San Juan Capistrano, PCH, Old Town San Diego

[Shoshana]

My 8-yr-old daughter and I will be at DL for the first time from June 19 through 30. From an earlier thread I learned that the AP days of June 23, 24, and 25 are not ideal, so I've been thinking of other ideas. We'll have anywhere from 6 to 8 days at DL and DCA so another theme park or zoo is not appealing.

What do you think about these plans -- rent a car and drive to San Juan Capistrano, leisurely tour and explore, then drive to Dana Point and head north on the Pacific Coast Highway. We could stop anywhere that looked intriguing, although I'm thinking that Huntington Beach with the pier and Ruby's looks like a good idea. Huntington Beach is close enough to Candy Cane Inn that we could just drive back to the hotel and return on the second day.

I'm still not certain if one day would be enough for San Juan Capistrano, drive up the PCHway, and walk on the pier, or if we'd need two. Thoughts?

Another idea would be to drive to San Juan and then head south to Old Town San Diego, but we'd probably need to spend the night there..

Planning is tough!

 

[june@imsarc.com]

We were going to do something similar--we were going to include the San Diego Zoo.

I read Huntington Beach has tire rings that you could use for bonfires at night! That sounds fun!

What is Ruby's?

 

[Shoshana]

Ruby's is a restaurant that is at the end of the pier on Huntington beach. I think there is more than one Ruby's at different locations, but the one at Huntington beach is supposed to be the best. It's a two story restaurant.

 

[njmeisje]

One day is plenty for this -- we did the same last week, and found it to be an enjoyable day.

 

[3inthefamily]

We just cam back from a trip to DL/Los Angeles/San Diego. We stopped at a Ruby's in Oceanside at the end of a pier. It was ok. We went to the San Diego Zoo which was AMAZING. Old Town was also just "eh" but maybe I was tired. My 9 year old was not into it.

We did go to a restaurant we saw on Man V Food (in San Diego) called Lucha Libre. It was amazing. Loved it. Best and most fun Mexican food I've ever had.