Working Vacation in San Diego, CA

Despite living in Arizona for the better part of four years, I never actually made it to California, so I was incredibly excited to tag along to my partner’s conference to visit San Diego. This was a working vacation for us since he was attending the conference and I was doing remote work, but we still had some time to explore the highlights of the city and eat lots of amazing food! 

I’ll share some highlights of our trip – especially the restaurants – and talk a bit about how we made this into a fun trip while also getting done all the things we actually needed to do! I didn’t really know what to expect going to San Diego, so this trip had some surprises for me! Case in point, the main thing I associated with San Diego before going was the La Jolla Tidepools, which are actually 14 miles out of the city and would take over an hour to get to with public transit. So, while we didn’t make it to La Jolla on this trip, we still hit some great spots that I can’t wait to share! This is also a lengthy post, so feel free to use the links below to jump to the sections you’re most interested in!

Sections of this Post:

• Designing the Trip
• Adventures in San Diego (What We Did)
• All the Food!

Our Itinerary (The highlights)

• Day 1: Hello California!
  • Lunch at Pho Van Restaurant
  • A walk around the neighborhood
  • Cafeina Cafe
  • Relaxing at the Airbnb
  • Dinner at Red Sea Ethiopian Restaurant
• Day 2: Welcome to the Gaslamp District
  • Brunch and remote work at Spill the Beans
  • Exploring the neighborhood
  • Dinner at The Melt
• Day 3: Work Day
  • Conference/Remote Work
  • Dinner at Tajima Ramen East Village
• Day 4: Work Day
  • Conference/Remote Work
  • Dinner at Madam Bonnie’s
• Day 5: Evening Adventure
  • Conference/Remote Work
  • Dinner at Barleymash
  • Trip across the bridge to explore Coronado
• Day 6: Date Day in San Diego
  • Visit to Tuna Harbor Park
  • Exploring Old Town San Diego
  • Lunch at Cafe Coyote
  • Walk in Balboa Park
  • (Another) Dinner at Pho Van Restaurant
• Day 7: Final Adventures
  • Cabrillo National Monument
  • Dinner in Old Town San Diego at Barra Barra
  • Walk by the waterfront downtown
  • To the Airport

Desiging the Trip

San Diego can be an expensive city to visit! Since we were on a budget and both had some work to do during this trip, we had to take some things into consideration when planning our trip. First, although we were there for a full week, we couldn’t go out and explore every day – or even every evening. This was both a time limitation becuase of work and a financial one. So given these constraints, I wanted to spend a bit of time outlining the choices we made to experience the city and how we made it into a trip we really enjoyed!

First, lodging. This is typically a big travel expense and one of the reasons why turning a conference in a working vacation can be an incredible idea! Because my partner was attending the conference most of the week, our lodging for those nights was covered. This meant that we only had to pay for the two additional nights that we stayed in the city (one at the beginning and one at the end). For the first night, we opted for an Airbnb and would definitely recommend this one, hosted by Emilia! Even with additional city fees, it came in under $100, and we had a small but cozy little cabin, great views, and hot tub access! For our last night in the city, we wanted to be closer to downtown and the places we were exploring, so we stayed in a private room at the International Travel House. This also came in at under $100 for us, and we really enjoyed the hostel experience. Although hostels are not for everyone, they’re perfect for budget travelers who want to get to know other people, and some, like this one, have private room options as well. Plus, there was a piano in the lobby! 

Because we were able to save so much on lodging, we knew going into the trip that our biggest expense – and really our main way of exploring the city – would be food. (And, don’t worry, I’ll talk a lot about all the restaurants later on in this post!) Fortunately, my partner had a per diem stipend that covered his meals on the trip, which made it possible to eat out as much as we did since we really only paid for my food. Despite that, we did do some grocery shopping to make sure we had food on hand for breakfast and lunch. Total, we spent a few hundred on food, though I’m not sure of the exact number. This amount felt worth it to us given how many incredible restaurants we sampled and the money that we saved in other parts of the trip.

In exploring the city, we started with a lengthy list of ideas about what to do in the city – the San Diego Zoo, the Museum of US, taking a harbor cruise – but the thing about big cities with cool attractions is that a lot of them cost a lot of money. For instance, at the time I was researching all this, a single adult ticket to the zoo was $63, so the cost of a most of these attractions tended to rule them out. Ultimately, we stuck to things that were free or cheap and prioritized the special things that we really wanted. So, what did we end up doing? Keep reading!

Adventures in San Diego

Although I tend not to sleep well on flights, arriving in a new city always gives me enough excitement and adrenaline to run around exploring for at least a few hours! We landed in San Diego mid-morning and took the bus system to get to the neighborhood of our Airbnb. We were so excited just riding through the city, spotting ships in the harbor, and pointing out cool buildings! Our Airbnb host graciously let us store our bags for a few hours before it was time to check in, and we set off on a walk through the City Heights neighborhood to see what life was like in this part of the city. We didn’t follow a walking tour or even visit anything particularly noteworthy or exciting; our goal was just to get familiar with the area and see how people lived here on the other side of the country. By the time we returned to our Airbnb, we were ready to enjoy the views and, a bit later that night, enjoy the hot tub! It may have been a slow start to the week, but just being in a new city was exciting, and it was also relaxing not to have anywhere in particular that we needed to be.

The Gaslamp Quarter

For most of the week, we stayed in the Gaslamp Quarter, a historic San Diego neighborhood with a lot of gorgeous Victorian buildings. Like many historic downtowns, this area had its period of urban decay before being revitalized in the 1980s and 1990s when it was also rebranded as “The Gaslamp Quarter.” Today, this is considered the heart of San Diego and is home to a lot of amazing restaurants as well as opportunities for live entertainment.

While I loved looking at the buildings and sampling the food here, there wasn’t a lot specifically to do. It’s really a bar and restaurant neighborhood that relies a heavily on tourism and conferences happening nearby. I would still recommend a visit to the area to walk around and try the food, but I wouldn’t necessarily stay here for the whole length of the trip. It is a beautiful place to walk through, especially in the evening when everything is lit up!

Coronado

Located in the San Diego bay, the town of Coronado is really made for vacationers! We took an Uber across the bridge one evening when we were starting to feel a bit of cabin fever. Some of the most popular parts about Coronado are the beaches and views of San Diego’s downtown, but we didn’t actually experience either of those. For one thing, it was incredibly foggy, and we couldn’t see the mainland, though while driving to and from Coronado, we loved the views of buildings poking through the thick fog. 

What we wanted to experience on Coronado was the public piano in the neighborhood. I spent a good while just listening to my partner play the piano while I enjoyed the ocean breeze and quiet night. Coronado is definitely more peaceful than downtown San Diego, though my impression was that it was designed much more for tourists than locals. Nevertheless, we enjoyed our little evening adventure to the neighborhood and bought our San Diego souvenirs from a shop here.

Tuna Harbor Park

Our next-to-last day in San Diego was our “date day” where we had nothing to do but spend time with each other and explore the highlights of the city! After dropping off our luggage at our hotel for the night, we headed to Tuna Harbor Park, which is most famous for Unconditional Surrender, AKA “The Kissing Statue.” This is a recreation of the famous 1945 photo of a sailor kissing a nurse at the end of WWII, and it’s definitely a touristy spot to visit. We also did the touristy thing of trying to recreate the kiss – a more difficult pose than you might expect!

We had a good time just walking through this park area. There was a small market happening, and we enjoyed looking at what was for sale. Also in this area is the USS Midway Museum, which is another cool but expensive San Diego museum that we opted not to visit, though others may really like it!

Old Town San Diego – a highlight!

From Tuna Harbor Park, we took trolley system up to Old Town San Diego, which was a highlight of trip! The oldest neighborhood in San Diego, Old Town was the first European settlement in California. This is a pretty big area and includes green-spaces for relaxing, various historical sites, lots of shops, and over 30 restaurants! Needless to say, we did not see everything there was to see here, but we had an incredible time! 

We started our visit in the state park, which functions as an open-air museum about life in the 1800s. We started out just exploring some of the historical buildings and learning about what life in San Diego was like back then. We wandered through several of the shops in the area and stumbled upon some live music happening at one of the restaurants. We had such a good time spending the day exploring this area that we actually returned to Old Town to grab dinner before heading to the airport on our last day!

There are any number of guided tours, events, and attractions that you can enjoy in Old Town San Diego – not to mention places to shop at! It is possible to visit the area without spending money though, so it’s really a great place to see whatever your budget! On a return visit to the area, I personally would prefer to stay closer to Old Town.

Balboa Park

Our last stop on this day was Balboa Park, which wasn’t too far from our hotel. Although we skipped a lot of the popular attractions within the park to save money, we still spent a wonderful few hours just walking around. In particular, we loved walking along El Prado and seeing the different museums and buildings with such beautiful architecture. The plazas were vibrant and full of life, but we also found peaceful moments walking through the Desert Garden and Rose Garden.

I loved this whole cultural district that was such a fun surprise to encounter!  You could easily spend a whole day (or even multiple days) exploring all Balboa Park has to offer. That said, this was another great place where you could spend money and do lots of fun things, but you can also have just as good a time walking around for free! Personally, I think American cities need more plazas and parks like this where you can just exist and enjoy life in the place where you are.

Cabrillo National Monument

For our final day in San Diego, I really wanted to see some tidepools, and while we decided not to go to La Jolla, Cabrillo National Monument was do-able. And it was probably my favorite part of the trip! Although it did cost $20 for us to visit, we spent about six hours here, so it was worth the money!

There are two distinct and beautiful parts to Cabrillo – the Tidepools area and the Point Loma Lighthouse area. I highly recommend visiting both while you explore the history and nature of this area. You can get some wonderful views of San Diego here too. Because I loved Cabrillo so much and had a lot to say about it, I will actually post a dedicated guide to the site with more information soon. But if you’re in San Diego and want to get into nature, I highly recommend Cabrillo! It was a perfect way to spend a day and a nice way to get outside before we caught our flight back home.

All the Food!

One reason we were excited to visit San Diego was the food – and it ended up being the biggest item in our budget as well! Being a big city, we knew that San Diego would have cuisine that’s a bit harder to get close to home, and it turns out that San Diego is actually considered one of the country’s most “food-forward” cities. That basically means it has a wide variety of restaurants and a population that likes to seek out new kinds of foods. 

We ate at so many great restaurants, and while they’re all listed in my itinerary at the beginning of the post, I wanted to highlight some of my favorites in this section because the food was truly a perk of our trip!

Pho Van Restaurant

Located in the Teralta West neighborhood, Pho Van was the only place we ate at twice during our trip. We took a meandering walk here from our Airbnb in City Heights the first night and on our next-to-last day decided that we were craving it enough to Uber over from Balboa Park. Both times, the food was phenomenal!

Pho Van is a Vietnamese restaurant with a nice variety of options. Given that it’s in their name, the Pho is, of course, amazing! But their other dishes are just as good! We both had a bowl of pho on one visit here and on our other visit opted to try some of their other dishes like pork chops! This was a fantastic restaurant and would also be well-worth the travel if you’re venturing out of downtown.

Barleymash

Barleymash was one of the downtown restaurants I was most excited about, and it did not disappoint! Although a lot of their menu looked delicious, we ended up choosing two of their Barleymacs (the Bleu Shroom and the Brussels Heaven) with their San Diego Iron Fries to split. This was probably more food than we needed in one meal, but it was all delicious. If you love experimental mac n cheese, this is the place to go – and I didn’t even try the rest of the menu!

Madam Bonnie’s

Madam Bonnie’s was the site of the fancy conference dinner during the week, and it is very fancy. They have a rotating menu for those who make a reservation or wander in, and private events like the one we attended are a big part of their business. While probably not a place I would visit on my own, it was nice to spend an evening here and sample some of the food. The menu for our dinner was served buffet style, and I honestly don’t remember what we had except that it was good, and I liked being able to go back for seconds! The main part of this restaurant that I loved though was just the vibe of it. It’s located in a historic building that’s immaculately decorated. And if you don’t feel like splurging on a meal here, you can still get a taste of the speakeasy vibe by visiting their bar.

Cafe Coyote

This was the one San Diego restaurant recommended to me before our trip, so we had to go! Cafe Coyote is one of the many restaurants located in Old Town San Diego, and it serves up some incredible Mexican food! I loved the fish taco I had on my combination plate, but it was also just so fun to hang out here with the Mariachi band serenading us. Since this was part of our “Date Day” exploring the area, it was really a lovely place to spend some time having a delicious meal!

Final Thoughts

This San Diego trip felt at times very slow, but it was also a whirlwind of touching down in the city, eating so much food, exploring, and just getting to take a little semi-vacation to a warm place (since we went in October). I would love to visit San Diego again, and I think my main alterations would be visiting more museums, taking some kind of harbor cruise, and renting a car for at least a day or two to go farther afield. This was also my first trip to California, and I hope to see so much more of this state! There’s a lot to discover here, and spending even a rather quiet week in San Diego was a wonderful introduction!