Trip Report with Do's and Don'ts

First off, thank you to everyone who answered my questions and helped me with my planning of our recent San Diego trip.

We spent three days in San Diego and then drove up to San Louis Obispo. This report will just focus on the San Diego portion. It was my hubby, myself, and my 9 year old son.

My first Don%26#39;t is Don%26#39;t stay at the Hampton Inn San Diego/Del Mar. The hotel is clean and the staff is nice however, it is not a particularly family friendly location or hotel. The rooms are small and I found the breakfast to be so-so. When my son saw the pool, he said, ';this is not the pool!'; Yes, it was the pool. I did tons of research and picked this hotel because I thought it would be a good jumping off point for our day trips and it had free breakfast and free parking. I found that I did not like being so far away from San Diego and as a result missed doing a lot in the city. If I had to do it again, I would have stayed somewhere that we could have walked to the bay or even in Old Town where you can walk to restaurants, etc. It probably would have been about $50.00 more per night but it would have been worth it.

Everything else is pretty much a big DO! We went to Legland on the second day of our trip and had a wonderful time. The weather was absolutly perfect and it wasn%26#39;t really crowded. My son is HUGE lego fan and loved it. I thought it was a well laid out park and a pleasure to visit. If you drive a Volvo you get front row parking!

On our third day we did the Old Town Trolley tour starting at Old Town. This was also a DO. This was a great way to see a lot in a litte time with no worries about parking and directions.

We got off at the Midway tour and had a great time. This was one of the highlights of our trip. We spent almost 2 hours and did not see it all. You could easily spend all day. The trolley allows you to get on and off where you like and they had extended hours for the summer.

The next stop we got off on was a few blocks from the Del Coronado, the second Coronado stop - there are two, and ate at a little pizza place which was nice, sorry can%26#39;t remember the name.

The last stop we got off at was Balboa Park. We went to the Railroad Museum. Balboa Park is beautiful. The railroad museum was very nice and seems to be a work in progress. If you have a train lover in your family and you can squeeze it in, this is DO.

The next day we left San Diego and headed for Knott%26#39;s Berry Farm and then further north.

San Diego was a beautiful city with amazing weather! We had a great time, just next time we would stay in the heart of things, not on the outskirts.

Trip Report with Do's and Don'ts

Thankyou for taking the time to write a report. I hope you get a chance to come back one day and stay closer in to the heart of the city. It is good for visitors to hear from another visitor that cheaper is not always better.

Trip Report with Do's and Don'ts

Glad you had a good time despite the hotel choice. I live in the area of the Hampton, and can%26#39;t wait to move back closer to downtown - suburbs are quite dull, and traffic is very difficult. I usually take Amtrak or the Coaster (commuter train) downtown so I don%26#39;t have to drive in the congestion. Sounds like you got to see and do quite a lot - glad you got to Balboa Park and Coronado - a couple of my personal favorites - come and see us again.

A great reminder that as in Real Estate, Travel is also about LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION.

Part of the beauty of the railroad museum is that it is home to a club that is constantly building and rearranging.

Very happy you had a good time.