When I made our travel arrangements for California, I was thinking the earlier, the better when it came to our arrival. Getting to San Diego by ten o’clock in the morning sounded great, but the two o’clock in the morning wake up call was not cool. We managed to get the kids in bed pretty early the night before and get almost all of our bags in the car and ready to go. Fortunately, they were so excited about our trip (and their first flight) that we had no problems getting them up and ready. They giggled the entire way to the airport and were rock stars when it came to navigating the security and boarding process. We even got compliments from a few nearby passengers on how well behaved they were <just insert all the praise hands here>.
We actually arrived in the San Diego area a full thirty minutes early and we were starving. It was already lunch time according to our internal clocks, so we were thrilled to see that In ‘n Out Burger was already open by the time we made it to Carlsbad. Our hotel room wouldn’t be ready until later in the afternoon, so we made plans to fill our bellies and find a nearby beach!
I’m not sure I’ve ever mentioned this before, but Sophie hasn’t ever had beef of any kind. She always had an aversion as a baby and I guess I just never forced her to try it. Now that we’ve made some significant headway with her eating issues and she’s actually eating we’ve been encouraging her to try some new things. I was already worried about navigating mealtime on the go with her, so I was less than enthusiastic when I realized there were no non-beef options at the burger joint (why no kid’s menu, In ‘n Out?!). I ordered her a burger and crossed my fingers. She was pretty irritated about it and even claimed to hate it, but she ate every bite and told me later in the week that it wasn’t terrible. Three cheers for Sophie!
After driving around a few local beaches and finding our hotel in Carlsbad, we parked on the street and found a walkway we could easily navigate. Josh couldn’t believe all the kids wanted to do was climb (this was a recurring theme during our trip), but they were happy and I was at the beach, so we went with it.
After several hours of beachcombing (and all the pretty rocks to stuff in my suitcase), we headed to the hotel to get ready for the wedding rehearsal and dinner later that night. Sophie was so excited about her flower girl gig, but she was pretty nervous, too. I wish had thought to take my camera to dinner that night, but I knew I would have my hands full. We had dinner at a local brewery and by the time speeches rolled around, Sophie was asleep at the table. She’d already had two gluten-filled meals earlier in the day and combined with travel fatigue, she was completely passed out. We bowed out early and put the girls in bed while we watched a movie.
Jessica is my cousin (her dad and my mom are siblings) and she moved to San Diego last January after graduating from college. We hope one day she’ll live much closer to us again, but we sure were excited to fly out for her big day. There are eight girl cousins in our generation and we haven’t come close to being under one roof since the younger girls went to college (Kalli lives in Hawaii and flew over for the week, too). We were still one short, but pretty thrilled to have most of us in a single spot. The wedding was beautiful and the food was insane. We all giggled about the sweet tea being served at the wedding and I might have had a few too many of those mini carne asada fries. Did I mention Ella caught the bouquet with her mad dance / leaping skills? It was adorable.
Things to See:
Tamarack State Beach – Park on the street and find a rock to climb. The view was beautiful, it was within walking distance to Carlsbad Village (the cutest little downtown area), and there are plenty of surfers to keep you company.
Things to Eat:
In ‘n Out Burger – This was our first experience with In ‘n Out and it was good. Maybe it’s because we hadn’t eaten in hours, but maybe it was just that good. The sauce is amazing, so be sure you mop up all the extra with your french fries. Also, check the bottom of your cup for a Bible reference. How sweet is that?!
Swami’s Cafe – Technically in Encinitas, but close enough for a drive by. We grabbed brunch here one morning and were pleasantly surprised to find a decent gluten free menu. Sophie had GF pancakes, I had french toast, Ella & Josh both had buttermilk pancakes, and we all had way too much bacon and sausage.
Karl Strauss Brewery – We dined here for the rehearsal dinner and although we had a fixed menu, everything they offer looked delicious! Start with soft pretzels and cheese sauce — you’ll thank me later. Josh ordered the Fish & Chips and I had the most delicious Habanero Jack Chicken Sandwich — buttermilk fried chicken breast, habanero jack, beer-brined bacon, apple-cabbage slaw, red pepper smear, and curly endive — all on a toasted bun. It was seriously amazing.
