Being out in Arizona has been an absolute blast. We have been able to explore so many different places! Over Columbus Day weekend we had the opportunity to visit Will’s brother and his family in San Diego for a few days.
Friday
We left pretty early in the morning, making sure to get in a good breakfast, and of course running into more of our dinosaur friends on the road. If there’s one thing I’m going to miss about the desert, it’s how many dinosaurs there are hanging around.
Lunch was, obviously, a very satisfying stop at In-N-Out. I’m already internally crying about the east coast not having my animal style burger fix.
We got to the Shugart house in late afternoon and had a fantastic evening catching up with John, Kristina, and our nieces. The boys burned things, we ate Mexican food, and our hearts were happy.
Saturday
We indulged in the traditional Shugart breakfast the following morning. I love my cheesy eggs, fancy bacon, and delicious waffles, but this girl canNOT get enough potatoes. They’re so good! Will is also hardcore into potatoes for breakfast so our marriage was basically a match made in heaven.
SeaWorld
Some of you may not know this, but I actually used to live in San Diego. For almost five years I called southern California home and I lived right across the bay from SeaWorld San Diego for some time. I could almost see their evening fireworks display every night during the summer from my back patio.
Despite being so close, I never visited while I lived there, so taking the opportunity while we were in town was top of the list. Having now visited, I highly recommend going to SeaWorld if you have the opportunity. It is the best aquarium you have ever been to on steroids.
The Sea Lions were great. You could buy fish to feed them and the birds would always swoop in to try and steal them.
I have always seen pictures and videos of these cool underwater walkways at aquariums but have never been in one before! It was so cool! Even though I am usually terrified of sharks, it was just so awesome that I wasn’t afraid at all.
We saw several types of sharks just sitting still on the bottom. I didn’t know they could do that! Apparently certain species of sharks can keep water moving through their gills by a pumping motion of their pharynx, so they don’t have to keep moving.
After we saw the sharks, we went to the Dolphin Encounter show.
I’m not super into splash zones or walking around in sopping wet clothes, so Will was a champ and let me hide behind him when the dolphins soaked us. Besides that it was an excellent show. It was fun to see the relationship between the dolphins and trainers. There was even a big whale that took part in the show, and its personality was so cute. It reminded me of a giant golden retriever.
Next up we rode some rides. The one on the left is the first rollercoaster Will and I have been on together! I had plenty of anxiety leading up to it while we were waiting in line because we didn’t put our phones in the available lockers. Anyone else with anxiety get super stressed about the small things sometimes? Will saved the day with his pockets, and despite lots of screaming on my part, it was a seriously excellent rollercoaster.
I bowed out on the Atlantis ride, though, because I was a little cold and didn’t feel like getting wet again.
I hung out with my niece as everyone else took turns riding. We made sure to stand outside the splash zone while we watched everyone come down, and then went to look at the fishies and sting rays for a while.
My five year old niece took the photo on the right. She’ll be a photographer in no time.
As the afternoon turned into evening, and the unnaturally chilly San Diego day seeped into our bones, we stopped by a Starbucks for coffees and hot chocolates to warm up while we waiting in line for our next adventure.
Confession time: Will’s fave from Starbucks is the caramel frappe. He claims this is the best one he had ever had. Way to go, SeaWorld Starbucks.
Their Orca show has, apparently, changed a lot. It is now primarily an educational show where they teach you all about the different kinds of Killer Whales and absolutely no one gets in the water with them.
After the show, we went down below to watch the Orcas swim for a little while.
Will and I have taken to getting magnets for every state we have been through, or for significant places we have visited. We also like getting Christmas ornaments, but in SeaWorld we opted for the Orca fridge magnet. They are seriously majestic animals.
I can’t pick a favorite thing we did in SeaWorld because it was all really good. I definitely recommend a visit the next time you’re in San Diego.
When we left the park, we grabbed some dinner and then went back to John and Kristina’s.
Sunday
On Sunday morning we went to church, where they had coffee and donuts available beforehand. That’s my kind of church!
Afterwards, we went out for brunch to Broken Yolk with the Shugarts and Kristina’s family. You can never have too much breakfast food.
San Diego Zoo
Okay, if you think me never going to SeaWorld while I lived in San Diego is bad, listen to this. Will had never been to a zoo before. In his life. Ever.
When we heard that we knew that we absolutely needed to visit one of the best zoos in the world—the San Diego Zoo.
And don’t worry—I definitely changed into good walking shoes before we went in the park.
It was so COOL to get to share that moment with Will. His first time seeing rhinos, giraffes, elephants, lions, gorillas, etc. He even broke out his phone to take his own pictures and video, which does not happen very often, folks.
The gorilla was so cute! A woman played a gorilla video on her phone and it just sat there and watched the whole thing.
We power walked through Africa, the arctic, stopped for some ice cream, and ended at the orangutans, which were my favorites of the day. Will’s favorite was the gorilla.
After a few hours in the zoo, Will and I took off for a little while so that I could show him all of my old stomping grounds. We drove up to north county and I showed him a few places I lived, worked, and shopped for groceries, before we headed back south to Pacific Beach. We drove by my old townhouse and then parked and ran to the beach just in time to watch the last rays of light from the sunset. It was such a special moment to be able to share with him.
Still feeling all grateful and mushy, we stopped at a restaurant called Fat Fish by the pier to get dinner. It was super delicious and special.
Monday
We had a great and relaxing morning with the family before we got back on the road. We stopped a few hours into our drive to spend a some time with the sand dunes. Will had never seen sand dunes before! Yet another cool moment to share with him! They were pretty big, and super white. It doesn’t take greenery or oceans for something to be beautiful.
We had a fantastic trip and whirlwind weekend with the family. There is so much to do in San Diego, it actually became overwhelming for me at one point because I realized that there is so much I want to share with Will. I’m so grateful that we had this time with family and with San Diego before we head back to the east coast. It did a lot of good for my soul.
Have you ever been to San Diego? What was your favorite part? The food is pretty high on my list! If you enjoyed this post, please give it a like and don’t forget to join the family by hitting that subscribe button if you haven’t already.
Until next time,
Jamie out
WamiesWorld 