Okay I'm copy/pasting from an FM I sent when someone asked me about San Diego...
things to do:
-San Diego Zoo
-Seaworld
-Balboa park is nice
-Old town is fun for walking around & eating mexican!
-La Jolla is beautiful... by the shores/cove there is cute shopping (around Girard st)... tons of little shops and then your normal stores too (banana republic, etc), and there's also children's pool which is where all of the seals go!
-Gaslamp quarter has the 'nyc'-style night life...
-seaport village can be fun
-it's great to drive along the Pacific Coast Highway... the view is beautiful and there are many towns to stop in along the way
-solana beach has great little antique-type stores that are fun to walk around and also has a great farmer's market on sundays
-del mar is another nice town with cute stores..
-pacific beach is the place to go for actually going to the beach, also there are some good restaurants and happy hour spots there
-hillcrest (a notoriously gay area) is also good for walking around...
Restaurants:
-For sunday brunch, you MUST try Brockton Villa on coast blvd in la jolla it overlooks the water... we go almost every week! the 'coast toast' is the most amazing thing ever (and i don't even like french toast)
-if you love sushi, try Zen 5 in pacific beach on garnet (i'm a big fan of the ginza roll or super salmon rolls!) this is more of a laid back place (they play reggae music)
-for fancier sushi, try Cafe Japengo.
-if italian's your thing.... hit up little italy. there's a great restaurant called Buon Appetito on India st. they have delicious homemade pasta!
-for coffee, again... little italy on india st. Cafe Italia... a little independent coffee shop with nice vibe a fabulous cannolis!
-a little fancier is JRDN which has sushi everyday except saturday, overlooks the water, and has all around good food! (steaks, seafood, etc)
-a bit pricier but AMAZING is Blue Coral which has this dish called 'lounging lobster' that is OUT OF THIS WORLD!
okay and for the most amazing dessert ever... you must try Extraordinary Desserts. It has a really fun atmosphere and the desserts are AMAZING... my fave is the strawberry shortcake!
LA is about 2 hours away. it's lots of fun to see the walk of fame, hollywood sign (i can tell you exactly where to go to get as close as possible!), and all of that stuff which I'm sure you already know about! also make sure you try sprinkles cupcakes! they're like the magnolia bakery of LA with the most amazing cupcakes ever! we even spotted a celeb last time we went!
as for where to stay...
there's pacific beach, which is like the Long Beach of san diego... bars, restaurants, young crowd, laid back. then there's la jolla which is a little more upscale (not snooty though) which is right on the baech too and is gorgeous but pricier. when we came to visit, we stay at the W hotel in downtown san diego -- it's dog-friendly, modern, with good restaurant, and the lobby turns into a lounge at night which could be fun.
okay so i just wrote a book! hope this helps and feel free to ask any other questions you want!!!!
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