Seven Days in San Diego, California (2023)
We went to San Diego for a week.
We try to arrange going to San Diego once a year in my family, as my Iranian relatives all live out in California, including my aunt, uncle, and cousin.
While this year my other cousin couldn’t make it out from Iran to California, we still decided it would be a good time, especially because my sister was able to come for the first time. And so we booked our tickets months in advance, packed our bags, drove to Washington D.C. for our flight out of town, and met up with our family the first night.
This trip was much different than the first, and I think it’s because my family members who had been before agreed that there simply is not a ton to do in San Diego.
Granted, we come out here to visit our family members and see them, especially because life and time is so short, who knows when someone may pass away, but we like to do things besides sit inside someone’s house all day. We did a little mix of things from the last trip we took here, as well as some new things.
Unfortunately, our trip directly coincided with the worst rains San Diego had seen in fifty years. A hurricane hit right before we came, so half of the days were spent trying to make the most of the situation. It would rain off and off, and while the weather wasn’t the super sunny California the world is used to, we still had a great time. Here’s a highlight reel of what we did.
Balboa Park: San Diego Art Museum, Timken Museum of Art, and Photography Museum
The last time we came, we just walked around Balboa Park and took in the sights. None of the museums were open at that time, as it turns out you can only go to them on the weekends or later weekdays. The international houses are straight up only open on the weekends, which greatly disappointed us because we came on a weekday when they were closed. But, again, we made the most of it.
We came into this park twice. The first time we did just walk around, and since it was super rainy and groggy out, we didn’t end up spending a ton of time around Balboa.
The second time, we came with the intent of heading into the museums. Some are paid, others are free. Our first stop was the Museum of Photographic Arts, which is a free one that is devoted exclusively to photography. In the lefthand section at the time they had an exhibition of local youth photographers, which was full of some talented kids.
The art they were making was incredible. The main galleries had a lot of international representation, which was fascinating to see. They had it broken down by type of photography, such as environmental or animal-based photography, women photographers, or regional. I enjoyed this museum a lot as someone very interested in photography as a medium.
We then headed into the Timken Museum of Art, which houses a lot of Renaissance era paintings. Think about the Italian masters of the 1500 and 1600s, as well as the Dutch Golden Age.
This was one of the more crowded museums, although it is pretty small. It’s free to enter, so we spent about twenty minutes. Honestly, I don’t care for Medieval and Renaissance art. I’ve never been interested in it and I think that’s a tolerance I will have to build up one day.
The museum we spent the most time in, and actually paid for, was the San Diego Museum of Art. It’s two stories but there’s quite a bit of galleries and art to look through.
When we went they had an exhibition of Iran going, so I finally got to see a Shirin Neshat photograph in the flesh—I’d been hunting down her work for a while now, and missed every opportunity to see it at other museums.
They also had a Sherman in that section, which made me a happy clam. The bottom floor was more contemporary artists, as I spotted Frankenthaler among the collections and the 1950s artists of New York, and the top floor was more classical. My mother enjoyed the theology and faith room.
San Diego Zoo + Old Town
We went to the San Diego Zoo for the second time, and invited my friend Rebecca, who I wouldn’t see again until Seattle, to drive down from Anaheim to come with us. We took the entire family and my aunt, too, so it was a fun time. My cousin works there so we got free tickets, hence why we headed out in the first place.
We’d been to the San Diego Zoo before so we knew what to expect—you need to intentionally plan what you’re going to do if you want to get to see all of the animals you expect to see. So my sister took the map and a pen, thus navigating us through the maze that is this zoo. My aunt packed lunches, which is always a great idea for this zoo in particular—the food is very expensive to purchase and not good quality.
When we went, the bird flu was a serious concern, so quite a few of the aviaries were closed. The ones that were open had the foot bath situation where you sanitized your shoes before entering. All in all, got to see quite a few favorites while here, including the several fennec fox exhibits.
This trip was a bit more dampened, though, because quite a few of the animals actually weren’t out. The elephants, polar bears, and so many more were missing, which could’ve probably made another family more upset. We kind of just shrugged it off. In the end, I bought a fennec fox stuffed animal that I named Fantastic Mr. Fox.
We had to go to Old Town, too, if we were going to San Diego. Old Town is a touristy part of San Diego that teaches about the history of Baja California and the Spanish folks who lived here before formal colonization. You can get really good Mexican food here, and that’s where we ended up meeting my cousin another day.
We got lunch at Casa Guadalajara, and my god it was the best Mexican food I’ve had in my life. I dream of that pork dish I got there. Besides that, Old Town is just great to walk around. There’s a ton of shops that sell items from Mexico, too, so I ended up picking rings out that were in a more traditional Aztec/Mesoamerican style.
La Jolla Cove, Mt. Soledad, and Cabrillo National Monument
If you go to San Diego, La Jolla Cove is a staple. It’s this nice beachfront stretch that you can walk along, and it’s famous for its sea lions and seals lying on the rocks, soaking up the sun. When you enter the area, all you can smell are those lions and fish. We wanted to show my sister the sea lions, so we did that after trying to find a parking spot.
Parking here is pretty limited among the main stretch. Basically, we just ended up walking around and sitting while staring at the sea. We ended up coming back here two more times because right off the beach part is a main road that has a ton of shops and restaurants. My mom and sister wanted souvenirs.
Mt. Soledad is something we did both times, too. We tried to go to the mountain when it was raining, but because of the rain we couldn’t actually see anything.
The second time was a sunny day, and so we drove to the top to see the view. Mt. Soledad has a war veteran monument and a cross, but what it is also famous for is the spectacular view of San Diego you can get from there. On one side, you can see Mexico, too. San Diego is right next to Mexico—from the city’s center, you can reach the border of the US and Mexico in about twenty minutes.
Our final day, my mother, sister, and I headed out to Cabrillo National Monument. It’s a national state park located right outside of the city of San Diego, and it costs about $20 to enter the park with a car. We went at around 3:30-4 PM, and the park closes at 5 PM.
We didn’t get to go see the tide pools, where one can pet the starfish and little creatures living in those pools, but we did drive around to the top of the mountain and soaked in the sights and sounds of San Diego. We could see downtown, as well as Coronado Island. We briefly went to those spots while we showed my sister around.
Besides that, we mainly hung out with our family. My other cousin drove down from Los Angeles with his girlfriend (now she’s his fiancee!), so we had a nice dinner one night. He took us out to eat at mngo for desert, which served mango-themed Asian deserts. All in all, it was great to see the family and it was a great time, even with the rain.
Follow me on Instagram and Goodreads below.
