On a blistering hot Saturday in late September, we enjoyed the air-conditioning and exhibits at the San Diego Air & Space Museum with Dan's parents. This was a first visit for all four of us, and I was very impressed by the museum's offerings.

The San Diego Air & Space museum is located in Balboa Park, a sprawling complex that includes gardens, museums, and the world famous, San Diego Zoo. Parking was free, although since it was so busy, we ended up parking in a lot that wasn't directly attached to the museum. Admission was $19.50 for adults and $16.50 for seniors, we also added five dollars per ticket to see the special exhibition; Da Vinci: The Ultimate Innovator.

Exhibits located at the entrance, were a taste of things to come, but also focused on the Apollo Missions. Dan's family has an inside joke about "Moon Rocks" that predates my joining the Germain family, and although they've explained, I'm still lost. Here are some pictures from the entrance, including the Moon Rock.

The Da Vinci: The Ultimate Innovator exhibition, focuses on Da Vinci's machines. The exhibits included drawings and models, with many of the models being interactive. Although the exhibition was well-worth the five dollar surcharge, I found it significantly less interesting than the exhibits in the main gallery.

My father-in-law is a retired British Airways Flight Engineer, and although we couldn't find a BA Fight Engineer Insignia, this is the closest we got, with a British European Airlines Stewardess Insignia. The museum had hundreds of insignias in a range of ranks, from airlines all over the world.

Surely, these portraits of inductees into the International Air and Space Hall of Fame, are meant to be funny, right? It's unbelievable that they are not done on black velvet. Not to disrespect their accomplishments, but we got a good laugh looking at these portraits and wondered why they weren't more dignified.

Yes, this last one is Harrison Ford, who is an advocate for private aviation. Nice earring Ford!

My favorite exhibit was a small display for the now defunct San Diego based airlines, PSA. I love the cool stewardess uniforms, especially those sherbet orange go-go boots!

The aviation portion of the museum is extensive, with a big focus on artifacts from both World Wars.

Even with all of the WW2 artifacts, one display was quite a shock. They had the suits of Winston Churchill, Hermann Goering and Adolph Hitler.

The space component of the museum was relatively small and I didn't take any photographs, except for this final one, of Dan in a ride simulator near the exit.

The San Diego Air & Space Museum is a worthy addition to a San Diego vacation itinerary. If you go, make sure to have a snack at the Alaska Airlines Flight Path Grill. It's located on an upper deck, with outside patio seating and excellent views of downtown. As its name infers, we saw many planes soaring above us. I noticed that the museum had plenty of interactive exhibits geared towards children, including a 4-D movie experience. This is a great museum for all ages and something that you should allow at least three hours to tour.

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.

Maybe this once looked good? I like the Twilight Zone sign!

They smothered my home fries in cheese. Not yummy.

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!

Windmill. It used to be a Pea Soup Andersons, but sadly has closed and is now a TGI Fridays.

The front door to the rooms. It doesn't look so nice from this view.

We had it all to ourselves and used the jacuzzi three times!

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.

The buildings with tons of windows reminded us of Vancouver.

View of the train tracks from the bridge.

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.

Panorama taken from the park- this is the bridge that we crossed.

Flamingos are everywhere! We found this flock in from of the Marriott.

First Course - Banana Cake coated in thick caramel.

Second Course- Spinach and Artichoke Dip.

Third Course- Baked Brie with Granny Smith  Apples.

A tour group stopped right in front of the window as we were eating. I felt like I was in a fish bowl for about fifteen minutes.

We had a wonderful day in the San Diego area. Although, I liked Carlsbad and Carlsbad by the Sea, I am inclined to want to stay closer to Downtown San Diego on our next trip. There is so much to do in the area hopefully we will return soon!