Martinis & Miles

San Diego is a Southern California coastal city with a variety of diversions to offer visitors.  I am a zoo nerd, so I was just itching to get to the zoo, but don’t think that’s all there is do here.

Here are a few of the highlights from our trip, but they are not necessarily in chronological order.

San Diego Zoo- Have you ever seen the movie Madagascar? In it, all the animals land on the shores of Africa and then ask if they are at San Diego Zoo. Great movie.  I signed up for the Backstage Tour, because you know I can’t resist an exclusive experience…  The tour was great, but there was way too many people on it.  There was a great photo and meet and great with a cheetah (yay!) and a binterong (they smell like popcorn!!) and a few more. The actual tour was fab, they just need to cut it in half and raise the price. I spent most of the day wandering around the zoo and loving life.

San Diego Safari Park- This is actually located outside of San Diego in Escondido.  This park was originally intended an off site breeding facility for the animals, and then was turned into another park when the original zoo needed more room.  The Safari Park is truly amazing, one of the best zoos I’ve ever seen. I took the Caravan Tour and hand fed a rhino, so fun!

Coronado- gorgeous seaside community, cute shops and restaurants.  We had dinner at Il Fornaio while looking at the water.

Torrey Pines- This area consists of the Lodge/ Spa/ and Golf Course.  The grounds and course are utterly breathtaking.  It has even hosted the US Open in golf before.  I spent the day wandering the grounds, and best of all spent some quality time in the spa.  The massage was sublime- you could have put me in a mayonnaise jar after. ?

Gaslamp District- We stayed at the US Grant Hotel in this district.  It was a historic hotel, which I paid for in points.  If its free, its for me! The area wasn’t that great, it felt like there wasn’t that much to do during the day, I would probably stay somewhere else next time.