35th Birthday Trip to San Diego!

For my 35th birthday I flew to San Diego with my husband for 72 hours of sunshine, beer, and waves! After a really (really!) sad 30th birthday in the pandemic, I wanted to celebrate this next milestone birthday with an epic, memorable trip.

I hear some of you asking, “does 35 count actually count as a “milestone” birthday? In my book it does! Also if your 30th was as crappy as mine was, you’d book the 35th birthday trip, too. 😉

Also, here’s what I’ve really taken to heart in the last few years of my life: we’re not guaranteed time on this earth. The next year, month, week, or day isn’t something I take for granted. I’m living my life as if I have a looooong time on this planet (and trying to treat my body well so she lasts a long time into my old age) but I don’t actually know how much time I get to share with my loved ones. So I really wanted to make some memories and enjoy an epic trip with my favorite human on this planet.

I love sharing these vacation recaps so I can show you some of my favorite spots when I travel, but I selfishly love posting about my trips so I can go back and re-visit them. I still look at some of my travel recaps from over 8 years ago!

Why San Diego? This city has been on Nate’s and my bucket list for our entire relationship. We’ve ALWAYS wanted to visit San Diego! Nate actually lived here for a short period when he was a kid and has gotten to go back a time or two, but I’ve never been.

Since 2018 we’ve had pregnancy – breastfeeding – car crash – surgeries – pandemic – pregnancy again – breastfeeding again… and I wanted to save this trip for a time when I could travel, sleep, and drink beer freely without worrying about pregnancy or pumping milk or Nate in a wheelchair or any hindrance.

So 7 years later…we finally booked 72 HOURS IN SAN DIEGO!!

We flew nonstop from Austin – San Diego on a Friday afternoon, got an Uber from the airport to our hotel in Little Italy (very easy because the airport is next to downtown – it was just a 10 minute ride), dropped our bags, and immediately set out to explore.

We booked a room at the Hilton Carte Hotel, and it was awesome! The room was large and comfy and I liked all the amenities. If I’m being honest, the reason we booked this hotel is because we wanted something walking distance to an exceptional coffee shop, because being able to get good coffee every morning is a deal breaker for an epic vacation for Nate and I. This was 2 blocks from Bird Rock Coffee.

Another favorite part of the hotel was the epic 2-story gym with saunas, steam rooms, exercise classes, and floor-to-ceiling windows.

Little Italy: you are so cute. This adorable street was packed with fun places to eat and drink!

Side note: have any of you used Nully? It’s a clothing rental service. You pay about $90 and select 6 items to rent each month. I actually just use it sporadically whenever I’m traveling and want to have some cute new clothes to wear for a trip! The dress I’m wearing above is a $250 Anthropologie dress that I LOVED but probably wouldn’t wear it often enough to justify buying it. I also rented a few Farm Rio dresses (around $300 each!) and a few cute tops. HERE’S $30 OFF YOUR FIRST MONTH if you want to try it! They give every user a discount code to share, so if you try it out you’ll have a discount code to share with your friends, too.

First stop: happy hour at Crudo Ceviche and Oyster Bar.

Raw oysters, bubbly, and fish tacos to kick off my birthday weekend!

The soft shell crab on a blue corn tortilla was delish.

We wandered down the street and explored a bit and ended up at…

…Bottle Craft Little Italy. Nate’s good friend who used to live in San Diego recommended this place to us. They had so many Russian River beers on tap and we got a few flights to share. I LOVE sharing beer with Nate and talking about it and geeking out. Seriously, we. were having the very best time!

From there we got a ride over to North Park Brewery, one of the breweries in San Diego we were most excited to visit.

Nate was like, “do we want to save our top brewery picks for the end of the trip or go to them first?”

And I said, “let’s go NOW while we’re fresh!!” So we went to North Park Brewery and indulged in the freshest and most insanely delicious west coast IPAs you could imagine.

Dinner was a bunch of pub food at North Park. Beer, burgers, and a date with my man? BEST 35th birthday I could have dreamed of!

After North Park Brewing we wandered through the North Park neighborhood a bit. We stopped by another brewery called Belching Beaver that was kind of a pass, and then we walked over to Pure Project and….

It was the BEST brewery of the entire trip. (We went to another Pure Project location later in the trip!)

The Pure West west coast IPA was shockingly good. Like, Nate and I both had a sip of it and just looked at each other like, “what is this voodoo magic???” It was so crips and clean and balanced. Literally the perfect beer.

The temperatures had dipped a bit and it was a cool California evening, so we snuggled up by the outdoor fireplace and enjoyed beer after beer after beer until we were the last people there and the staff was cleaning up. The playlist was set to early 2000s Top 40 hits, which is basically millennial heaven. I don’t think I could have possibly felt any happier than I did in this moment.

We had the Uber take us back to Little Italy and we made a quick stop at Salt and Straw for some ice cream before walking back to the hotel. Not a bad way to kick off my next year of life. 🙂

DAY 2 started with an early alarm clock for me so I could squeeze in an easy jog by the water. I’ve started traveling with my workout gear in my old age 😉 because I enjoy the consistency of workouts so much! Not sure exactly how to explain it, but I’ve just found that workouts are one of my favorite parts of life and I truly look forward to them every day – they’re not something I’m wanting to take a break from on vacations. They’re literally one of my favorite parts of life, so why would I take a break?

So I packed my running shoes and enjoyed a few solo miles by the water.

It felt SO nice to jog in 68 degrees with low humidity! Wow. I forgot what it feels like to not be running in a Texas sauna.

I got back from my run and went to the hotel gym for a cool down and stretch, and then refueled with my electrolytes to get ready for a long day of exploring San Diego and drinking beer. I cycle through all different brands of electrolytes, but recently I’ve been trying to nix my sugar habit so I’m leaning into these flavorless BUOY electrolytes. They don’t taste like anything, which helps decrease my sugar cravings, and I like that I can just toss this little bottle into my bag and then add a few drops to any beverage for extra hydration. When I bought them they gave me a discount code to share, so you can try them for 20% off here, if you’re interested. I’ve been getting all my running friends hooked on them!

While I was showering and drying my hair and getting ready for my day, Nate walked down the street to Bird Rock to get his day started with a pour over. I walked up to the coffee shop and creeped on him in the window…

…haha.

Hi Nate!

He had a pour over ready for me and we sat and enjoyed a coffee together to start the day.

It’s these little moments that make couples trips so much fun at this point in life. A few years ago, we used to start almost every single morning with a slow cup of coffee. It was no big deal to make a pour over or walk to an Austin coffee shop and sip on a cappuccino while we chatted or read books or journaled. These days it is the BIGGEST treat to finish a full cup of coffee in peace and quiet! I think we both feel that so much right now, and it’s one of the many reasons why these 72 hours in San Diego were such a treat.

After coffee we waited for our Uber to pick us up.

Not a bad view while we waited!

The Uber driver dropped us at Pacific Beach Fish Shop and by this point I was STARVING!

I can pretty confidently say that this casual little lunch spot was my favorite foodie spot of the entire trip to San Diego. It wasn’t overlooking the ocean and it wasn’t very big, but the vibe was so fun and the food was so good. It was totally the type of place I would walk to every single week for lunch if I lived in this neighborhood.

And the fresh fish tacos + draft beer absolutely hit the spot.

See this shrimp? ^ It was easily the BEST thing I ate all weekend in San Diego! It was charred and tossed in Fish Shop’s special seasoning that was a tiny bit spicy and a little bit sweet so it had this caramelized, crispy exterior. OH MY GOSH I wish I could go back and eat them again right this very second.

Mom + dad eating fish tacos and drinking beer on a Friday afternoon = happiness.

Ok ok, I’ll stop with the fish taco pictures. But they were just so good.

After tacos we just wandered around all day drinking coffee and beer, as we do.

There was a coffee shop next door where we split an espresso. (Note: at this point I had had 3 cups of coffee and my stomach was just about over it, haha. So I told Nate I could split an espresso but then I needed to be done with coffee.)

And then we walked to this cool little shop called Coffee Cycle, which literally started as a bicycle-pulled coffee cart. If you look behind Nate, you can see the cart that started the whole business. The owner would literally bike on this thing all over San Diego and run his coffee business from the cart.

I found this adorable silicone coffee cup and bought it as a gift for Dayton so he can drink hot cocoa out of it in the winter. It’s a fun cup and he’s a fun kid, so it made me think of him.

More wandering around! The weather was 75 and sunny and I was in absolute heaven. It was one of those moments where I had to question yet again whyyyyy I live in Texas??

I love traveling to different parts of the country (Maine, Oregon, San Diego, Denver, Florida) and seeing the local plants that grow on the sidewalks. I’m no gardener and have absolutely zero vocabulary of plant types, and I’m ok with that. I’m not necessarily googling the types of flowers and plants I see, but I’m just observing and enjoying them wherever I travel.

A few people sent San Diego recommendations in my DMs, and a few people said to try Stella Jean’s ice cream in Pacific beach. So I got a scoop of the Ube Toffee ice cream and it was YUM!

Hello Pacific Beach. You are so iconic! Nate and I hung out for a bit and watched the waves and the surfers. But it was getting a bit hot in the sun and we didn’t have our swimsuits on…and we had more beer to drink!

Around this time I got an update from my family back in Dallas about how the boys were doing. My dad was swimming with the boys at my grandfather’s pool. Side note: look at my 76-year-old dad tossing my big 5-year-old like it’s no big deal? I mean, I can’t even do that!

Our next stop in San Diego was…PIZZA PORT! I had been SO excited to check out this San Diego brewery.

We got pizza, we got beers, and I enjoyed every single minute of it all.

FINALLY! Pizza Port is such an old, iconic San Diego brewery. I’ve heard the name “Pizza Port” so many times over the years. I feel like it’s synonymous with San Diego beer at this point.

Ok, if I’m being honest, the beer was good, but it wasn’t as good as Pure Project or North Park. But I still loved it because it all fest so classic.

I also love that they chilled all the shaker pint glasses in a big fridge so everything was icy cold.

We got our beers and pizza and sat outside on the front porch where a cop car was parked addressing an issue with a Ocean Beach Character on the curb outside the brewery. We also wandered down the street to Ocean Beach and saw many more Ocean Beach Character.

I mean, everyone told me Ocean Beach is full of characters, and the weren’t wrong.

Our next brewery stop was Stone Brewing Liberty Station. Y’all, this place was HUGE! The brewery location was a former Navy mess hall, and it was seriously the prettiest brewery + restaurant I’ve ever seen.

There were a couple events happening there (lots of people dressed up so I would guess it was a rehearsal dinner of sorts) and plenty of families dining at the restaurant.

Fun fact: when I met Nate through online dating I was just starting to get into IPAs, and Stone IPA was one of the most reputable ones at the time. One of our first messages on the dating app was about which IPAs I should try, and I said somethign along the lines of “I tried one called ‘Stone IPA’ and it was too bitter for me.” Haha.

Nate’s happy that I’ve evolved in my beer journey past the point of calling all hoppy beers “bitter” and I’m happy that I get to travel with this guy and try the beer at the source. It’s an old, slightly dated IPA, but I was really impressed with it at the brewery. It’s withstanding the test of time.

We stopped by the hotel to freshen up for the evening, and then headed out to pregame for the Padres baseball game! First stop: Mission Brewing.

The beer flight was full of delicious brews, and the buildout was seriously one of the coolest buildings I’ve seen! It was an industrial space with this upstairs loft. The wall overlooking the street was totally open for a true indoor/outdoor brewery feel. Loved everything about it, and it was right by the baseball stadium.

And then we checked out East Village Brewing, which was right next to the Stadium. It was a much more polished brewery, and I was also really impressed with the beers here! (In summary: San Diego’s beers are doing just fine.)

I’d compare this brewery to Central District in downtown Austin. A little more upscale/polished/corporate feeling.

And then Nate and I went into the stadium and *GASP* we were so delighted to see this row of craft beer booths right by our seats!!

There were so many good ones. We drank beer and ate ball park franks and soaked up the good vibes.

Very, very happy to be here with my man.

Thumbs up for craft beer!

Can someone tell me why hotdogs always taste SO good at baseball games?

The baseball stadium was packed and full of great energy. It wasn’t my favorite stadium I’ve been to because it didn’t have a view. I don’t know…I guess since it’s in San Diego I was expecting it to have a view of the ocean, like Oracle Park in San Francisco! Or similar to how Coors Field in Denver has a view of the mountains.

But the craft beer selection?? I’d say that puts Petco Park in my top 5 baseball stadiums I’ve ever been to.

Good night. 🙂

We woke up SATURDAY MORNING for day 3 of our weekend getaway! We slept in a bit, got some coffee, and then took an Uber over to Coronado for breakfast and exploring.

A friend of mine from college swimming days DM’d me and recommend Clayton’s bistro. Listen, if there’s one thing swimmers don’t mess around with it’s big, delicious breakfasts, so I knew I could trust her. 🙂

Clayton’s was packed on a Saturday morning! Thankfully they were able to squeeze us into a little (I mean, really little!) indoor table pretty quickly.

After brunch we walked around and explored. It was a bright, sunny morning and the sky was so blue.

Coronado was really cute! There were a lot of boutique shops and fancy restaurants. It definitely felt like it catered to tourists and felt a bit less “authentically cool” and more “curated cool.”

That being said, I would not mind staying at Hotel Coronado in the future! We walked around this big, historic hotel and it just felt so classy and fun. There was a wedding happening there that day, so the main lawn overlooking the beach was blocked off. I loved all the restaurants, the views, and the history of this place.

So pretty!

This is the beach right in front of the hotel. It would be so much fun to stay here for a beach vacation and be able to run out of your room on to the sand every day. I hope to bring my boys here some day!

We found a little walk-up bar that had a Pure Project west coast IPA on tap and we split it while we enjoyed the view. We are who we are…

I know it’s just a picture of plants and flowers, but I can still hear the waves and feel the sunshine and taste the hoppy beer.

This one little picture brings me right back to this weekend trip. 🙂

We wandered around a bit more, stopped by one more brewery on Coronado, and then got the ferry from Coronado back to downtown San Diego.

The ferry took us right by the USS Midway, which is now a permanent museum floating in San Diego.

One of us remembered to put on sunscreen and one of us didn’t. 😉

The afternoon consisted of a nap, some more coffee, a walk through Little Italy, and then…

We really wanted to enjoy one evening of watching the sunset! There were a few more little restaurants in Pacific Beach that we wanted to check out, so we decided to head back to this pocket of San Diego to grab some food and maybe go for a swim.

Oscar’s Mexican Food did not disappoint! We got a bunch of tacos and ceviche to-go.

And then we found a spot on the sand and laid out our towels and sat and ate dinner on the beach. Nate found a liquor store across the street and bought a few cans of beer. It was bliss.

Please note that he stole my baseball cap because his face was so sunburned from earlier in the day on Coronado/not wearing sunscreen. 😉

If you go to Oscar’s Mexican Seafood, keep in mind that the tacos are basically burrito sized!! We ordered 2 for each of us and couldn’t finish them. But they were sooo yummy.

So I thought I might want to go for a dip in the ocean, or at least wade a little bit…but I put my toes in and immediately changed my mind. Turns out I’m not a Pacific Ocean girlie. Too cold!

So Nate and I relaxed, chatted, read our books/magazines, drank beer, and enjoyed watching the sun slip beneath the waves.

It was a cool night and we were tired, but we wanted to sneak in one more brewery visit before going to bed! We went to another location of North Park.

So pretty and classy! I love the design of this space.

Beers and then bed. 🙂

SUNDAY was our 4th and final day, and I woke up early to enjoy one more run by the water. I stopped by Bird Rock to get a cortado before heading to the hotel to shower and pack up.

Delish!

Sad because it was our final day in San Diego!

Everyone says to go to Morning Glory in Little Italy for brunch, and apparently everyone else had the same idea…there was a 2 hour wait! So instead, we walked across the street and went to Coco Maya for brunch. It’s from the same team that does Miss B’s Coconut Club, a place that had been on my San Diego list to try anyway. So we walked in and found two seats at the bar for brunch.

And when I tell you the coconut shrimp are what dreams are made of…

Not pictured: chilaquiles with Maine lobster. Delicious.

You know what’s so luxurious? Eating brunch and then saying, “so, what should we do next?” No responsibilities, no parenting, no ANYTHING! We just had a Sunday to spend however we wanted.

We decided to walk down to the Maritime Museum of San Diego.

It was very interesting! There are about 6 or 7 floating ships that guests get to explore. They represent “maritime history” throughout the years. The submarine was the coolest one to check out – it was actually submerged in the water and you could climb down and walk through it.

CRAZY to think of people in the Navy who would spend extended periods of time in this thing. Nate was trying to measure the bunks and let me tell ya…these sleeping arrangements would 100% not work for me. Haha.

Coming up for air! 20 minutes down there in the submarine and I started feeling claustrophobic. I also got a little seasick on the other boats, which tells me that it’s a good thing I never signed up for the Navy.

This was a custom-built cruising ship for a wealthy couple in the early 1900s. It basically had a dining room, a sitting room, and a deck. And then a lot of space for the staff to cook for them.

Next time I’m in San Diego I’ll check out the USS Midway museum! This Maritime Museum was a lot smaller, and on our final day of the trip that’s what we needed. Nate’s leg can only handle so much walking, and the USS Midway would have been too many steps on our 4th and final day of the trip.

So we soaked up this museum instead.

^ One more example of ancient sleeping conditions I’m not sad I missed.

We had just a few hours left before our flight left, so we did what we do best: checked out coffee shops and breweries. Blue Bottle was a coffee shop on our list to try. We went back in 2016 in San Francisco and wanted to see if it’s still good. It is not. Haha.

So we went back to our favorite on this trip, Bird Rock, and cashed in our points to get two free coffee.

Oh my gosh yes…how embarrassing is that? In 72 hours we earned enough points at Bird Rock to get TWO free coffees. It’s called a caffeine problem, my friends, and I’m aware of it.

With only an hour to go, we went to make one last stop at each of our favorite breweries from the trip: Pure Project and North Park.

Ugh my heart. I’ve been craving this beer every day since the trip ended! If you end up going to San Diego, make sure to get the Pure Project Pure West unfiltered west coast IPA. (And then send my a 6-pack of it, please.)

I loved looking down and seeing a basket of lap blankets at the brewery. There’s something so fun about a cool evening and a cold beer and a cozy blanket. I’ll get to enjoy a blanket with my beer in about 5 more months here in Texas…