Last Sunday, Dan and I drove down to Carlsbad for an overnight trip. We were feeling the mid-winter blues and desperately needed to get out of the house and into a jacuzzi!
In efforts to maximize our time in the hotel and exploring San Diego, we set off early deciding to stop for breakfast along the way. Unfortunately, we did not make a good choice by stopping at Tommy's in San Clemente. Tommy's is 50's themed diner with super cheap prices. Of course, the pricing was too good to be true as the food was bad and the service was slow as molassas with multiple mistakes. It looked like it may have once been a decent place, but little has gone into maintaining the theme or quality, despite the sign stating that it's under new management.
We arrived at the Carlsbad By The Sea Resort around eleven and even though check in was four pm, they let us have the room early. I was really impressed with our hotel. All of the staff were extremely nice, from letting us in early to storing our luggage on check out day. The room was comfortable and even though it's winter, we made use of the pool area. It was great to have the pool all to ourselves! Breakfast, a decent buffet, was included and the location can't be beat. It's just across the street from the Carlsbad Outlet Mall. The best thing was we used air miles for the hotel stay and it was free! We have realized that air miles are actually a better deal when put towards hotel stays and we have accrued a lot, meaning lots of adventures to be had in 2013!
We used the jacuzzi three times and amassed quite the collection of pool towels. We would definitely stay here again, especially when the weather warms up.
Having a free afternoon and zero plans, we headed towards San Diego to explore. Outside of visiting places like Sea World and the zoo, Dan and I have very little experience with San Diego and had never visited the city together. We drove straight to downtown and stopped near a cool bridge next to Petco Park for pictures.
We decided to cross the huge bridge, not realizing that it led to Coronado Island. I've always wanted to see the Hotel Del Coronado, but since we were very casually dressed, we just drove by it. It didn't seem right to wander the grounds in jeans and hoodies. Next time, we will visit it properly, maybe even spend the night. It was as magnificent on the exterior, as it looks in pictures.
We parked the car and walked around a gorgeous city park with bike paths by the sea. I happily discovered a bunch of ducks living in a pond! Then, we drove the car to the town center and had a late lunch at the Tent City restaurant, located in a historic building and adjacent to the Coronado Historical Society Museum.
Tent City had fabulous food. We started with dessert and ordered two appetizers for a main course. I look forward to ordering off of the main menu on future trips. It was a gem of a find. Unfortunately, we took too long eating and the museum closed before we could explore it.
