San Diego

MISSION BAY

Mike and I spent the Memorial holiday weekend in San Diego.  It was the first time for us to visit California's famed beach town and we LOVED it!  We stayed at a Hilton property (using points) on Mission Bay and it was beautiful. 



View from our room #1.



View from our room #2.



View from our room #3.




The hotel's pool area...we spent an entire day lounging by the pool reading...it was awesome!



Our breakfast spot each morning.  Not a bad view.

Mission Bay is beautiful and has a wonderful walking trail bordering the water.
We spent our mornings walking the path.

THE WORLD-FAMOUS SAN DIEGO ZOO
We felt that we couldn't visit San Diego without spending some time at the Zoo.  It's known for being one of the best Zoos in the world with a strong focus on research and conservation which I'm a fan of.  One of the more famous attractions at the Zoo are the panda bears.  It was a beautiful day and all of the animals were out and about...we had a GREAT time!



My favorite, the meerkats!





HAHA - this guy paraded in front of the glass (he had quite an audience) and rather than face us for a photo op, he turned around and backed up his butt to the glass.  He stayed there for about a minute before walking off.  He knew what he was doing....I can just hear him murmuring to himself, "these idiots want a photo, I'll give them a shot!"



Adorable baby hippo sleeping next to her mom with her head against the glass.

MEMORIAL DAY
We wrapped up our last night in San Diego by visiting a local pier, dining at a seafood dive, and visiting the Navy's cemetary.

Wondering what's in our hands?  The last of our yummy ice cream cones!

LAST DAY IN SAN DIEGO
My flight didn't depart until the evening and Mike didn't need to head back to LA just yet, so we spent the morning and early afternoon sightseeing.  The below photos are of Mission Beach.  This beach reminds me more of the Florida beaches I grew up visiting...flat, expansive, pretty white sand, and small waves.  Mike and I loved it so much that we'd love to come back for our yearly beach trip!  That afternoon, we took a two-hour boat ride around the Bay...perfect ending to a perfect trip!

USS Midway

The mountains in the distance are of Mexico....yep, I couldn't believe we were that close!

Great shot of downtown San Diego. 

Bon Voyage Davy

My brother, Davy, is moving back to DFW on Wednesday (sad face), so we decided to spend the weekend together visiting a couple of Bay Area highlights.  The Bay Area is experiencing unusally nice weather for this time of year, so we took advantage of the warmer temps by spending the weekend outside.

SATURDAY - NAPA


Our first stop was to a winery we hadn't visited yet, Alpha Omega.  I selected this winery because of it's online reviews about its fabulous patio.....and fabulous it was!



Cheers!  Both Mike and Davy really enjoyed their buttery chardonnay.



You can see the Napa Valley Wine Train going by in the distance.



A picture of Alpha Omega's grounds.



We stopped for lunch at a BBQ joint in small town Calistoga called Buster's.  Mike and I had been here before...their meats are delicious.



Mike and Davy enjoying their ribs!



Calistoga is a quaint town that reminds me of a lil' mountain town.  Davy noticed there was a car show, so we stopped by to take a look.

 



I'll take this one! 



Our second winery stop of the day was to Castello di Amerosa.  Mike and I are wine club members here and always enjoy a visit to their tasting room.

Look at how full their vines are already!  Mike and I visited Napa last year in May and it was rainy, cold and hardly any vines blooming. 

Castello's Courtyard



Cheers!



The sheep were super friendly.  This lil' one was enjoying a pat from Davy.



Check out those teeny, tiny grapes!!!



SUNDAY - PACIFICA

Pacifica is a small, lazy beach town about 15 miles south of San Francisco.  It's generally foggy in Pacifica, but the fog was out to sea today.  Davy and I decided to walk the pups on the hiking trails bordering the coast.  It couldn't have been more gorgeous!



Can you tell what this building is?  See the lil' sign on the front?  Yep, that's right, it's a Taco Bell.  A Taco Bell right on the beach with the most fantastic views of the Pacific.

 

And here's the view we had while dining on our combined $11 meal at Taco Bell.  Fabulous!

 

What a wonderful weekend in NorCal.  Mike and I have enjoyed spending so much time with Davy in SF.  We'll look forward to seeing him in June when we visit home!