We recently celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary with a short trip to San Diego for some fun in the sun (like we don’t get enough sun in AZ).  We lined up as much as possible in our few days to make the best use of a couple of days off of work.  That included a trip to Sea World, a Go Car Tour (a surprise for Chanin), a fancy dinner, and brunch with Nana and Papa (Chanin’s parents) to celebrate Nana’s birthday.

We spent Thursday driving out to California along Interstate 8.  Normally, we take the 10 to OC but the 8 offered a nice scenic drive and was less crowded.  After getting settled at the hotel we cruised over to Seaport Village to take in the views and some food.  We found ourselves an anniversary present  (some cool glass fish) and ate some Greek food.

Friday, we took Gavin to Sea World to see the fishies.  He’s still a little guy but he enjoyed seeing all of the exhibits.  His favorites were Shamu, the bat rays, the manatees, and the freshwater aquariums.  At least we think those were his favorites since he wasn’t napping at those times.  Our brave little guy even touched a bat ray!!

After Sea World we went to the restaurant, and self proclaimed inventor of the taquito, El Indio for dinner.  I had taquitos and Chanin had a taco/enchilada combo.  We found the food to be excellent, despite some of the negative reviews found online.  (Sorry, no pictures of the food)

On Saturday I surprised Chanin with a Go Car Tour which is basically a scooter with 3 wheels.  The controls on the little car are similar to a motorcycle but there is no shifting involved, and the top speed is only 30 MPH.  The Go Car has a built in GPS that guides you around a preset course all while telling you interesting stories and facts about the sites.  It was a blast and we would highly recommend it!  The tour we took followed this path:
View Downtown San Diego Loop in a larger map

After the tour we took the ferry to Coronado and ate at Il Fornaio.  Between the two of us we had bruschetta, cesar salad, ravioli with spinach and prosciutto, capellini al pomodoro, and two yummy drinks (one with limoncello and one with pomegranate liqueur).  A big Thanks to Chanin’s parents for watching the little guy while we were out for the day!!!

Sunday came pretty quickly so we packed up and started heading out.  But first, we planned to take Chanin’s mom out for brunch and a little stroll in Old Town.  We found a place called Rancho La Lena, which everyone agreed sounded good.  We were early enough so we found close parking and headed on in.  Most of the seating is outdoors, which was perfect since the weather was really nice.  We went for the buffett which included homemade tortillas, made to order omelets (with fresh chorizo!), nopalito salad, chile verde, chicken mole, rice, beans, salsas, etc.  The food was really tasty and we’ll definitely return!

We had a great time in San Diego celebrating our Anniversay, hangin’ with Chanin’s parents, and celebrating Chanin’s 13th lung transplant anniversary.  Her transplant was done in S.D. and she’s spent a lot of time there in the past so I know she enjoyed hanging out there again.

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Thanks for reading!!  If you’re interested, all of the pictures are below.

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Sea World Pictures

San Diego Pictures