Sunshine and Waves

The ocean is so beautiful. I don't think I could ever get tired of it. It was fun to be on the coast for a few days, even though it was not swimming weather. I feel like we spent Friday re-calibrating our bodies to sunshine and an absence of cold, which was amazing! It was still a cool 50-60 degrees the whole time we were in San Diego, but that's a world of difference from the single-digits and negative wind chills we'd been experiencing at home!

First stepping onto the beach at Del Mar. So happy!

Friday morning, we ate an early breakfast at the hotel and then drove up to Encintas. Ross had sweetly looked up 2Good2B, an award-winning gluten-free bakery there that was supposed to be really good. It's so fun to walk into a place knowing you can eat everything on the menu! We had a hard time choosing what to get, so we got a little of everything: 2 mini cupcakes (and then one full-sized one when we realized how good they were), a lemon bar, a scone, and a 4-pack of muffins to eat over breakfast the next few days. Needless to say, we ate a huge snack there and weren't hungry again for hours.

By the way, their carrot cake cupcake tasted EXACTLY like the ones my mom made growing up, but it was gluten-free! I wish I had 1,000 more. Or the recipe!

After that adventure, we took scenic Highway 101 down to Del Mar and walked around for a bit. It was a really cute little town, and the beach was gorgeous.

Then we headed to our scheduled architectural tour of the Salk Institute. Honestly, I was kind of ambivalent about this tour, but it was the one thing Ross didn't want to miss in San Diego. In hindsight, I'm so glad we went! The tour was mostly outside in the sun, which I loved, and it was actually really interesting. One of the scientists working there gave an introduction on our tour, and it was fun to hear about the research his team is doing. Science + architecture = a happy couple. Baby must've liked it, too, because he bounced around a bit while we all stood around talking.

I even ended up being able to appreciate the contrast between the architecture and nature. It was a beautiful setting. How fun would it be to work here?!

After our tour, we explored the paragliding cliffs nearby for a bit before heading to lunch. Then we went to La Jolla for the afternoon. We explored the coast there, watched the seals, dug our toes in the sand, and watched the sunset from a pier.

We capped off the night with an amazingly delicious dinner at Puesto before heading back to the hotel. It was a perfect, jam-packed day, but somehow so relaxed! Just how vacation should be. (This was the least planning we've ever done for a vacation. It was freeing to not have much of an itinerary since our trip was so short, and we definitely found things to do once we got there!)