I know I’m a bit behind on getting this final post of our California trip done, but here it is! Whew!

On Thanksgiving morning, we left Solvang early and got on the road. We drove through the hills back over to the Pacific Coast Highway, headed to San Diego. This would be the last leg of our trip and we were both excited to explore the city and its many unique neighborhoods. 

We stopped off at many spots along the way, including several beaches, to take in the sights and revel at being in this glorious place. Every corner we turned gave us another amazing view. And we loved each one!

We continued through Malibu and Santa Monica, enjoying the sweeping views of big beaches and curved coastline, wide palm-tree lined streets and mansions built into cliffs.

We stopped in Redondo Beach to see Sean’s friend from college, Gage, and meet his partner Casey. They live in an awesome apartment right on the water. That’s the view from their patio – incredible! While we didn’t stay long, it was so awesome to meet them both and Sean and I hope to see them in Atlanta sometime soon!

We arrived at our Airbnb in downtown San Diego in the late afternoon. The building was really modern and cool and the apartment was very clean and nice. The mattress in our room was horribly uncomfortable, which was a major drawback. But at least it was cheap and conveniently located.

I’d figured not much would be open on Thanksgiving Day so had made us reservations at Farmer’s Bottega in Mission Hills. They had their full menu plus a special three-course Thanksgiving menu. Sean and I both ordered from that and I had the heirloom caprese salad, turkey scallopini with green bean almondine and shrimp, and a ricotta berry tart. Also pictured below is Sean’s molten chocolate cake which was incredible. We enjoyed wine pairings with each course.

After dinner we headed to the beer bar Toronado and were unsure if it’d be open. It was and only for a few hours so our timing was perfect! Sean was beyond thrilled to check this place out. All in all a pretty great first day in San Diego.

Friday morning we slept in a little, although it was difficult with the crappy mattress, and tried to get some rest from our long drive the day before. We had leftover cheese and baguette from our lunch on the wine tour in Solvang and it was still delicious.

Sean took us a little outside of the city and, little did I know, we would stay out there all day touring breweries. LOL. I was really and truly not surprised. Our first stop was AleSmith and we each had a flight – I had a Belgian flight and Sean started with the hoppy stuff. Finished it all off with a Speedway Stout because….well, because Speedway Stout.

We knew it was now or never to try the famous In ‘n Out so we found the closest one and went there for lunch. We each had a double-double and it was really good. As far as quality, I’d compare it to something like Chick-fil-A  – fast food that’s done a bit better than most.

Green Flash was our next stop and it was hop city on the beer front. I like hops and I like IPAs, but I like other stuff too. They had a sour on tap that was great. Sean ran into a guy who works at Terrapin who was there with his girlfriend and we talked to them for a while. Small world!

We checked out Societe Brewing Company but left after a taste each and moved on to Council Brewing Company, right as the sun was setting. It was no ocean sunset, but the sky and palms were also very pretty. 

Council was doing some cool shit when we were in there. Lots of amazing wild ales and sours, particularly an apricot one that we bought 2 bottles of to bring home. It’s a small place for now, but I don’t think it’ll stay that way.

Back in San Diego, we met up with Broderick, one of our fellow tweeters and foodie friends from Atlanta who’d moved to San Diego, at Ballast Point’s tasting room in Little Italy. Yeah, I know. More beer. Although I’ll say that Sean and I were really good about sharing the tastings so we kept the volume really low while getting to sample many things. It’s really the only way to do it so you don’t get wasted. 

Sean and I had dinner at Bencotto Italian Kitchen in – you guessed it – Little Italy. We shared a few plates with the standout being the burrata with a lovely fennel salad. The restaurant was nice, but had a weird layout. We were tucked into an odd space on the other side of the door from the rest of the restaurant. There were 3 other tables in this mini-section but it was hard to get a real feel for the place.

We walked back to our Airbnb after that and called it a night.

We headed out first thing Saturday morning to Cabrillo National Monument for sweeping, 360-degree views of the city, mountains and water. We stopped at a cute little Cuban coffee shop in Point Loma on the way out called The Living Room. We shared a bagel with lox and had tea and coffee. 

The views speak for themselves. It was a perfect day.

We went down to the tide pools on the other side of the monument before heading over to Sunset Cliffs in Ocean Beach. The blue water crashing on the cliffs and through the natural arches was so beautiful.We drove through Ocean Beach and then had lunch back in Point Loma at Seaside Pho and Grill. I had pho and Sean had bun and we shared a sweet and tangy soup with shirmp. We stopped at a BevMo after lunch to get some beer that’s hard (or impossible) to get in Atlanta and then shipped our boxes of “yeast samples” back home from a nearby UPS Store.

We had a long list of possible places to check out next but decided to head to North Park and visit Fall Brewing Company at the recommendation of Broderick. It was a very chill spot located right in the neighborhood and we were there for a while, sampling things. We liked everything we had. Great little brewery!

We watched the sunset over the city from a nearby park and then walked through University Heights before having dinner at a local spot called Cueva Bar. It was a wine bar and tapas spot. We tried several things, including a tower of guacamole that was amazing. Our server was fun and spunky and added a lot to our experience.

We Ubered back to the Gaslamp District and headed straight to The American Comedy Co. to see Piff the Magic Dragon. He’d been on America’s Got Talent and wears an adult-sized dragon costume and does many tricks with his little Chihuahua, Mr. Piffles. The dog part was entertaining, but he was a pretty mean and nasty performer. Oh well, it was worth a try!

After the show, we walked around the Gaslamp District and it didn’t take us long to realize we were about 10 years too old for this place and high-tailed it out of there. Refuge was awaiting us at Neighborhood, a beer bar and gastropub with a speakeasy in the back. Sean was in heaven with his beer flight and they had rose wine on tap so I was also pretty happy. A good ending to our last night in California.

We got up early again on Sunday morning and went out to La Jolla for brunch. We first stopped for tea and coffee and then walked along the water to admire the views.

Brunch was at Crab Catcher and they seated us right at the window overlooking the bay. It was fabulous. And the food was good, too. I had crab enchiladas which were tasty but Sean’s salmon was the better dish.

Another quick walk to a lookout point to soak up as much of the gorgeous scenery as possible and then it was back to the car and off to the airport. This trip exceeded my expectations in every way. And while I enjoyed both San Francisco and San Diego, it was the smaller towns of Monterey, Carmel and Solvang, and the drive down the Central Coast that truly captivated me. Incredbile memories with my husband to last a lifetime!