Visiting San Diego, Travel Photographer

We took a little trip down to San Diego, CA to celebrate my birthday this year and to get out of town after another fantastically busy summer- thanks to all of you fabulous clients! This was our first time visiting this busy city and WOW did we have a good time!

Before sharing our adventures, I want to take a moment to thank so many of you that reached out to me over my birthday and that have really shown up for me over this last year. For those of you who have been following me for some time or know me personally, you know that I had a miscarriage back in October. It’s not something I hide, but rather something I prefer to share with anyone and everyone. Miscarriages are incredibly common, yet when I was going through this painful time, I felt incredibly alone. I think it’s important that women feel empowered to talk about this very normal and real part of our lives and I am happy to share my story and my journey with all of you in order to help someone else feel less alone.

The last 11 months have been an incredibly wild ride and I have changed and grown as a person in ways I never could have imagined. Our sweet Lefty (nicknamed because the egg came from my left ovary!) will always hold a special place in my heart and while I’m sad they never made it earth-side, I am SO incredibly thankful for the changes in my life that occurred because of this loss. I started therapy in January, started seeing an amazing naturopath and began the long (and sometimes painful) journey of learning to love, understand and accept myself just as I am with no shame, guilt or blame. My husband has been right by my side throughout the entire process and I really can’t imagine going through all of this without him. To all of my friends who took the time and energy to show me some extra love during this time, I will never forget it. To all of the strangers who have reached out to me, shared your stories and encouraged me to keep going: I will never forget it. I am thankful to be where I am now and I am really looking forward to finding out where life is going to take me next <3

Whew! Now, let’s talk about how freaking cool San Diego is. We stayed in the Normal Heights neighborhood which was the perfect jumping off point for everything we wanted to explore. Honestly, this city has SO MUCH going on that I think the best way for me to share what we did is going to be a bulleted list. You always know where to find me if you want to know more <3

• We started our trip off with the COOLEST Falconry Over the Beach Experience. I can’t recommend this more. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity to actually interact with and hold birds of prey, learn a ton about their habits and the reality of how these birds live and all the while overlook the cliffs of Torrey Pines and Black Beach while paragliders take off all around. Absolutely wonderful!

• We hiked down to Black’s Beach which was a gorgeous little beach in the Torrey Pines area. Little did we know that this is locally known as the nudist beach!! Ha! This didn’t bother us one bit, but it’s something to note. We took a very sketchy and steep trail to get down to this beach that certainly wasn’t family friendly, but this meant the crowds below were minimal!

• We wandered the town of Del Mar and ate lunch at an awesome local sandwich shop called Board and Brew.

• We checked out Stone Brewing at Liberty Station and honestly could have spent an entire day here. Liberty Station used to be a navel training center and they’ve preserved so many of the old buildings and barracks that are now boutique shops, restaurants, event spaces and so much more! I would definitely recommend checking this out.

• We checked out Balboa Park and while we didn’t make it into any of the amazing museums this time, the grounds themselves are perfect for strolling away the afternoon. We saw the fountain, the old architecture, the rose + cactus gardens and stopped off for lunch just outside the park at Barrio Star which was just a quick walk outside the park and really delicious.

• On my actual birthday we spent most of the day exploring Coronado Island and the gorgeous beach and city there. This iconic location offers a stunning stretch of beach, shopping, beautiful old homes, tons of bars and restaurants and a unique view of the planes coming and going from the navel station! We absolutely loved it here and found that it was easy to find affordable places to eat on the island as well, despite its reputation for being overpriced!

• We ate dinner in Little Italy which is a really cool section of downtown featuring TONS of different Italian type restaurants and so much more. We had dinner at Buon Appetito and cocktails at the Ironside! Both FANTASTIC. Definitely make some time to walk through the cute little square and visit the fountain in this neighborhood!

• On our last day in town we ate breakfast at Snooze AM Eatery which was excellent and then headed over to Ocean Beach where we meandered the shops and the beach a bit before heading over to check out Point Loma Lighthouse and Cabrillo National Monument and the area surrounding it! I really love lighthouses and the view from this point was really beautiful. It does cost $20 to get onto the property! That night we had dinner in Old Town at Harney Sushi which was super delicious and one of the best sushi meals we’ve had. Highly recommend!

We were in San Diego for 5 full days and felt like we just barely brushed the surface of everything there is to do here. I’d love to hear about your favorite things to do in the area, too!