San Diego, CA

Updated: Sep 16, 2023

Our itinerary

Day 1

I had been in San Diego all week for a project for work so Alec & I decided to make the most of it & have him drive down to join me for the weekend. Unfortunately, leaving in the afternoon from our neck of the woods to SD took much longer than expected but 3 hours later he finally arrived, picked me up from my client’s house, & we were on our merry way.

Since I was so swamped with work Alec also took matters into his own hands & planned our whole weekend (what a sweetheart)! Alec made dinner reservations for us at Puesto, a new mexican artisan kitchen & bar restaurant. For drinks I got the fruit cart marg & Alec got a Puesto perfect. Both were super tasty + refreshing. To eat we ordered esquite to share + some tacos. I got the chicken al pastor & Alec got the chicken asada & the quesabirria. The tacos were so good & unique, it reminded us of some of our fave taco places in Texas. If you are starved, we def rec more because they were on the smaller side (street taco style) but overall an incredible place with the best vibes.

After finishing up at dinner we quickly headed for our hotel, InterContinental San Diego to check in & catch the sunset. We parked in the parking garage underneath our hotel, took the elevator up, checked in, & oohed + awed at our incredible view. We had a room overlooking the U.S. Midway which was all lit up at night + a gorg view of the city too. After unloading our stuff we were exhausted from our long week at work, so we hit the hay early to prep for the rest of our eventful weekend getaway!

Day 2

Saturday morning we slept in quite a bit (we love a good set of hotel blackout curtains), then got ready, & headed to brunch. Alec made a reservation at Great Maple for us, which we highly recommend. To drink, I had a pineapple mimosa & Alec ordered black coffee (I know, so boring). For starters we ordered the maple bacon donuts, which were literally to die for and could put you in a food coma instantly! Tbh we really didn’t need to order anything else because those donuts were huge & so filling. But of course we did, so I ordered this massive serving of French toast logs (when I say massive people would walk by, stop, & admire the amount of food I was about to devour lol) and Alec got the silver dollar pancakes + a side of bacon. After we finished eating, (although it looked like we barely touched our food) we paid, & headed back to our hotel.

After we changed & lathered up in sunscreen, we hit the rooftop pool for the afternoon. Again another gorgeous view of the Midway + a food truck/picnic area was below & the weather could not have been more perf. We played some games, swam a little, & chatted the day away. Later in the afternoon we finally got hungry again so we ordered from the rooftop bar + restaurant, Layover. We got the wagyu cheeseburger, which was incredible & chips + guac & salsa which was so fresh. All of the servers were so attentive & kind and made sure that we were having a great day!

Once we had soaked up all the sun 2 gingers could handle, we headed back to our hotel room to freshen up + change. Since we yet again stuffed ourselves at lunch, we decided to go walk down on the port side pier to see all the boats & people. After we walked up & down the path we headed over to little Italy to explore a little bit before heading to dinner. When we were walking back into our hotel lobby we noticed a sign for a new rooftop restaurant called Seneca that we decided to check out. As the elevator door opened it was like we were transported into a whole new world. It was pitch black with twinkly lights on the ceiling, luscious green plants + trees everywhere, with a rainforest soundtrack playing & fog all around. Alec & I were SO confused and thought we must be in the wrong place. I hope someone was watching us on a camera & getting a good laugh because we were just spinning in circles & looking around for a sign if we were in the right place. Finally we found the courage to open these double doors at the end of the room & found ourselves on this beautiful rooftop with the most exquisite vibe. We obviously didn’t have a reservation but luckily they had a table for 2 that we could use for an hour before the next reservation arrived to claim it. Sadly our table was more in the center of the restaurant (they had tons of tables & people crammed on this rooftop for sure) but the views all around were beautiful. Depending on the side you sat on you either overlooked the city or harbor & the decor + ambiance of the open sky restaurant was incredible. Since we didn’t have a ton of time & still weren’t too hungry, we just ordered some fun drinks & took in the view. Alec got perfect timing & I got the Venetian spritz. Both were so refreshing, sweet, & aesthetic. After paying our tab we walked back out to the tropical forest atmosphere & into the elevator.

We decided to eat in Little Italy because when in Rome you do as the Romans do! When we walked around Little Italy earlier that day we picked 3 different places that we wanted to eat at. Of course the first 2 had crazy wait times (like over an hour and a half) so we ended up at Farmer’s Table. The inside was so super cute & right next to this adorable patio area where they had live music playing. We ordered 2 glasses of Pinot Noir Spellbound with the bruschetta burrata board to start & the gnocchi to split. Everything was so tasty & filling but of course across the street was a Salt & Straw so we couldn’t resist stopping by to satisfy our sweet tooths. Neither of us had ever been but had heard amazing things! There was a line out the door but luckily it went super quick. We both got waffle cones with 1 scoop each, Alec got double fold vanilla & I got birthday cakes + berries. We both enjoyed our cones as we leisurely walked back to our hotel & quickly fell asleep from our busy day.

Day 3

Sunday morning we took our time getting up & at em. We actually ended up pushing back our brunch reservation just so we could sleep in some more & take our time packing up & heading out. The main reason Alec picked Harley Gray was because they had an amazing bottomless mimosa deal, only $10 each!! So of course we had to start with that, then Alec ordered the chillaquillas & I got the breakfast burrito. We took our sweet time eating & enjoyed every last mimosa we could take. The service was so incredible & the waitress just kept the champagne coming!

After we paid our bill, we made a quick change of plans (this weekend was all about going with the flow) & decided to head over to Hotel del Coronado. Last time we came to San Diego we stopped by here & fell in love, so we couldn’t help but come back again. We quickly changed into our swimsuits then headed for the Beach Shack located right between the water & the hotel. Alec ordered a Michelob ultra & I got the Sunset Beach. Once we grabbed our drinks we headed straight for the cornhole tables set up in the sand & played a few rounds before heading to lay by the water. It was such a beautiful day & we loved getting to just sit, relax, & soak up more rays. Once we had our sunshine fix, we walked over to Hotel del Coronado & wandered around. After exploring a bit we decided to top it was time to make our way back to reality & head home.

We seriously feel so grateful to have had this opportunity for such a last minute, easy weekend getaway together & will forever cherish these memories. San Diego sure does hold a special piece of our hearts and we can't wait to go back again one day!