We also drove up to the Cabrillo State Park and went in the light house. We also drove through the Gas Light District but it looked a little too "night clubby" for kids. We didn't stop. 
Sunday: We went to Legoland! It was fun but if you are at all used to DW, it is not THAT fun. My kids loved it though. Anything that has Legos and Star Wars in it, then they are happy! They rode nearly everything there because that park is basically made for the 10 and under set. The highlight of the day was the trip to the Big Store where they each bought three Lego Star Wars men that they didn't already have. Do you know how hard it is to get Darth Maul???
I didn't think so! We scored him and a few other hard to find men. We are the envy of every 7-9 year old boy in our neighborhood now. 
We were dog tired after Legoland but we found the strength to drive through a McD's and Pick Up Stix. LOVED Pick up Stix. It's a Chinese chain there. It reminds me a bit of Mama Fu's.
Monday: We recovered from Legoland just enough to brave Seaworld. I was not going to go to Seaworld because of the reviews I had read but DH talked me into it. I'm so glad we went! It was the best part of our trip. I actually cried at Shamu...(kids and animals make me cry). We had an absolute blast that day! I can't wait to see Seaworld in Orlando because I've heard it's even better. There are rides as well as animal shows there. DS2 rode a huge rollercoaster w/DH that I wouldn't have gotten on. We bought the picture of them coming down the big drop. It was so hilarious that it was worth the rediculous $15 that it cost!
We ate fish for lunch...JUST KIDDING. We ate at some kind of thing that reminded me of the huge counter service in Tomorrowland...the Launch Pad? They had smoked chicken. We ate a whole chicken. Mmmmmm...The rest of the day was great. We picked up dinner on the way home. Eric and I were so exhausted that we didn't even eat!!!!!!!!
Tuesday: We were beat! We were supposed to go to the Zoo but I couldn't handle it. We also were supposed to change hotels so we decided to pack up, visit a few other sites and move. We went to Mission Beach, Hotel Del Coronado, and finally, to Shelter Island (where our new hotel was). I was absolutely shocked at the hotel. It was the Island Palms at Shelter Island. (Owned by Best Western) Apparently, the picture online was of the "new" wing. We were in the "old" wing. It was at best, a motel 6.
This was where DH's business meeting was being held. I put my foot down and we decided to check out the next day. The good about this hotel was the setting itself. It was on the San Diego Bay were the sailboats were all docked. It was gorgous...I believe the America's Cup begins here. Not sure though...The view is breath-taking but the hotel was much less than I had expected. Pool was nice.
Wednesday: Eric was working this day. I got up and walked down the island while the boys were still in bed. The view was wonderful and it felt really healthy to act like a Californian. (They exercise an awful lot!) After all that excercise, I worked up an appetite and since our hotel breakfast cost the same as a meal at Ruth's Chris (not really THAT much but...), I decided to take the boys to Denny's. It was a really good Denny's too, btw. It was on Rosecrans. You never know what you are going to get with those kinds of places. Turned out good. The boys and I checked out of the motel and moved us back to the Homewood Suites while DH was in his meetings. I picked him up later on. The rest of this day, we spent driving around plus the boys wanted to swim in the pool. It was so cold that I was covered in towels, watching them, but they didn't seem to mind. We ordered pizza from Oggi's for dinner. DH took a dinner cruise on the Hornblower. It was part of his conference. I relaxed in the hotel and read.
Thursday: DH worked again. The boys and I debated about what to do. I almost took them on a seal tour (like a duck tour) but we decided at the last minute to tour the USS Midway. It's an aircraft carrier docked in San Diego and now used as a museum. I enjoyed it much more than I thought I would. Did you know that you can rent the Midway for a party? It's only $20k for an evening! The boys had fun...they got to do some special things on the tour since they were the only kids there. They got to play "captain and boss". They had fun. Of course, buying a few momentos from the store helped. And have I mentioned how much everything cost us????
I didn't bring enough cash on the Mdway, and we wound up splitting two pretzels and a coke for lunch. It cost me $13 for that! When DH got back, we let the kids swim again, and then we got ready to eat. We went to a place called the Fish Market. It was good. We overlooked the Bay and watched the sun set. Again...$$$.
Friday: It was our last day. We decided to do the Zoo since we didn't do it on Tuesday. It was just a zoo, in my opinion. Of course, they are well known for their activism in saving endangered animals. We saw Pandas which, as I understand, you don't see just anywhere. It was interesting but I've never been a person to get overly excited over the zoo. It was the SD Zoo so I can say that I've been there. DH and DS's loved it though. They thought seeing the polar bears wrestle was the bomb. The stores there have lots of cute things in them. Worth a little shopping trip. Bring your Visa. We left the zoo in the late afternoon and drove through Old Towne. It's the part of town where you learn about the Mexican History. It was interesting. We walked through but we were dog tired so we didn't get much out of it. We grabbed dinner and went home to pack.
Saturday: Flew back home.
With free (frequent flyer tickets) and a hotel paid for (DH's work) most of the week, we still managed to spend over $1500 this week. Did I mention that SD was expensive????? Each theme park/zoo/aquarium/aircraft carrier cost us $$$ to get in. That didn't count the $3 bottles of water, $25 family hamburger lunches, and the $5 ice creams.
The zoo entrance cost us over $100 and KIDS WERE FREE FOR OCTOBER! When you get into these places they charge you again to ride some of the rides. Atleast when you pay Disney World a huge amount up front, you don't have to worry about being nickeled and dimed the rest of the time. (Other than by your kids in the souvineer stores!) All in all, it was a good trip. SD is gorgous. I would love to live there...if I could afford it! 
Sunday: We went to Legoland! It was fun but if you are at all used to DW, it is not THAT fun. My kids loved it though. Anything that has Legos and Star Wars in it, then they are happy! They rode nearly everything there because that park is basically made for the 10 and under set. The highlight of the day was the trip to the Big Store where they each bought three Lego Star Wars men that they didn't already have. Do you know how hard it is to get Darth Maul???
I didn't think so! We scored him and a few other hard to find men. We are the envy of every 7-9 year old boy in our neighborhood now. We were dog tired after Legoland but we found the strength to drive through a McD's and Pick Up Stix. LOVED Pick up Stix. It's a Chinese chain there. It reminds me a bit of Mama Fu's.
Monday: We recovered from Legoland just enough to brave Seaworld. I was not going to go to Seaworld because of the reviews I had read but DH talked me into it. I'm so glad we went! It was the best part of our trip. I actually cried at Shamu...(kids and animals make me cry). We had an absolute blast that day! I can't wait to see Seaworld in Orlando because I've heard it's even better. There are rides as well as animal shows there. DS2 rode a huge rollercoaster w/DH that I wouldn't have gotten on. We bought the picture of them coming down the big drop. It was so hilarious that it was worth the rediculous $15 that it cost!
We ate fish for lunch...JUST KIDDING. We ate at some kind of thing that reminded me of the huge counter service in Tomorrowland...the Launch Pad? They had smoked chicken. We ate a whole chicken. Mmmmmm...The rest of the day was great. We picked up dinner on the way home. Eric and I were so exhausted that we didn't even eat!!!!!!!! Tuesday: We were beat! We were supposed to go to the Zoo but I couldn't handle it. We also were supposed to change hotels so we decided to pack up, visit a few other sites and move. We went to Mission Beach, Hotel Del Coronado, and finally, to Shelter Island (where our new hotel was). I was absolutely shocked at the hotel. It was the Island Palms at Shelter Island. (Owned by Best Western) Apparently, the picture online was of the "new" wing. We were in the "old" wing. It was at best, a motel 6.
This was where DH's business meeting was being held. I put my foot down and we decided to check out the next day. The good about this hotel was the setting itself. It was on the San Diego Bay were the sailboats were all docked. It was gorgous...I believe the America's Cup begins here. Not sure though...The view is breath-taking but the hotel was much less than I had expected. Pool was nice.Wednesday: Eric was working this day. I got up and walked down the island while the boys were still in bed. The view was wonderful and it felt really healthy to act like a Californian. (They exercise an awful lot!) After all that excercise, I worked up an appetite and since our hotel breakfast cost the same as a meal at Ruth's Chris (not really THAT much but...), I decided to take the boys to Denny's. It was a really good Denny's too, btw. It was on Rosecrans. You never know what you are going to get with those kinds of places. Turned out good. The boys and I checked out of the motel and moved us back to the Homewood Suites while DH was in his meetings. I picked him up later on. The rest of this day, we spent driving around plus the boys wanted to swim in the pool. It was so cold that I was covered in towels, watching them, but they didn't seem to mind. We ordered pizza from Oggi's for dinner. DH took a dinner cruise on the Hornblower. It was part of his conference. I relaxed in the hotel and read.
Thursday: DH worked again. The boys and I debated about what to do. I almost took them on a seal tour (like a duck tour) but we decided at the last minute to tour the USS Midway. It's an aircraft carrier docked in San Diego and now used as a museum. I enjoyed it much more than I thought I would. Did you know that you can rent the Midway for a party? It's only $20k for an evening! The boys had fun...they got to do some special things on the tour since they were the only kids there. They got to play "captain and boss". They had fun. Of course, buying a few momentos from the store helped. And have I mentioned how much everything cost us????
I didn't bring enough cash on the Mdway, and we wound up splitting two pretzels and a coke for lunch. It cost me $13 for that! When DH got back, we let the kids swim again, and then we got ready to eat. We went to a place called the Fish Market. It was good. We overlooked the Bay and watched the sun set. Again...$$$.Friday: It was our last day. We decided to do the Zoo since we didn't do it on Tuesday. It was just a zoo, in my opinion. Of course, they are well known for their activism in saving endangered animals. We saw Pandas which, as I understand, you don't see just anywhere. It was interesting but I've never been a person to get overly excited over the zoo. It was the SD Zoo so I can say that I've been there. DH and DS's loved it though. They thought seeing the polar bears wrestle was the bomb. The stores there have lots of cute things in them. Worth a little shopping trip. Bring your Visa. We left the zoo in the late afternoon and drove through Old Towne. It's the part of town where you learn about the Mexican History. It was interesting. We walked through but we were dog tired so we didn't get much out of it. We grabbed dinner and went home to pack.
Saturday: Flew back home.
With free (frequent flyer tickets) and a hotel paid for (DH's work) most of the week, we still managed to spend over $1500 this week. Did I mention that SD was expensive????? Each theme park/zoo/aquarium/aircraft carrier cost us $$$ to get in. That didn't count the $3 bottles of water, $25 family hamburger lunches, and the $5 ice creams.
The zoo entrance cost us over $100 and KIDS WERE FREE FOR OCTOBER! When you get into these places they charge you again to ride some of the rides. Atleast when you pay Disney World a huge amount up front, you don't have to worry about being nickeled and dimed the rest of the time. (Other than by your kids in the souvineer stores!) All in all, it was a good trip. SD is gorgous. I would love to live there...if I could afford it! 
