San Diego Anniversary Trip/ Part 3

While in San Diego, Don and I stayed at the Hilton San Diego Resort and Spa. If I were to rate this hotel, I would give it a 3 out of 5. Our room was a little dated and dark. Other than the bathroom vanity, the lighting was horrible, even with the drapes wide open.

The other negative was parking. The Hilton charged us $35.00 for parking per night! Don and I were under the impression that $35.00 was a one time charge. Needless to say, we were not happy when our final bill was slid under the door on the morning of our departure.

On the plus side, there weren't any bedbugs in the room. (Those who know me well are aware of my bed bug phobia.) Believe me, the two of us combed the mattresses, baseboards, chairs, carpet and under the bed before our luggage ever left the car. Also, the resort has a nice pool and there is plenty to do including a fitness center, tennis courts and boat dock where you can rent a variety of water toys to enjoy on Mission Bay. However, I think the most appealing thing about the Hilton Resort and Spa is location. Not only is it minutes away from San Diego International Airport, Old Town, the USS Midway and Seaport Village, it's so close to Sea World that Don and I could see their Sky Tower and Bayside Skyride from our hotel balcony.

On day two of our vacation, the first thing we did was visit the USS Midway Aircraft Carrier. We arrived about a half hour before the museum opened and watched literally thousands of service men come off the ship.

I don't know what they were doing, but it was an amazing sight. The USS Midway is massive! I would advise anyone interested in visiting the Museum, to go on a guided tour. Don and I didn't and unfortunately, even though there were many volunteers throughout the museum to give assistance, we missed seeing many areas.

Upon leaving the USS Midway, Don and I walked a short distance to Seaport Village. By this time we were hot and thirsty and hungry so we found a nice little deli and plopped down at a small table beside an open window, where we could feel the breeze and watch people on the
boardwalk.

Afterward we shopped for a bit...

then headed to catch a ferry to Coronado Island. While on the island, we did more souvenir shopping...

and cooled off with some Cold Stone Ice Cream.

Boarding the ferry back to San Diego Harbor...

Don and I met a nice gentleman who insisted on taking a picture of us.

Once back on the main land, we returned to our hotel, changed into our swimsuits and lounged around the pool for a bit.

(No picture. You are welcome!)

Lastly, before returning to our room, Don and I walked along the beachfront taking in the sights and sounds of the bay.

Old Town San Diego/ 30th Anniversary Trip Part Two

"We're really going to want to take pictures and my camera is broken and, since neither of us has ever been to San Diego, we could really use a GPS." That was my unsuccessful plea for Don to buy an iPhone for me before our vacation. Instead, we ended up with a new Nikon Coolpix and several pages of directions printed from Google Maps. (For the record, I'm not giving up on the iPhone thing. Christmas is just around the corner.)

 Don and I arrived in San Diego shortly before one o’clock. Realizing we had a few hours to kill before the hotel would allow us to check in, we made our first destination Old Town.

 Don found a place to park our car that was not only free, a huge deal in San Diego where you pay through the nose to park, but the doors wouldn't get dinged...a subject that could take up an entire blog post. Don is that anal about it.

 The two of us wandered around until we came across a quaint little Mexican restaurant. We stopped to glance at a menu posted near the entrance, when a server approached us, assuring that their food was not only delicious but authentic. With the exception of snacking on Chex Mix and Licorice in the car, Don and I had eaten nothing all morning, so it didn’t take much to convince us to stay.

 We dined on the patio…

Then we shopped for souvenirs...

And toured some museums....

The Wells Fargo Stagecoach

Don and I particularly enjoyed the Mormon Battalion Historic Site. We learned about the Mormon Battalion being enlisted by the U.S military in 1846 and marching 2,000 miles from Iowa to San Diego. The tour is free and has interactive displays that remind me of those magical photographs in Harry Potter where people have the ability to move and talk. Our tour guide, who was dressed in character, asked Don to put on some items that men would have worn on the trek...

At the end of the tour, Don and I had an opportunity to pose for a photo and have it sent to our email free of charge...

Here is a little tip. If you ever tour Old Town San Diego, the Mormon Battalion Museum has by far the cleanest bathrooms. (Don has his issues with the car, mine involve toilets.)

Don and I enjoyed Old Town so much, we went back two days later and were lucky enough to catch an evening tour of the Whaley House, one of the Most Terrifying Places in America according to the travel channel. I will fill you in on our experience at the Whaley House in a future post.

30th Anniversary Trip Part One

As of September 4th, Don and I have been married 30 years. We knew we wanted to celebrate this milestone in our lives, but had a hard time agreeing how. Soooo...we compromised between dinner and a movie (Don's idea) and traveling to Barbados (my idea) and went on a trip to San Diego.

Planning the vacation kept me sane. I am a happier person when I have something to look forward to and having an opportunity to spend more than three nights (Cody's limit) alone with my husband was long over due. Many an hour was spent on the computer researching places to visit, hotel deals, google maps, etc. I even printed a few road games that I found on Pinterest. Don enjoyed the license plate game and was much better at it than I. Of course, Don looks at vehicle license plates every time we get in the car. He's either figuring out what personalized plates are trying to say (IM JSAYN, HIOFCER, IFRTD) or discovering vehicles with registrations that have expired.

Along with games, I also printed a road trip questionnaire. I had two motives in mind: 
1) Answering questions about each other would make for good conversation and 2) some of the questions and answers were bound to trigger memories of why Don and I married each other in the first place.

Here are a few of the questions we both got right:

What is your favorite dessert?
Don- Banana Pudding
DeeAnn- Peanut Buster Parfait

If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation, where would it be?
Don- Myrtle Beach
DeeAnn- Barbados

What do you consider your biggest achievement to date?
Don- 30 years of marriage
DeeAnn- 30 years of marriage

What was your first impression of your spouse?
Don- beautiful hair color, wore Levi 501 jeans and a sweater
DeeAnn- straight teeth, nice hair and ears

Here are some questions we both missed:

What is your least favorite household chore?
When was the last time you felt really proud of yourself?
What is your biggest fear?
What is your favorite childhood memory?


And here are questions Don gave rated R answers to:

What is your favorite memory you have of us?
What was the best part about your wedding?
What is your favorite physical feature on your spouse?
What is your idea of a perfect date?
How do you like to celebrate your birthday?


My aforementioned motives proved to be correct. The games and questionnaire broke the monotony of a long drive as well as set a good tone for the remainder of our trip.

"Sleep Tight and Don't Let the Bed Bugs Bite" is NOT Just a Cute Bedtime Expression Anymore

Don and I have talked about taking a vacation on our anniversary this year, but the more I do my homework, the more I want to stay home.

As I was searching online, I came across a website that reports hotels in major cities with known bed bug infestations. For example, did you know that some of the more exquisite hotels in Las Vegas have bed bugs? (Click here.)

The last time I checked into a hotel room with my husband and daughter, they called me paranoid because I wouldn't let them set our luggage down until I inspected the mattresses in the room. That was over a year ago. I can only imagine how much worse the epidemic is now.

If I really want to take that anniversary trip with my husband, I will need to do one of two things... 

follow the advice in this article: 7 Travel Tips for Bedbug Phobia 

or...

sleep in my car!