Southern California, August 30 - September 6, 2003.
During the summer of 2003, Matthew and Hava were planning on making a wee Kagle and decided to go on a final alone-without-baby vacation. This final vacation needed to be something that would be difficult to do with a baby in tow. Original thoughts were of going to Australia (a really long plane trip) but they decided this would be too expensive considering all of the work that still needed to be done on the house. The next best thing (without baby) seemed to be a really long road trip. Where too? It was a difficult decision but Southern California won since it offered enough entertainment and relaxation to keep Hava and Matthew occupied and plenty of opportunities for really good food. Very soon after they returned, they were indeed parents-to-be.
Saturday Activity: Driving up the coast of California Hotel: Country Inn & Suites Location: Solvang, CA Comments: Hwy 1 is a beautiful trip but we still stopped several times to make the hours seem less painful. Hearst Castle is along the way and we took a brief look but moved right along when we realized every tour was several hours long. Solvang is the Danish Capitol of California. People told us it was a bit too "kitschy" for their tastes but it was still pretty fun and worth the stop. It is somewhat like Disneyland - a bit overdone -- but you have to respect a town which keeps to a theme so very well. We arrived just before 9pm and the town was closed. Luckily, the hotel was nice and located on the main street. So when we awoke, we spent a few hours of intense Solvang-ing and that pretty much was enough time to see everything.
Sunday Activity: Lego Land Hotel: Hilton Garden Inn Carlsbad Beach Location: Carlsbad, CA Comments: The Hilton was a great place to stay. FREE INTERNET HOOKUPS! It was technically "on the beach" except for that large busy road in between us and the sand. We experienced a "Claim Jumpers" restaurant for the first time which was amusing and amazing. I quickly fell in love with the look of the six layer chocolate cake that was larger than any other baked good I've seen in my life. Lego Land was, uh, interesting. We really would have needed to borrow a kid to experience everything. All of the attractions are targeted toward age five and under. We'll go back when we have an appropriately aged child to take us on the rides.
Monday Activity: San Diego Wild Animal Park Hotel: Hilton Garden Inn Carlsbad Beach Location: Carlsbad, CA (Wild Animal Park is 20 minutes east) Comments: I loved the animal park -- it was so much unlike a zoo. It really felt like the park was designed with animals in mind and not tourists. How cool is it to see Giraffes run wild? The entire experience was incredible even though it was extremely hot and we walked long distances to all of the "attractions". Tuesday Activity: Sea World Hotel: Holiday Inn SAN DIEGO-ON THE BAY, CA Location: San Diego, CA Comments: Sea World was unlike what I remembered as a child. There was a lot less to actually do and more to just look at. We rode the one or two rides and saw most of the shows. The "new 3-D movie" about a haunted lighthouse was amazingly dumb but what are vacations for other than wasting time? This Holiday Inn was my one bad choice of hotels. It was clean but it was also across the street from a cruise ship dock and we needed to walk over a mile to get to anything (it was also bright pink salmon colored which just rubbed me the wrong way). If I had to do it over, I would have put us closer to the downtown area so we would have felt more comfortable walking in the evening.
Wednesday Activity: Downtown San Diego - Balboa Park Museums Hotel: Hotel del Coronado Location: Coronado Island, CA Comments: We got up early and walked to Balboa Park (2 or 3 miles away) through the downtown area. We went to a few museums (one exhibit on torture devices), saw an IMAX movie on insects, had a great lunch at a nice restaurant, and walked back so we could get to the Hotel Del Coronado before dinner. Thursday Activity: Relax in Luxury Hotel: Hotel del Coronado Location: Coronado Island, CA Comments: The Hotel Del Coronado is as close to perfect as a hotel can get (without being in Hawaii). The night we arrived we had a lovely dinner outside overlooking the ocean. The food was fabulous. Our room was spectacular. The pool wasn't crowded so we took a swim, walked down the beach, into the town and bought a baby name book. We started naming our almost-offspring on the beach while the tide rolled in. Friday Activity: Universal Studios Hotel: Hilton Los Angeles/Universal City Location: Los Angeles, CA Comments: Matthew and I have a thing for Universal Parks. I think it is because there is so much to see and do and the themes are consistent within each area. We had a great time trying to get to everything before the park closed. After a walk through Universal City and a bite to eat, we made it to our hotel. For some reason, they upgraded us to one of the top "exclusive" floors. Our view of downtown Los Angeles kept me occupied for hours (that and the large desserts we ordered up from room service). Saturday Activity: Breakfast with Laura (college friend) and lots of driving Hotel: HOME Location: Mountain View, CA Comments: We took the short but incredibly boring way home so we would be back by dinner.