feet hanging over a balcony in mission beach

I suspect California as seen from the outside probably brings to mind white sand beaches, perfectly sculpted human beings, and glamorous Hollywood movie premiers. As a native born and raised here—and someone who has travelled a fair amount—I can assure you, the world lives in California. Want to see Tuscany? Visit the Napa Valley. How about the grandeur of the Italian and French Alps? Take a trip to Yosemite. Perhaps the sand dunes of the Middle East spark your fancy? Look no further than Death Valley. Large Texas-style cattle ranches? Take a trip to the Northeast corner of the state and you’ll see nothing but cow auctions on the TV at the local diner.

Another fact some may not know is we in Northern California do not much care for our southern neighbors. Up here in the north, we like to think of ourselves as more grounded, less pretentious, and much more laid back than the frenzied plastic monied southern half (and our shit smells like roses). Us northerners HATE the Dodgers, Hollywood glitz, Los Angeles traffic, and the fact that they steal our water (what do you expect when you build a city in the middle of a desert?).

man walking dog projecting shadows in the sunligh

It’s also interesting to note this feeling does not flow both ways. People in Southern California don’t give us a second thought. We’re not even a glint in their eye. The enmity is entirely one-sided and resembles sibling jealousy.

The delineation between north and south in terms of money used to be greater until the tech revolution. Even though we complain about all the money being in Los Angeles, the truth is, the ten richest counties in the state are all in the north with the exception of Orange County (home to Disneyland).

What the heck does any of this have to do with a trip to San Diego? To tell you the truth, I’m not really sure myself, other than to bring up the fact I do not much care for Los Angeles. But San Diego? That is a different story entirely.

Many of our week-long vacations when I was younger were in Southern California. I had an aunt who lived close to Disneyland and we would often stay with her for a portion of our trips down south. Since my father grew up in Hawaii, our sojourns usually involved the ocean, places like Newport Beach, Balboa Island, or Mission Beach in San Diego.

We’ve continued that tradition into adulthood. When we’re craving the sun and sand and can’t afford to fly to Hawaii, San Diego is our fall back destination. And so it was this past week when my wife and I ventured down Interstate 5 without our girls (they were off on their own travels).

Flying only takes about an hour and a half, but the place we rented on the beach wasn’t available until Sunday night and we wanted to leave on Friday. So we decided to drive and make a stop in the Santa Maria valley, the popular wine region made famous in the movie “Sideways.” Tucked away in the area is a town where we stayed called Solvang. It’s like a little Danish village in the middle of California.

We ate at one of our favorite restaurants, “The Hitching Post II.” They have wonderful BBQ steaks and they also make their own wine. The next morning we visited Foxen winery for a tasting before heading down through traffic to San Diego.

yellow restaurant sign for the hitching post ii lit up at night

Since our beach location still wasn’t available for another night, we planned a stay at a hotel in the Gas Lamp district in downtown. It’s the popular district in San Diego full of restaurants, bars, etc. After another 6 hours in the car, we ventured out for dinner and then called it a night.

On Sunday, the beach condo wasn’t available until 4pm, so we took in a Padres game at Petco Park. We had been before but it had been a few years since we caught a baseball game there. It’s a wonderful stadium worth the visit to San Diego alone.

scene from Petco Park during a padres game

Finally, we made it to our final destination and it was definitely worth the wait and all the driving. We were on the third floor overlooking Mission Beach. We just sat on the balcony staring at the beach and ocean until the sun disappeared behind the horizon.

The next few days were spent visiting familiar restaurants and locations that make San Diego a wonderful place for a vacation. We were sad to leave the sound of the ocean behind but our stay in such a beautiful location recharged our batteries.

It was even worth the nine hour drive home (and going through fucking Los Angeles traffic).