Preface: Living close to most of our family and friends, almost all of the weddings Sarah and I have attended were within a short driving distance of our house. As a result, any out of town wedding that we’ve gotten invited to has been met with a great deal excitement and anticipation. Thus, when we learned that one of my cousins would be getting married in Carlsbad, CA we immediately began making plans to attend. Never ones to shy away from an opportunity to explore a new part of the world, Sarah and I decided to make an adventure of the trip and knock a few things off the Life List while we were there. To make the most out of our time in California we arranged to fly in to Los Angeles and fly out of San Diego. Doing this would allow us to not only attend the wedding but explore two of America’s most iconic cities as well!
We departed from San Antonio International Airport early on the morning of Friday December 2nd and arrived at LAX shortly before noon. Our flight was mostly uneventful but did afford us some beautiful views and a very extended sunrise. After picking up our rental car, the first thing we needed to do was grab a bite to eat. As luck would have it, just around the corner was a California staple known as “In-N-Out”. Having never tried their food before we were eager to see what all the fuss was about. I ordered the their standard cheeseburger meal while Sarah opted to try their grilled cheese. We both enjoyed our lunch though Sarah was a bit let down to learn that a grilled cheese at In-N-Out was nothing more than a cheeseburger without meat. Once we finished up we began to make our way over to the Griffith Observatory.
Having seen this place in so many Hollywood movies it was great to finally get to see it in person. Parking was a headache but that seems to be a common issue throughout Los Angeles so it was to be expected. Once we actually made it up to the Observatory though we wandered the grounds, took some photos, and explored the museum. Though we weren’t able to spend as much time as we would have liked looking through all of the exhibits, we definitely enjoyed our time there.
After finding our way back to the main roads I set a course to North Beachwood Drive. Before our trip I had spent some time researching the best spot from which to take a photo of the famous Hollywood Sign and most articles had indicated that somewhere along North Beachwood Drive was the best place to do it. The articles also went on to warn that it was really difficult to get the picture without standing in the middle of the road and advised against it. Fortunately it was mid-day during the week so cars were few and far between. I took a few photos but wasn’t really satisfied with how they were coming out. Since we were a bit ahead of schedule Sarah recommended we drive around the area to see if we might stumble across any better vantage points. We soon learned that most of the roads in the Hollywood Hills are narrow, one-way only streets that form one of the most intricate mazes I’ve ever been apart of. We drove for what seemed like an hour, twisting and turning along a never ending wall of houses and tress. I was about to tell Siri to map our exit strategy when Sarah abruptly yelled “STOP! Back up!” A few seconds later there it was! A recently demolished house left a void in the seemingly endless wall and gave way to exactly what I was hoping to capture. Not wanting to get in trouble for being somewhere we didn’t belong, I climbed up on our rental car and quickly snapped a few photos with my camera.
We were now getting dangerously close to rush hour and we needed to get to Santa Monica where we had booked our hotel for the night. We quickly made our way across town and arrived in Santa Monica just a bit before our check-in time. We were staying at the Hotel California (yes the one from the song) and they were kind enough to let us go ahead and park our car there while we waited for our room to be prepared.
Once we were checked in, we wandered down to the beach and found our way onto the famous Santa Monica Pier. We didn’t ride any rides but we walked along and took in the sights & sounds. Eventually we found our way to a local Mexican food restaurant called “Casa Martin” near our hotel. The food was good but certainly no match for San Antonio’s authentic Mexican cuisine. After dinner we made our way back to the boardwalk along the shoreline and headed south towards Venice Beach. We stopped only to enjoy the sunset and continued on for a couple of miles before we retreated back to our hotel.
We rose early on Saturday to ensure we had plenty of time for the wedding festivities down in Carlsbad. Sarah slept in the car as we drove down along the Pacific Coast Highway. Sunrise was stunning and the Pacific Ocean stretched on for as far as you could see. We made it all the way to Laguna Beach before we decided to stop for breakfast and found a lovely restaurant named “Nick’s Laguna Beach”. It was a nicer restaurant and I knew the food would be good but I was absolutely blown away by the waffles that I ordered. They were indescribably delicious and I would highly recommend them if you are ever in the area!
When we arrived at the Sheraton Carlsbad Resort our room was not yet ready so we did the only logical thing we could think of; We went to Legoland! If you are not familiar with the area, Legoland is actually directly across the street from the Sheraton so it was the obvious choice to kill some time. Not planning to spend the entire day there we opted to get “Shopping Passes” which grant you access to the park for one hour to shop at one of the many Lego stores within the park. As long as you spent at least $25 and exited within an hour your entry into the park would be free! We headed directly to the main store where we purchased some Christmas presents for our nephews and then scurried around the park checking out as many things as we could before our time was up.
After we finished up at Legoland we were able to check into our room and get settled in. The wedding was a few hours later that evening so we also went out and explored a nearby outlet mall before indulging in a delicious pizza lunch at a local joint called Pizza Port. Once we had our fill we found our way back to the hotel and got dressed up for the main event.
The ceremony was held in a lovely courtyard and the weather was absolutely perfect. Everything went off without a hitch and before long they were pronounced husband and wife. Shortly thereafter everyone was in the grand ballroom eating, drinking, and dancing the night away. Sarah and I had a great time and wished everyone well before turning in for the night.
Sunday brought another early morning as we packed up and began the journey to our final destination of the trip. Once in San Diego we grabbed a quick bite to eat and made our way over to Balboa Park. We spent some time wandering around the park and exploring the historical buildings in the area before ultimately making our way over to the legendary San Diego Zoo. Having heard so much about this place growing up and seeing it featured on countless lists as the World’s greatest zoo, our expectations were high. The zoo itself was huge and at first we were unsure if we’d be able to cover everything in the time we had. As we made our way through the entrance I studied the map and quickly plotted the route that afforded the most coverage with the least amount of overlap. Unfortunately the layout of the San Diego Zoo is so intertwined that some overlap was unavoidable and we would have to move quickly if we wanted to cover everything. We began our journey near the Discovery Outpost and zig zagged our way all the way back to the Northern Hemisphere. Along the way we saw countless different variations and species of all types of animals. Everything from birds and reptiles to insects and mammals.
Around sunset we found ourselves at the end of our journey, all the way towards the very back of the park. Fortunately the San Diego Zoo has a lovely gondola that you can ride back to the Discovery Outpost near the main gate. We timed our gondola ride just perfect to catch the sun dipping below the horizon as we were being carried high above the zoo beneath us.
By the time we got back to our car it had gotten completely dark and we needed to check into our hotel room before it got much later. We stayed at a picturesque little bed and breakfast called the Britt Scripps Inn and had our own little cottage all to ourselves. After settling in, we headed down to a restaurant on the waterfront known as the Fish Market with a beautiful view out across the San Diego Bay. Dinner wasn’t as good as the nights before but it wasn’t terrible either. After dinner we found our way back to our little cottage and turned in for the last night of our trip.
One of the things I was most excited to do on this trip was trying to paraglide out at Torrey Pines Gliderport. Sadly when we woke up on Monday morning, the forecast did not look good and by the time we got over there the Gliderport had officially cancelled any flying for the time being. Though I was disappointed, this did allow us to take some time to check out the sea cliffs and head down to La Jolla for a lovely breakfast.
We ate at the Brockton Villa Restaurant and thoroughly enjoyed both our food and the beautiful view of La Jolla Cove. After breakfast we spent our last few hours in California walking along the shoreline in La Jolla. I believe that some of the other tourists in the area may have forgotten how to read as they were constantly antagonizing the sleeping sea lions for selfies. One lady in particular got the scare of her life when the sea lion she was posing with decided to let her know how he felt about her encroaching on his personal space.
Eventually we had to begin our drive to the airport for our return trip home. Everything went smoothly and we made it to our terminal with plenty of time to spare. The ride home was equally painless and most importantly of all, we made it back to San Antonio safely. All in all, it was an awesome trip and we can’t wait to until the next one!
